February 8, 2006	Wednesday	Muharram 9, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 7: A Vienna-based NGO is looking for an unidentified child who survived October 8 earthquake to help raise funds for him and other children affected by the traumatic natural disaster.

Talking to Dawn before leaving here for Austria, Waltraud Torossian-Brigasky, the head of MTCS, said a photograph of the child was received by her through the Pakistan’s high commission in Vienna.

The photograph of the kid with several stitches on the right side of his face, coming down from his swelled eye to the chin and lips, was featured on the poster for an awareness day function organized by her NGO in Vienna in January.

The event was arranged to sensitize people to the extent of the damage caused by the calamity in northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, and invite their attention towards the needs of the quake survivors still living in miserable conditions.

She said the children constituted the most vulnerable population group under such catastrophic conditions.

Ms Brigasky said her NGO had already provided relief goods worth 100,000 Euros (Rs 7.2 million). She said the MTCS had completed 28 social projects in the quake-hit areas, adding that in Nagar, the MTCS established seven girl schools and three health care units.

The Austrian NGO also distributed 7,000 corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets and 3,000 blankets in Garhi Habibullah.

Ms Brigasky said she picked up a spontaneous camp with over 450 people living in poor conditions.

These people were provided with beds, mattresses, stoves, cooking pots, food stuff and other essential items.

The NGO head said a large tent for schooling purposes had been donated in Muzaffarabad while funds had also been provided for the salaries of the teachers.

She said the MTCS did not get any international support and had generated these funds from hundreds of schools and individuals in Vienna.

She praised the Pakistan Army for handling the post- earthquake situation in a remarkable manner and extending every possible cooperation to the MTCS during the relief activity. The MTCS will also support the Pakistan government in the upcoming phase of reconstruction, she added.

Ms Brigasky, who is also the vice-president of the Vienna based Austro-Pakistan Society, will be getting an award from President Gen Pervez Musharraf on March 23 in recognition of her social services in Pakistan.