Afghanistan Earthquake Relief and Recovery Fund

On October 26th of last year, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan, 150 miles northeast of Kabul. Across Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Tajikistan, the earthquake killed 399 people, injured 2,342 more, and damaged or destroyed more than 127,000 homes.

Since that day, your generous donation has supported those who were first on the scene to help those in need, as well as organizations committed to long-term recovery and rebuilding across the region.

Here’s what the nine organizations you’ve helped fund have accomplished in the six months since the disaster struck:

• Afghan Institute of Learning staff in Peshawar, Pakistan immediately responded to the quake by purchasing and distributing blankets, food, water coolers, buckets, and washbasins to 1,000 people in some of the worst-affected villages in the surrounding area. 
• Volunteer emergency response teams trained by International Medical Corps were already in place in Afghanistan and were able to respond with medical care for the injured within 30 minutes of the earthquake. In the days that followed, their teams distributed 1,138 relief kits containing blankets, plastic sheeting, water containers, and hygiene supplies that benefitted 7,966 people. 
• Five schools run by Aid Afghanistan for Education (AAE) in Badakhshan province were damaged in the earthquake, and hundreds of their students and families were impacted. AAE team members disbursed collected funds to affected families so that they could begin rebuilding their homes, buy food, or pay for funeral expenses for lost loved ones. 
• Local teams from CARE in central Afghanistan delivered emergency supplies, including tents, solar lamps, blankets, cookware, and hygiene kits to 98 quake-affected families in the first week after the earthquake struck.
• Sahar Education has been building earthquake-resistant schools in northern Afghanistan since 2004, and thankfully none of their buildings were severely damaged in the earthquake. Other schools nearby were not so fortunate, so Sahar staff shared their expertise to help the damaged schools rebuild.
• Concern Worldwide works on an ongoing basis in Badakhshan province, so their teams were able to respond extremely quickly, delivering tents, carpets, soap, and blankets to families in need. 
• Given the large number of schools damaged by the earthquake, and the fact that the region is one of the most seismically active in the world, RedR is training local teachers on how to protect themselves and their students when the next disaster strikes. They’re aiming to train teachers in 50 schools in Pakistan’s Azad Jammu and Kashmir district, who will then be able to pass their new skills on to at least 64 fellow teachers and 4,991 schoolchildren. 
• Dawood Global Foundation distributed water, food, and blankets to remote villages in Pakistan’s Swat and Chittral districts.
• Action for Development has supported winterization efforts for households in three villages affected by the earthquake in Badakhshan province, who received firewood and multipurpose heaters. Their project’s impact has been twofold: in addition to ensuring warmer winters for 700 people, it has also boosted the local economy by purchasing supplies from Afghan manufacturers.

Thanks to your support, these organizations were able to respond immediately to assist survivors and will be able to continue working toward full recovery from the earthquake in the region.

Warmly,
Britt Lake + the GlobalGiving Team

P.S. Because you’ve generously supported disaster relief work on GlobalGiving, I’d like to invite you to a special event we’re holding on Wednesday, May 18th at 6pm EDT. “From the Front Lines: GlobalGiving Disaster Response Panel” will feature staff from our nonprofit partners who’ve responded to a range of disasters, including earthquakes in Japan, Ecuador, and Nepal, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the Syrian refugee crisis. They’ll be sharing stories of their work and answering questions from attendees. You’re welcome to attend the panel either online or in-person at our Washington, D.C. office. Learn more about the event and RSVP today.