Razia, a proud member of the Peoria Area Peace Network, has recently left Peoria to travel to an area of the world once known as the "Switzerland of Pakistan" - Swat Valley. Now, Swat Valley is engulfed in the maelstrom of violent conflict. US supported Pakistani paramilitary and army soldiers are battling militant Islamic insurgents led by the Taliban.

According to SwatValley.org, nearly 2,000,000 civilian Pakistani have been displaced as refugees in this crisis zone. Razia, in conjunction with Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, and others have taken it upon themselves to learn about and report on this human tragedy that has engulfed the once blossoming Swat Valley District.

To see many photographs of Razia’s past travels to such places as Islamabad and Jerusalem you may visit her online photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/raziamay.