One of the world’s most impoverished war-torn regions—the border of neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan—sank further into a hardscrabble hell on October 26 when the massive 7.5 Hindu Kush earthquake exploded deep in the Himalayan mountains. The Scientology Pakistan Volunteer Assist team was the first to provide disaster relief to the remote Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Shangla Dondai regions. The 15-member yellow-shirt team was headed by Perwaz ul-Hasan. With an eye out for the murderous Taliban, the VMs provided medical care and assists in the villages of Mudafghan, Mannay, Shahpoor, Abbazai and Pakore. Many new volunteers joined the ranks of the VMs following workshops conducted for students at the Government College in Puran Shangla.
