Distribution of happiness and warmth
Inside of a tiny, single room mud house in Herat province, Salima, mother of five, can hardly believe that she had to leave everything behind, from kitchen supplies to bedding, in Ghor province eight months ago.
A slight breeze passes through an open, curtainless window, making the heat bearable. A small threadbare carpet covers part of the floor and a short wall separates the room and the kitchen, a 6-meter space. The temporary dwelling belongs to one of her relatives. Two of her children are in school and the older one is with his father at work.
Her husband is a daily labourer, struggling to make ends meet. Sometimes there is work and sometimes not. “If my husband works and gets the job done, he will receive only $5 USD per day,” says Salima, “otherwise he will come back home with empty hands…I, myself, suffer from rheumatism and can’t work.”
No choice but to flee
Forced to flee their home province due to war and insecurity, Salima and her husband decided to come to Herat where at least they could survive.
“My husband was a wheat farmer in Ghor. We had our own land and house. Insurgents forced us to give them…flour and wheat,” Salima says. “They forced young boys to join them in fighting.” Fearing that insurgents would take her 18-year-old son, Salima and her family left one night in secret.
The ground was covered in snow when they first came to Herat province, a place none of them had visited before. “It was very cold” she says. “We didn’t know anyone. We joined the other Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who lived in a structure that had only four walls and a roof.”
"My children cried and begged me to take them back to our home, but it was impossible.”
“The IDPs had divided the space with stone,” she remembers. “Men slept together in one partition and women and children in the other. We didn’t have a carpet to cover the floor nor blanket to keep ourselves warm. We slept on thin fabric. No water or food. My children cried and begged me to take them back to our home, but it was impossible.”
An IDP area
During their time there, Salima’s youngest came down with pneumonia. “It was so difficult for me and my husband to take care of him,” she says. “We didn’t have money to take him to a clinic [or to] cook nutritious foods.” She tries to hold back her tears. “My children had to beg just to meet their basic needs.”
The coldness of weather during those months worsened her rheumatism so that it is now difficult for her to carry heavy things.
Eventually one of Salima’s relatives helped the family move to the place where they are living now, which is better than living in the crowded, makeshift house.
World Vision on the ground
Between December 2016 and May 2017 Salima’s family and thousands like them received food and non-food items through a fund from Afghanistan Joint Response (AFJR), implemented by World Vision Afghanistan (WVA).
The objective of the project was to alleviate the suffering and protect the dignity of displaced populations, including returnees. This involved reducing vulnerability through provisions, which include winterisation kits such as blankets, personal heaters and dry food items.
Salima’s family was selected through an assessment by the project staff. Hers was among the 1,100 targeted families who have received 990 winterisation kits and 990 kitchen sets and articles of winter clothing. The winterisation kits maintain warmth in the home and prevent weather-related health issues that stem from exposure to cold.
Considering that IDP income is generally too low to properly protect children and pregnant and lactating women from chronic illness and malnutrition, the project provided target families with dry food items as well. Using a voucher-based approach to distribution, families have been given electronic vouchers that can be redeemed for food commodities.
According to Afshin, WVA Project Coordinator, “The value of each voucher is roughly $USD 70, which we give them on a monthly basis for four consecutive months. This will help the families move forward during winter time.” The use of technology for tracking and documentation also reduces the risk of financial loss.
World Vision Afghanistan is using the new technology for the first time to respond to the food needs of IDPs. A telecommunication company was selected by the project staff to carry out electronic voucher distribution, SIM cards were distributed to target families, and a training was offered to beneficiaries in how they should use their cards at shops to get food.
“Six shops were selected and agreements were signed with the shopkeepers to provide food to the families,” Afshin explains. “The shops were selected in the areas where target families have easy access.”
Salima has been pleased with the change. “Through the voucher I can buy beans, rice, oil, sugar, meat and other food supplies. We hadn’t eaten meat for a long time. I buy chicken once a week now. My children love spaghetti,” she chuckles, “they force me to cook for them almost three times a week!”
Salima showing the rice she brought through the e-voucher giving by World Vision
Before the vouchers, the money that her husband earned through labour was used to buy food supplies. Now the money he earns is used to either buy school supplies for two of her children, newly enrolled, or to pay for clinic fees if any of her children get sick.
Doctors have told Salima that she needs surgery for her health condition, but this is out of the question financially. Neverthless, she is very grateful that she and her husband now have enough to provide their children with clothing and a decent meal.
“I don’t want to go back to before,” she says, “when my children had no winter clothes and were unable to buy anything. We are happy with the assistance [from WVA] - I hope that this kind of help can continue.”