Seminar in London University – Third Anniversary of Earthquake.
Third Anniversary of Kashmir Earthquake
Department of Applied Social Sciences (DASS)
London Metropolitan University
Date: 08 October 2008
On the 8 October London Metropolitan University’s Department of Applied Social Sciences (DASS) hosted a seminar by the charity Kashmir Relief and Development Foundation (KRDF) in the wake of the third anniversary of the disaster.
The KRDF works with communities affected by the devastating earthquake in Kashmir, which happened in 2005. The severe earthquake measured a high 7.7 on the Richter scale, and reports conducted by the Pakistani Government indicate that over 73,000 people died in the immediate area alone.
On the day of the seminar London Met students and staff were joined by community volunteers at Calcutta House to hear Guest Speaker Zafar Sharif, the Chief Coordinator of the KRDF. Mr Sharif gave a visual presentation of the charity’s development work over the past three years within the communities affected by earthquake.
KRDF has been concentrating on providing shelter, setting up schools and vocational training centres to help the earthquake refugees who often have lost their family, homes and possessions.
Mr Sharif described how ‘the Pakistani Government’s promise to finish reconstruction within 5 years now seems unrealistic. It is now left to NGOs and charities such as KRDF to pick up the pieces.’
Brian Hall, Associate Head of DASS commended KRDF’s work and spoke briefly about DASS’s active engagement with communities and the importance of establishing such links.
Lynda Reaich, Principal Lecturer of Oral History then spoke about the range of community development courses that are taught within DASS. These range from the Individual and Community Empowerment foundation degree, to the BSc in Community Sector Management and the MSc in Organisation and Community Management.
London Met lecturer Zafar Khan was one of the individuals who helped to set up the KRDF soon after the 2005 earthquake. Speaking at the seminar he described the positive changes the charity has made to the lives of remote communities through education, vocational and welfare projects. Mr Khan now acts as a volunteer consultant for the charity on grassroots stakeholder empowerment projects.
Since 2005 the KDRF has assisted with the building of four schools and eleven vocational training centres for women to provide training for finding jobs.
