Diplomats hold fund-raiser to aid Pakistan quake victims

At least half of the 80,000 victims of Pakistan's devastating earthquake last year were children - and many more were left orphans.

Today, the diplomatic community here is hoping to raise at least €50,000 to help rebuild a village to house and school some of the children in one of the worst-hit areas by supporting a bazaar organised by the wife of the Pakistani ambassador in Dublin.

Nausheen Ahmad says it is still a question of just getting by for the survivors.

“The question of adoption has come up…some international agencies would take them up for adoption which the government of Pakistan declined because we’d like to keep our children in Pakistan”, Mrs Ahmad said.

“Now the question of housing them and bringing them up in as natural and as healthy an environment as we can provide them, is what we are trying to do”, she added.

The sooner the children are returned to the mountains where they belong, the better Mrs Ahmad said.