LINKS:       HelpCounts.org       Latest News        Image Gallery       

HelpCounts provides relief to people displaced from Swat Valley Pakistan

May. 12 - HelpCounts.org is distributing food supplies to the displaced residents of NWFP, who have fled the region's violence as the government continues its assault of the Taliban.

An estimated 1.5 million people have become refugees in their own land. The scope of this crisis is unprecedented for the region. HelpCounts.org has partnered with several national companies to distribute atta (flour) to those in need via a network of distribution centers. The internet-based relief organization is accepting online and Paypal donations to help fund its efforts.

      

"Come, stay close to me," said one woman wrapped in brightly colored robes, speaking to three children trailing behind her.

"This one is empty," a white-bearded Pakistani police officer tells the family, pointing toward a tent. The women and children scramble under the canvas flap as Salar Khan explains what led his family to flee to Mardan.

 

"Mortars destroyed three houses in my village," he said. "It was dangerous. A piece of shrapnel almost pierced my child's leg."

"Whenever it is God's will, we will go back to our homes," says Mohammed Munir, an elderly man who fled with his family from the Buner district to the new camp in Mardan three days ago. "And we pray to Allah that he will protect us. It's up to Allah. We can't do anything."

The man kneeled and prayed in the grass outside the entrance of a tent that his family now calls home.