By Raheela Chaudhry NAUKOT, Pakistan, 15 March 2012 – On a
lonely roadside in Naukot, Sindh Province, is a small collection
of shabby tents. Many of them are makeshift constructions,
plastic sheets covered in clothing, barely large enough to
accommodate an adult standing upright. But for 10-year-old Laxmi
and her family, one of these tents is home. Last summer,
torrential monsoon rains struck this region of Pakistan,
destroying the small hut where her family lived. They were left
with just a few personal belongings and the rope beds that
constitute their only furniture. Since that day, Laxmi, her
parents and four siblings have lived in this tent. An uncertain
future It is not a comfortable shelter. The sharp desert wind
blows through the plastic sheeting, and Laxmi often wakes up to
find herself covered in dust. Her youngest brother cries all
night because of the bitter cold. They are among the 5.1 million
people, half of them children, who were affected by the severe
flooding that struck Pakistan’s Sindh and