TEAR Fund New Zealand

For Immediate Release: 13/10/05

TEAR Fund's unique position allows aid to reach desperate and isolated communities

TEAR Fund's unique position as a relief organisation, operating through an extensive network of indigenous development organisations, has ensured their emergency response is already reaching desperate and isolated communities in Pakistan and India.

By channeling their relief effort through the Integral Alliance, a network of organisations already on the ground in and around Islamabad and Indian controlled Kashmir, TEAR Fund has not been slowed by bureaucracy or logistical dilemmas.

"TEAR Fund's partners report their relief effort is moving forward and has encountered no incidences of desperate looting, as have been described in the media," says TEAR Fund Executive Director Stephen Tollestrup.

Due to rain and the onset of cold weather in the mountainous regions of Pakistan and India, affected most severely by the earthquake, TEAR Fund's first priority has been to distribute winterised tents, blankets, plastic sheets and warm clothing. TEAR Fund is also supplying clean water, water containers, food items and cooking utensils.

A medical team, operating in a hospital three hours northeast of Islamabad, is addressing the needs of those injured through this disaster.

TEAR Fund will remain in Pakistan and India for the duration of the emergency response phase, expected to take nine months, and will also remain on a long-term basis to pursue reconstruction and rehabilitation projects.

To donate to TEAR Fund's emergency appeal, visit their website www.tearfund.org.nz or call 0800 800 777 or to make an instant $20 donation call 0900 90 777.

ENDS

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