{"id":531,"date":"2014-08-31T09:53:13","date_gmt":"2014-08-31T09:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?p=531"},"modified":"2014-08-29T16:39:02","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T16:39:02","slug":"the-shimshal-road-july-1st","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?p=531","title":{"rendered":"The Shimshal Road (July 1st)"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

\"WeaversThe following day we headed up the adventurous 55km Shimshal Road from the KKH and Passu. This road has a long and interesting history. It was built with a lot of local villager voluntary work over a 20 year period with some financial support from the Government of Pakistan and the Aga Khan Foundation.<\/p>\n

It opened in 2003 and turned a 3-7 day journey on foot into a 3 hour drive. See history of the Shimshal road by David Butz, Brock University, Canada.<\/p>\n

The road had been blocked by a rockslide 10 days earlier so we were not sure if we could get through to Shimshal that day. After one hour of driving the windy, narrow and exposed gravel road we came to the blocked area. There were at least 10 men working on repairing the road under the supervision of a government engineer. We were told that it would be at least another day before the road would reopen. It certainly did not look like the road was close to being finished. They were using dynamite to break up some overhanging rock to use as a base for the road and reduce the chances of further rockfall in the area.<\/p>\n

We waited a couple of hours in the mid day sun to see if any opportunities opened up to get a ride to Shimshal from the far side of the blockage.<\/p>\n

Fortunately a driver showed up from the Pasu side but had keys for a jeep on the Shimshal side of the blockage. All 8 of us loaded up the vehicle and headed happily to Shimshal. It was a great relief to get through the blockage because a big part of this trip\u2019s objective was to spend some time with the shepherds at Shimshal Pass (4700m).We were concerned that we would not have enough time to make it there and back by foot.<\/p>\n

We were very happy to arrive in Shimshal in the late afternoon after a number of challenging river crossings. Shimshal (3,000m) has a population of approximately 2,000 people living in 3 villages (Aminabad, Shimshal and Khizarabad) at the far end of the valley. These three villages consist of Wakhi speaking residents that support herds of sheep, goats and yaks that are moved up and down valley with the seasons.<\/p>\n

Shimshal residents have hydroelectricity for approximately 5 months\/year. There are current efforts being made to extend the hydroelectricity availability using a natural spring further down valley that does not freeze in the winter. Shimshal currently does not have any access to landline\/ mobile or internet connectivity. The community has a satellite phone that is only used for emergencies.<\/p>\n

The equivalent Local Support Organisation (LSO) for Shimshal is the Shimshal Nature Trust (SNT).<\/p>\n

The previous government run dispensary in Shimshal was replaced in 2011 by a privately (German) funded and supported Shimshal Health Care Centre. This new Health Care Centre was built by the community with external funding from Misereor, Germany, Gesundheit fur Shimshal e.v Germany (Lisa and Horst Buschmann) with the support and advice from Nawbhar Education and Welfare Development Organisation(NEWDO),Shimshal.<\/p>\n

The new Health Care Centre is bright, cheerful, quite spacious with running water, a birthing suite, consultation room, pharmacy area, and administration room. It is supported by a staff of 5 people i.e. Dispenser, LHV, Midwife, Assistant Nurse and Administrator. The Dispenser, Mr Farman Ullah has been providing medical care to his community for the past 36 years. He has and continues to be a real asset to his community. The administrator Mr Zulfiqar is very competent, motivated and also very active as a community leader including SNT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following day we headed up the adventurous 55km Shimshal Road from the KKH and Passu. This road has a long and interesting history. It was built with a lot of local villager voluntary work over a 20 year period … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,35,11,28,14,27,22],"class_list":["post-531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-e-health","tag-education","tag-fundraising","tag-health","tag-medicine-in-remote-locations","tag-pakistan","tag-world-travels"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-06-29_23-38-31.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4UPJH-8z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":535,"url":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?p=535","url_meta":{"origin":531,"position":0},"title":"Shimshal (July 2nd)","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"1 September 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Our first morning in Shimshal involved a number of meetings and organising food and gear for our upcoming hike to the summer pastures of Shimshal Pass. We visited the Shimshal Health Centre early in the morning. We met the staff and then joined Mr Farman Ullah at his clinic, seeing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"e-health\"","block_context":{"text":"e-health","link":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?tag=e-health"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-02_06-20-20.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-02_06-20-20.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-02_06-20-20.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":553,"url":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?p=553","url_meta":{"origin":531,"position":1},"title":"July 8th (Tuesday) Back at Shimshal, Again.","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"8 September 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We woke up to a crisp, clear, blue sky morning. The early morning sun brought back warmth and great light to the pasture. After chai and chappatis at Tai Bibi\u2019s house we donated a solar lantern to the community, said our goodbyes and started out across the snow covered, sun\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"e-health\"","block_context":{"text":"e-health","link":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?tag=e-health"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-07_19-31-21.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-07_19-31-21.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-07_19-31-21.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":546,"url":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?p=546","url_meta":{"origin":531,"position":2},"title":"July 5th (Saturday) – Shimshal Pamir","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"4 September 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We awoke to some fresh snow and cooler temperatures. We started out a little later than originally planned (7.15am) because of the conditions. We started up a very muddy, steep incline in fresh snow. Our single poles came in handy to get some traction along the steeper muddy trail. Fortunately\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"e-health\"","block_context":{"text":"e-health","link":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?tag=e-health"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-05_23-30-46.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-05_23-30-46.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-05_23-30-46.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":549,"url":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?p=549","url_meta":{"origin":531,"position":3},"title":"July 6th (Sunday) Shimshal Pass Summer Pasture","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"7 September 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Shimshal Pass summer pasture at 4700m.We woke up to a crisp morning with scattered clouds. At 5am women were milking their sheep\/goats and yaks in the stone walled enclosures in subzero temperatures. There was a calm, focused silence among the shepherds in the animal enclosures. By 8am the milking was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"e-health\"","block_context":{"text":"e-health","link":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?tag=e-health"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-06_09-54-59.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-06_09-54-59.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-07-06_09-54-59.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":540,"url":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?p=540","url_meta":{"origin":531,"position":4},"title":"July 3rd – Pamir – Following in the Shepherds\u2019 Footsteps to Learn About Health","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"2 September 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"On July 3rd around 6am with low cloud we headed out of Shimshal village on foot towards the Pamir. Our group included Zulfiqar (Zulfi\/HC administrator + guide), porters Saieed and Hussain, Pat and Dr. Bill. Our gear comprised of medicines\/ medical equipment (including blood pressure machine, stethoscope, auroscope, opthalmoscope etc.)\/dressings\/\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"e-health\"","block_context":{"text":"e-health","link":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?tag=e-health"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bill Hanlon on trek to 4700 m Shimshal Pass from Shimshal village, Hunza Valley, Karakoram Range, Pakistan","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/gallery\/pakistan-2014\/2014-07-03_02-01-28.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":510,"url":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?p=510","url_meta":{"origin":531,"position":5},"title":"Hunza, Pakistan – June\/July 2014","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"27 August 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In June\/July 2014, Dr. Bill Hanlon, Founder and Medical Director of Basic Health International Foundation returned to Hunza in north east Pakistan to build on existing medical programs and expand it\u2019s work into more remote areas such as the Shimshal summer pastures at 4700m, Chipursan Valley (3500m), Misgar Valley (3075m)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Fundraising\"","block_context":{"text":"Fundraising","link":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/?tag=fundraising"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-06-28_22-45-10.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-06-28_22-45-10.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/basichealthinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/2014-06-28_22-45-10.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=531"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":534,"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531\/revisions\/534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/basichealthinternational.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}