I came across the website of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America and was directed to the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA). About 24 hours after I contacted IMANA, an anesthesiologist from New Jersey gave me the latest update on earthquake relief work. The rest of the planning was done via e-mail, and information was collected about the preparation of the trip from IMANA's website and www.Ready.gov, a US government website for disaster preparation. I was assigned to IMANA Team. This team would depart the USA on November 19, 2005, and I would report to IMANA's liaison office located at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, to obtain further instructions.

I had 7 days to prepare for the trip. Most of the items on my comprehensive survival list were acquired at the local hunting and camping goods retailers. I contacted my friends (physicians and nonphysicians), 30-plus pharmaceutical representatives, and the central supply department of Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville for any medical or nonmedical supplies that could be donated. Substantial cash donations were made by my friends and family for relief work and especially for helping the orphans of the earthquake. I had to repack the medications, breathing treatment machines, surgical sutures, braces, and cast materials to decrease the bulk. My luggage consisted of one backpack, one large suitcase, and two large cartons weighing 75 pounds each with antibiotics, antipyretics, analgesics, anxiolytics, and antiseptics. I also packed items for my personal use: water, food (1200 calories per day for 10 days), a stove, waterless hand sanitizer, metronidazole and ciprofloxacin, loperamide, a sleeping bag, waterproof clothing (shoes,jacket, pants), thermal underwear, a mess kit, a snakebite kit, a backpack, an LED headlight, batteries, a large flashlight, a compass, a cell phone and handheld two-way radio, a whistle, gloves, and toilet paper.

Pakistan International Airlines airlifted supplies marked for earthquake relief without weight limit. However, the United Airlines connecting flight from Dallas to Chicago allowed only two extra pieces, up to 75 pounds each, marked as relief supplies. It was a 22-hour flight from Dallas to Islamabad. My family picked me up from the airport. The first night was spent at the home of my cousin, Dr. Shiraz Masood, an orthopaedic surgeon who had firsthand experience in treating the earthquake victims. He shared with me the types of injures, the treatment being rendered, and resources available for such patients. IMANA's liaison office at Shifa International Hospital was well organized, with excellent telecommunication capabilities and situational awareness. This office served as a hub for numerous relief workers and agencies. After completing necessary paperwork, I was referred to the US Army for transfer by helicopter to Battagram and Swat.

Helicopters were the main mode of transporting relief workers and supplies to the earthquake-affected areas. After the earthquake struck, the USA was immediately able to send helicopters for help because of its presence in neighboring Afghanistan. The number of helicopters gradually increased to approximately 100 at the peak of relief work .These helicopters were sent from the USA, United Kingdom, United Nations Humanitarian Air Service, and International Committee of the Red Cross. Approximately 75% of the cargo consisted of building and shelter supplies, such as corrugated metal sheets, tents, blankets, and kerosene stoves, and the rest consisted of food basics, such as high-energy bars, ready-to-eat meals, bags of wheat flour, and cans of cooking oil. This food supply would allow people to sustain themselves over the winter until the reconstruction began in the spring.

I was taken to the northern area , Battagram, Swat where patients were being treated in tents. The 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) of the US Army, with more than 100 US soldiers, had already arrived for relief work and brought in an x-ray machine, a portable echocardiography machine, and an operation theater facilities.

Battagram was one of the areas affected by the Pakistan earthquake of October 8, 2005 when more than 4,500 people were killed and approximately 35,000 were injured. Many residents of the area were rendered homeless and without shelter. Since October 8, 2005, the NGOs and the governmental organization Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority have been engaged in reconstruction work but as of 2009, the reconstruction work is not completed. In some cases residents have rebuilt houses themselves.

Women and men from KPK disaster-affected districts of Kohistan, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Nowshehra, Charsadda, Mardan, Abbottabad, Battagram, Mansehra, Haripur, Swabi and Swat reached the federal capital to raise their voice against federal and provincial government’s apathy.

The quake affected from Balakot were among the protestors who were kept waiting for constructed houses, in newly built town but are forced to live in makeshift shelters with no signs of a new town.

Battagram had suffered a deadly earthquake in 2005 and its severe aftershocks had continued for several days.

Shiraz and I reached to serve our people , as we felt that we wouldn’t justify our profession at that time of agony and misery of our people .Both of us were first cousins and our family ties were so strongly embedded in the soil of Khyber Pakhtun Khawa. I couldn’t cease myself away from my people who were in need of care and love ; residing in Chicago, America for fifteen years, did not mean to lose my heart rending cries , when my own people suffered despondency , I would never forgive myself , rather be a deaf and dumb ; I planned to fly to serve the victims of the worst jolt of seismic waves .

The moment I reached over there , I felt the same fragrance of my childhood ; sharp, sour, spicy, spoiled, stale, stinking, sweaty, sweet, tart, and wispy.