After our chopper ride we headed up to Balakot - the town worst devastated last year. It wasn’t long before we saw the real signs of progress - or lack of it - the temporary housing a year on - tents, makeshift huts and prefabricated buildings all dotted the roadside.
Our first stop was to an ICRC medical centre out of the town and a twenty minute drive off the main road up a hill. This is where doctors and nurses turn up every week at the same time to look at injuries and illness’s, young and old.
On the way back down the hills we passed lots of children as school had finished for the day.
These girls though it was great fun to chase the pick-up. They must have followed us for at least half a mile down twisting turning lanes. I am sure that they don’t know it but once they are a bit older this freedom will soon be taken away from them. So sad.
More fat bottomed sheep - I must admit, I think they do look just wonderful.
Into Balakot we passed the ever visible signs of devastation that hasn’t been touched since last year.
Life though seemed to have returned to some sort of normality with kids on the roads having fun. Stalls along the main street back up and running, stocked with all sorts of goods.
The government has decided that Balakot will not be rebuilt at its current location but outside of the valley about 20 miles away. Not many people want to leave and the government isn’t doing a particularily good job about it either.
Not only is it a long way away but it has been moved off the main road. Whilst it may be very pretty moving from a town built up at a busy river crossing to no-where isn’t the most sensible of decisions.
But its the people who have really have been affected the worst. These two sisters both broke their legs in the earthquake, had them set badly and then broken and re-set again - incorrectly. They are now both wearing leg braces and can’t put any weight on them.
Though they are very hopefull that their legs will get better I think reality is very far from the truth.
We finished off having to do some lives outside a tented village. This isn’t actually supposed to be here any more. In fact may pople did move out but when the monsoons came there were many more landslides and floods that demolished their temporary homes once more and so drove them back to the camp for another winter.
Whilst waiting we saw many children taking their livestock for a walk - perhaps not a walk but for grazing and to the little stream nearby for water.
I am not sure if I have explaned it before but this is our typical live set up - to do ‘videophone lives’. The two grey panels are M4’s, basically large satellite telephones which we use to dial into Sky and get on air. Almost that simple anyway.
It means we can be very independant and extreemly flexible in how and where we can set up and broadcast from. As time has rolled on we have also got the setup time down and can now rig everything up and get on in about 10 mins from a standing start. Which if I say so myself - isn’t that bad.
