An adolescent Pashtun girl shields her face as she carries water through the streets of the Meira camp for earthquake survivors, Northwest Frontier Province, Pakistan. The conservative code of the Pashtun tribe of the area dictate that girls must cover themselves, including their faces, after their first period. The crowded life in the camp has made such rules difficult to follow. The Meira Tent camp (also called Mera, or Maria camp), is located on the Indus River in the Battagram district. The camp, the largest for displaced people in Pakistan, hosts over 21,000 earthquake survivors, primarily from the Allai valley in Pakistan's NWFP, one of the areas worst-hit by the October 8, 2005 earthquake.

earthquake north west frontier province pashtun south asia survivor tribal girl adolescent head covering modesty traditional conservative camp life battagram district northwest frontier province pakistan nwfp