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This communal kitchen at Mehra camp uses low clay stoves hand-sculpted by women residents trained under a USAID cash-for-work program. (Photo by Kaukab Jhumra Smith/USAID)

USAID Cash-For-Work Program Teaches More Than Cooking In Kitchens

Islamabad - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), partnering with Save the Children, established five vocational centers at Mehra Relief Camp, a tent camp housing Allai Valley families affected by the October 8 earthquake. At the centers, 15 skilled potters have trained women to construct traditional clay stoves. The women used their new skills to sculpt stoves for the 41 communal kitchens in the camp and were paid 50 rupees per stove.

Gulshan Pari of Palang made four stoves and earned 200 rupees. With her first-ever earnings, she purchased groceries and household goods for her family. This program is another example of a USAID cash-for-work vocational program that provides valuable skills that camp residents can use after they leave camp and return home to rebuild their houses and lives.

The United States, through USAID, is providing more than $1.5 billion in development assistance to Pakistan over the next five years to improve education, health, governance and economic growth. In addition, the United States has pledged a total of $510 million in earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts to assist the people of Pakistan and to support Pakistani government relief and reconstruction efforts.