The narrow alleyways of Pir Sabaq are cluttered with piles of stone and bricks. At every turn the clatter of construction work can be heard. One year on from the floods, this small village in the Khyber Pashtoonkqua region of the Northwest Frontier is on the mend. In late spring it is surrounded by lush green fields of ripening wheat. But the bustle and activity of rural life is a thin veneer. The trauma that overwhelmed this village is not hard to find.
A short walk behind the alleyways of mud and stone houses brings you to the river. At the most elevated point on the river bank, an old shrine is still standing. It’s a 19th century monument to a Sikh commander in the long-departed army of Ranjit Singh. It stands in front of the most imposing building the village has to offer, a three-storey brick edifice. On the side of the building, level with the top of the second floor, a banner proclaims that the Labour Education Foundation is building a new school in the enclosure next door.
