Helping kids displaced in Pakistan

Mercy Corps has begun providing sports and social activities to 1,200 displaced school-age children in Pakistan. Our goal is to provide kids in 20 schools-turned-displacement-camps with positive activities during the day, and reduce the stress associated with fleeing their homes to uncomfortable and unfamiliar surroundings.

The three-month program will take place in three communities in the Mardan District of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, where fighting between the Army and Taliban militants has displaced more than 2.6 million people.

Each child will receive an activity kit that includes a backpack, crayons and paper. We're also giving each of the 10 schools money to purchase additional materials — such as puzzles, sports equipment and art supplies — and to erect a shelter for shade.

Another part of the program involves dispensing health and nutrition advice to 500 parents. This will include cooking demonstrations using local flavors and available resources to demonstrate simple and economical food choices — such as making chapatti, porridge, pakora and halwa.

The program will draw heavily from past experience after earthquakes in China and Peru. Our "Moving Forward" methodology uses sport, local games and dance to help alleviate the grief and trauma children suffer as a result of natural disaster and conflict.