Bibi Nooria* is an afghan mother of seven children. She is also a widow. Her husband died in the on-going conflict. Her sons were threatened to enrol in the army as soldiers. Bibi Nooria had to look for a safer place to protect her family, so she decided to flee from the north of the country to some other places. They walked for five days and got robbed several times. Having lost all of their belongings, they managed to arrive in Kabul and stopped in an informal settlement. Three years later, they still live there under a tent.
During the cold winter in Kabul, the living conditions of hundreds of displaced families are getting worse. The so-called Kabul Informal Settlement (KIS) do not have adequate sanitation. Most of households, which represent about 55,000 people live under tents or in mud-houses. They have no access to drinking water or toilets.
Hygiene is a major issue as people have to defecate in the open-air. Children are at high risk, as they have to collect water from far-away places, often in dirty and inadequate containers.
Thanks to the funds from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and from Caritas Germany, Terre des hommes’ team in Afghanistan has been able to help hundreds of families. We provided winter assistance and proceeded to cash distribution that benefited 400 vulnerable families living in KIS.
“With the money Tdh gave us, we bought some food like flour, rice and oil. Although the assistance was not much and did not fulfill all our needs , it was good that it was given in cash as we bought whatever we needed,” Bibi Nooria reported to our staff.
In addition to Tdh’s winter cash assistance, the well-recognized team of midwives trained by Tdh are doing an incredible work. Living in the communities, they are available 24 hours a day to assist women in need. Jamilah, a beneficiary from our health programme, said of midwives that “They cover all women’s health needs and even more than our expectations. Midwives are very kind to us and women can explain their problem, share their sorrow and get advice”.
Tdh is present in Afghanistan for over two decades with health and protection programmes. Our staff, composed of midwives and social workers, provide outreach health care services to vulnerable displaced women and children living in informal camps.
*Name has been changed