©InfoTeenagers Miriam and Sidra live with their parents and five other siblings in just three rooms after the 2005 earthquake destroyed their home in Pakistan. Both girls were in school when the earthquake struck.
Sidra said: “I was in school when the class suddenly started shaking and the building collapsed with me underneath. The night watchman from the school saved me and many of the girls from my school.”
Clutching pictures of loved ones lost, Miriam explains that at her school many were not so lucky: "Eight girls were killed when my school collapsed. We lost lots of people that day, including my baby cousin.”
The family are rebuilding their lives and with the help of the Red Cross have begun work to reconstruct their house.
Rebuilding
Muhammed Yasif (22), the girls’ older brother, said: “Our old home was completely destroyed by the earthquake and so we are having to completely rebuild. We started building seven months ago and have used metal sheeting, provided by the Red Cross, on the roof and on some walls.
“Before the earthquake our house had six rooms and now it has just three. We hope, one day, to build a kitchen and we would like a water storage tank.”
With rebuilding underway and at least three rooms, which are warm, dry and protected, this winter promises to be more comfortable than last.
A new start
The large winter tent outside is a stark reminder of where the family lived for many months following the earthquake. But the family still uses the tent as a safe haven – to run to when they fear another earthquake.
The children’s father Nassem (50) said: “Only three or four days ago we felt a small earthquake and so the whole family slept in the tent that evening.”
For Miriam the brick walls and iron sheeting of her new home mark a new, positive start: “I like our new house, our other house was built of mud but this is a beautiful home.”
Find out more about the 2005 Pakistan earthquake
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