ACT's response to October 2005 Pakistan earthquake

In a race against the coming winter, villagers in the isolated community of Gantar unload tents and other relief supplies provided by CWS/ACT and ferried to the remote location by a Pakistani Army helicopter.

Villagers in the isolated community of Gantar unload tents and other relief supplies provided by CWS/ACT and ferried to the remote location by a Pakistani Army helicopter.

In Banna, a Pakistan Army helicopter is used to ferry relief supplies provided by CWS/ACT.

Outside Balakot, a "tent city" supported by Church World Service/ACT hosts hundreds of quake survivors.

Outside Balakot, a "tent city" supported by Church World Service/ACT hosts hundreds of quake survivors. CWS/ACT has provided the tents, mattresses, blankets, food, stoves and other non-food items, as well as water and health care, necessary for the quake survivors to survive the coming winter.

Outside Balakot, a "tent city" supported by Church World Service/ACT hosts hundreds of quake survivors.

A woman sweeps the dust off her tent outside Balakot, where a "tent city" supported by Church World Service/ACT hosts hundreds of quake survivors.

Outside Balakot, a "tent city" supported by Church World Service/ACT hosts hundreds of quake survivors.

Outside Balakot, a "tent city" supported by Church World Service/ACT hosts hundreds of quake survivors. Here a mother and two children prepare their tent for the coming rainy season.

Physician Hizkial Barkat (right), a member of a CWS-supported delegation from the Peshawar diocese of the Church of Pakistan, attends to injured patients at a CWS-sponsored "tent city" near Balakot. Assisting him is Nassreen Shaker, a nurse from the Peshawar diocese.

Members of Action by Churches Together in Pakistan, including Church World Service and the Church of Pakistan, responded quickly to the needs of thousands of families affected by the October 8 quake. Here a physician from Peshawar, Hizkial Barkat (with mask), a member of a CWS-supported delegation from the Peshawar diocese of the Church of Pakistan, attends to injured patients at a CWS-sponsored "tent city" near Balakot. Assisting him is Nassreen Shaker, a nurse from the Peshawar diocese.

In the Sheikh Zayad Hospital in Lahore, 12-year old Arshad, who received a serious head injury in the October 8 earthquake, is watched over by his sister. They are from a devastated village near Balakot.

In the Sheikh Zayad Hospital in Lahore, Sanober Nathaniel (right), a student at the Kinnaird College for Women, visits with a young earthquake victim and her mother. Nathaniel is applying henna to the girl's hand in celebration of Eid el-Fitr, the celebration of the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Students at Kinnaird collected money and clothing for earthquake victims that was distributed through Church World Service and the Church of Pakistan, both members of Action by Churches Together, the global alliance of churches and church-related agencies responding to emergencies.

A survivor of the October 8 earthquake living in a "tent city" supported by CWS/ACT outside the devastated town of Balakot.

Two survivors of the October 8 earthquake living in a "tent city" supported by CWS/ACT outside the devastated town of Balakot.

A survivor of the October 8 earthquake living in a "tent city" supported by CWS/ACT outside the devastated town of Balakot.

Two survivors of the October 8 earthquake living in a "tent city" supported by CWS/ACT outside the devastated town of Balakot.

Sleeping mats being provided by CWS/ACT at Thakot.

Here in Besham and in other places in northern Pakistan, winterized tents provided by CWS/ACT are provided to families that survived the earthquake.

In devastated Balakot, a man walks with what little he has scavenged from his house.

Two girls in Balakot walk to their tent home with relief supplies.

Isolated villages and family homes throughout the rugged mountains of northern Pakistan were left in ruins by the October 8 earthquake.

The town of Balakot was devastated by the October 8 earthquake.

Isolated villages throughout the rugged mountains of northern Pakistan were left in ruins by the October 8 earthquake.

A woman sadly watches as her brother digs into the ruins of her home in Balakot, searching for the bodies of her children.

Men praying before the main mosque in Balakot, which was left in ruins.

A mother and her two children in the rubble of Balakot.

A family sits in the ruins of their home in Balakot.

The extraction of bodies from the devastated buildings of Balakot will continue for weeks.

Bibi Rahiba lost a brother, her husband, and three of her five children to the earthquake. As winter approaches in what was the town of Balakot, she digs into the ruins of her home trying to find the bodies of her dead children.

Barber shop: Life goes on in the rubble of Balakot.

A woman sadly watches as her brother digs into the ruins of her home in Balakot, searching for the bodies of her children.

Two men dig in the rubble of what was their home in Balakot.

Two men break the collapsed cement roof of what was their home in Balakot.

Eid Mohammad Shamas, a CWS staffer from Lahore, talks with earthquake survivors at Besham.

Throughout the mountains of northern Pakistan, schools collapsed or were left severely damaged by the earthquake. As classes resume, such as here near Haripur, teachers and students study in the open air.