Kupwara

Finally - a trip to Kupwara! The outreach post near Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Where it is not always safe to go. I had heard about this place for months, and now was finally able to go there.




We left Wayil just after 7:30 am. Sami, Mathieu from Handicap International, and me. Our first stop was in the town of Sopore, where community organisers had contacted many of the disabled in the area, and told them Hope Disability Centre would be coming.














We arrived in Sopore around 10:30. The German photographer Andy joined us there along with Sami's brother Tahir. The Handicap International team wanted to interview the community leaders, and they did this while Sami assessed the disabled of Sopore, and I documented it all in photos and video.













A large tent had been set up, with a table and a couple of chairs. About 30 disabled children and adults were sitting on the rugs inside the tent waiting for us.









Sami wasted no time, and began immediately interviewing the people waiting for him, and noting critical details in his notebook.










I took photos and videos of these new additions to Hope Disability Centre's log of the disabled of Kashmir. Sami worked quickly. He spent little time with adults he could not help, and a fair amount of time assessing children whose disability might be quickly and completely corrected through surgery.





























More people kept coming. He assessed 40 people in 2 and a half hours. Over half of them were disabled from polio.












At one point tea and bananas were handed out to the people in the tent.




















Sami could not see them all. He had to stop and we continued on to Kupwara.















Sami identified 6 children who could have their disabilities corrected wih fairly simple surgery. With his doctors donating their time, he can get these surgeries performed for between 2000 and 3000 rupees each, or between $40 and $60 each. But he doesn't have the $40 or $60 to have the surgeries done, and has to wait until donatons come in.




























We continued our trip on a very bad road filledwith nearly invisible but very big speed bumps. Because the ambulance/van had broken down and was being fixed, we were driving Tariq's small car. It did not like the roads one bit. This photo shows that a bridge destroyed in the fighting over the years has still not been replaced. Because I got out of the car to take this photo, we were stopped by the military. They do not like people taking photos!!!






We arrived late in the afternoon. About a km before we reached the centre, we went through a gate, at a military camp. This gate is closed every day at 5 or 6 pm, as it is very close to the Pakistan border. Jut one more hurdle for people in this area to deal with.













When we arrived at the Hope Kupwara centre, (the sign has been damaged by gunfire) there were 4 village workers waiting for us, to meet Mathieu from Handicap International. He asked them a few questions, and then they left to return to their villages. One of them lived 35 km away. How did she get home? I saw no cars there.













The Kupwara facility is a rented home. It doesn't look very inviting from the street, but inside is quite nice.











I took the opportunity to go up to the open storage area on top of the main living quarters, and have a look around.














I went for a walk along the river with the younger sister of Kounsa, the Kupwara physiotherapist as my guide.

















A crowd of children gathered, so I decided to photograph them, and then them with me.

I was surprised to learn that our physiotherapist in Kupwara, Kounsa, is on a softball team which travels throughout India to compete with other teams. I also learned that last year, when Rob Buchanan was visiting Kupwara with Sami, they woke to shouts and screams in the village. It was a terrorist, all right. A bear had come down from the mountains in the night and attacked the children in the village the next morning. 40 children were injured before they were able to stop the bear. Only the police and Indian military can have any kind of firearm in Kashmir. Even straight edge razor blades are not available here. They may even be banned. I don't know. brought one with me to clean windows, and wondered why thee was still paint on the windows of Hope Centre 3 years after it was built.


That evening I ate dinner in the kitchen with all the women, and then we all slept together in one bedroom. There were 9 of us. It was like a slumber party! I was the honoured guest, so I got the only bed in the room. It soon became obvious that there wasn't enough floor space for everyone, so I moved over in the single bed and motioned that someone could sleep with me. One of the younger girls jumped right in. And at some point in the night we were joined by another girl, making 3 of us in the small bed. It wasn't a problem, though, since all of us were sleepers who stay put, and don't thrash around in our sleep.



The next morning I went for a walk in the village, and found a beautiful mosque. The village has two mosques. This was very small compared to the other one.



I hope to return and spend more time there in the future.