EMU alumni report on earthquake

"Several villages are just a heap of debris and there is absolutely no sign of life." said Khola Irum, wife of 2004 Conflict Transformation Program graduate Kamal Tipu. "We don't know the actual number of deaths but it is rising with every passing hour."

The news brought to us from Pakistan is not very bright. No EMU students or alumni have been injured or killed in the earthquake or its aftermath, but, as the most current estimates place the death toll at 23,000, many Pakistanis do not have as positive of an outlook for their friends and families. Ali Gohar, the 13-year-old son of 2002 CJP graduate Awais Gohar, said, "There are so many dead that they don't have enough people to bury them. Everywhere, people are dying."

Ali said via e-mail that his father Awais is in charge of relief efforts for the entire province of Oxfam. The job is difficult due to the fact that resources are very limited and many people cannot be rescued because of the limited number of helicopters.

Some Americans may feel that the earthquake in Pakistan is quite distant compared to the natural disasters in New Orleans, but all Khola asks is that we do one simple thing for them. She says, "Pray for us."