The trucks had come ahead of us. Just as the sun was setting, we stepped out into a pool of Kashmiri faces which surged upon us. Concerned for my safety as a foreigner, there were frantic shouts of “Get him back in the car”. Our jeep retreated to the edge of the crowd. What to do? You can not deliver blankets huddled inside a jeep. More cautiously, we stepped out again with Br. Amit and our local videograper explaining why we had come, to any in the crowd who would listen.

A few obvious leaders from the village and the mosques appeared. There was agitation with the government over the aid this poor village was receiving. Slowly they became convinced we were there independently, trying to bring a small token of aid without politics. They agreed to help us and calmed the crowd as we walked towards the truck. We all climbed to the top, below the banner with Amma’s smiling face, and began the distribution in the dark.

– Scotti