There is reason to be happy for the impoverished families in Kalikot-their favourite project Rural Community Infrastructure Works (RCIW) is being resumed after nearly four months of suspension. Project donors UK Department for International Development (DfID), Dutch development agency SNV, German aid agency GTZ and the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) announced its suspension in May to protest against the beating of a female project staff by Maoist rebels. "We have received guarantees (from the Maoists) that there will be a secure environment for the staff," says WFP's JP Demargerie. According to DfID's Robert Smith, "We have been given assurance that the Maoists will abide with the basic operating guidelines." RCIW projects are run in the districts facing the greatest food deficits and provide impoverished families with food in return for road construction work.