For 5,000 villagers in Pakistan's devastated Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa (KPK) Province, the gift of nutritious food is the first step on the road back to normal family life.

A $40,000 donation from TPRF to Shirkat Gah - Women's Resource Centre (SG), a women's rights organization experienced in coordinating relief and rehabilitation activities in the region, funded the distribution of monthly food packets for three months to families of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) returning to their homes in the village of Tindodag.

Driven from their homes by fighting between the army and outlawed terrorist groups, the returning villagers, predominantly widows and children, found their fields decimated and their livestock destroyed. The village, at the best of times remote and difficult to reach, was further isolated by heavy flooding that took out many bridges during the rainy season. As a result, international relief organizations have been slow to respond to this crisis. For some villagers, the only source of food was the terrorist groups responsible for the insurgency — assistance that eroded the refugees' dignity and self-respect.

SG defused this critical situation by providing food and education in a way that would help re-establish stability and restore confidence among the vulnerable IDPs of Tindodag. Monthly food packets were distributed to the mothers of 500 boys attending the local school. At the same time, the women were given instruction in health and hygiene.

The objective, said SG spokesperson Dr. Saman Yazdani Khan, was not only to feed the hungry and raise health awareness, but also to provide an incentive for children to attend school, and "keep them away from mischief and miscreants. We hope that the relief we provided will bring them a modicum of prosperity, and enable them to build their lives again with respect and confidence."

Each nutritious food packet included a generous allotment of flour, sugar, and ghee — the staples of the local diet. Freed from the stress of worrying about how to feed their families, which average 10 to 12 members, the villagers of Tindadog expressed gratitude for a gift of food with no strings attached.

"Now I feel independent," one woman said, "because I will be able to cook whatever I like. I am thankful to those people who have shared their love and support in the shape of food items."

"I do not have any job," another grateful recipient explained, "and it is not very easy to feed my family. This food package will cushion me as well as my family for some time, and I do not need to be worried about my food for a few weeks."

Photos courtesy of Shirkat Gah.