Water at home
The road to one of the World Vision Afghanistan targeted areas passes through the heart of the mountains. The way is rocky, narrow and hardly passable in places, making water collection difficult. For a long time, the people of the village could only dream of having water at home.
The nearest spring was three hours by foot - almost five kilometres. The only alternative for villagers was a lake the animals drank from, which would routinely dry out in the summer.
Collecting water was a strenuous task that often involved children. Every child had to transport four 16 litre barrels by donkey to fetch water from the spring.
Village children often had to sacrifice homework, school and play time because of the long queues for water. They started their journey early in the morning to be the first in line. During winter the trip was often made in the dark in bad weather along frozen roads.
In Afghanistan, 39 per cent of the population (47 per cent of those in rural areas and 15 per cent of those in urban areas) are still without access to any improved water supplies or sources.
The majority of water sources in Badghis are unprotected and communities have little or no understanding of how to safely treat the water they collect. In fact, more than 40 per cent of child deaths in Afghanistan are due to diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections, conditions caused and aggravated by unclean water.
When World Vision Afghanistan suggested a solution, the whole community came together in support.
Village elders helped World Vision Afghanistan staff identify vulnerable families who couldn’t afford to dig wells. These included woman-headed households, the families of widows and the very poor. The project established 214 water catchments for each identified household and distributed 174 water tanks.
“We store rain or snow water in our water catchment in spring"
Nadara, 40, and her children are among those who have benefited from the project. “We store rain or snow water in our water catchment in spring and winter, and use the water in the summer,” she’s quite pleased at how cold the water is during the summer.
Having the water catchment and water tank means that Nadara and the other families no longer have to worry about sending their children to collect water.
Because poor hygiene can also affect children’s school attendance, the project has conducted water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) trainings, built latrines in the village and encouraged the residents to do so as well.
Nadara was eager to be a WASH group member. Through training sessions, she and the other women learned how to prevent water-borne illnesses through sanitation practices and treating unsafe water.
“I learned how to clean water,” Nadara says. “We should filter the water through a clean cloth and either boil it or use chlorine to kill the germs,” she explained.
Trainees also learned how to effectively treat diarrhoea by using oral rehydration salts (ORS) to speed up recovery so children can return to school.
According to Nadara, “Two times a week, me and other WASH group members go from home to home to discuss the importance of clean drinking water, washing of hands, proper disposal of faeces, and treatment of water-borne diseases.”
Since many village members do not have latrines, the project also established 20 latrines for public-use in the most crowded areas of the village such as mosques and schools.
After the project established latrines in our village, some of the families ..."
“To be honest, it was through the WASH training that we came to understand the importance of location and having a proper latrine at home,” Nadara admits. “After the project established latrines in our village, some of the families built proper latrines for their homes too. I am also saving money for the construction material to build one at home.”
Today, anyone visiting Nadara's village will notice how clean it looks. Nadara attributes this to the trainings where villagers learned about separating garbage, paper, glass and other items.
She is grateful for the diligence and commitment of World Vision Afghanistan. “World Vision is a good organisation. There were some other organisations that came for few days and then left. The staff has been coming every day for over two years, even though the security in our village is sometimes poor. I hope as you help us, God helps you too.”
