As you sow you shall reap

Nasreen in her vegetable garden, Pakistan. [Caritas]

Caritas Pakistan is helping people in Pakistan to make a better life for themselves after the earthquake by helping them to grow vegetables and look after their livestock

“I believe in the proverb that as you sow, you shall reap”, explains Nasreen, 46, as she tends to her vegetable garden in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province.

In October 2005, Nasreen’s life was turned upside down when a devastating earthquake destroyed her village, including her small piece of land where she grew vegetables for her family.

Already a widow, Nasreen was forced to ask her relatives for help.

The giant green leaves of the Okra plants are a colourful contrast to Nasreen’s purple scarf, as she crouches steadily at the side of the raised bed.

“Thanks to Caritas Pakistan, I have restarted my kitchen garden”, she says, leaning over to pull out a weed.

“I was already growing vegetables to eat before the earthquake, but I thought the training would help me to learn more about gardening.

“I now sell up to 1,500 rupees (about £12) of vegetables a month, which is a great help to my family. We can use the vegetables for cooking so we don’t have to buy anything from the market”.

CAFOD is working through local organisation, Caritas Pakistan, who has trained more than 120 women in kitchen gardening so they can grow their own vegetables.

Animal shelters

Caritas Pakistan also offers training in tailoring, and how to look after agricultural crops, livestock and poultry.

Noor Nisa, who lives in Hilkot village lost her goats in the earthquake. Caritas Pakistan gave her some new goats, and also provided an animal shelter to keep the goats healthy during the winter.

“In the winter it gets very cold and we sometimes have up to eight feet of snow”, she explained. “We used to dig a hole in the ground and cover it with wood and keep the animals in there, lighting fires to keep them warm. Now we have an animal shelter that’s also big enough for our cows”.

Mohammed and Dervaish using the fodder cutter given by Caritas Pakistan [Lucy Morris]

Noor’s village was also given a fodder cutter to help people to give their animals a more balanced diet.

Mrs Sadaf from Caritas Pakistan’s livelihoods team explains

“People used to chop up food for their animals by hand, using a sickle, but using the mechanised cutter is much quicker.

“The cutter was put in the centre of the village so everyone can use it, and we’ve trained people to mix fodder with silage and hay to give the animals are more balanced diet”.

Caritas has provided more than 90 families with animal shelters and has distributed more than 110 fodder cutters to local communities.

give to the emergency response fund

Give to our Emergency Response Fund

Donate to support CAFOD's initial response to a disaster, and the emergency which follows - such as an earthquake, flood, cyclone, hurricane, or drought. Your gift really can make a difference