Winter in a Homemade Shelter

A Pakistani widow finishes the walls of a winter shelter as a participant in Mercy Corps' cash-for-work program. Photo: Josh Kreger/Mercy Corps

Wali Khan is smiling now.

A few weeks ago when he looked over northern Pakistan's Konch valley, there was not much to smile at. His home - like 90 percent of the homes in Bela village - was reduced to rubble. Food was scarce, livestock lost, no roof over his head - and the nights were becoming colder and colder.

He, like the other families in Bela, received food, a tent and other critical items such as plastic sheets and blankets from Mercy Corps. The agency's emergency response team had managed to reach even the most distant and highest points of the isolated Konch and Siran valleys.

But the weather continued to deteriorate and Wali realized that his four children would not survive a winter at elevations higher than 6,000 feet. Snow was quickly filling the valley and blocking all access routes to and from the village.

Mercy Corps stepped up with a solution for Wali's family and hundreds of other vulnerable households in the area - an innovative cash-for-work program to build winter shelters. The program is mostly using recovered materials from destroyed homes to build these heavy-duty, multi-family buildings.

Wali signed up for the cash-for-work program, one of more than 100 men and women in his village to do so. In a manner of days, program participants have constructed 53 shelters while earning income to support their families.

"Now my family will be warm this winter," Wali said.

Serving the most vulnerable

In another part of Bela village, Roshi, a recent widow, works with her daughters-in-law on their new winter home. Mercy Corps stresses the importance of taking care of the most vulnerable members of any community - namely widows, orphans and handicapped. Everyone in Bela village has pitched in to help Roshi build her house, including the women.

Women are an integral part of our programs around the world. Mercy Corps strongly encourages communities that women be allowed to participate as much as possible. In fact, about 25 percent of the cash-for-work laborers in Pakistan are women, while Bela tops the list boasting a 40 percent female workforce. All women get paid the same daily wages as men.

Through the ever-expanding cash-for-work program, Mercy Corps has helped build shelters for over 2,600 households. Nearly 30,000 beneficiaries have been reached already. Our emergency teams continue to deliver items such as blankets, stoves, sheets and tools to help vulnerable families get through the winter.