Afghanistan: Providing food in hard times

Zia Gul outside her house, Afghanistan [Catholic Relief Services]

While families like Zia Gul’s continue to live in extreme poverty, we are helping to make a difference by providing vouchers for food and fuel

Married with two children and pregnant with her third, Zia Gul’s life changed forever in 1993 when her village became a battleground during the Afghan civil war.

Zia and her family were often forced to flee into the hills and hide to escape the fighting, sometimes for several days. But one day was different.

“When the fighting began, I ran for the hills like I always did,’ she recalls. ‘But this time I heard a huge explosion, and I can’t remember anything after that.”

When she regained consciousness in a local hospital two days later, Zia discovered that she had stepped on a landmine, and lost her leg.

"A few days before I was due to go home from the hospital, my husband returned to our village to borrow money to pay the hospital bills. He never came back".

On his way, Zia’s husband had stepped on a landmine. He was killed, leaving Zia alone.

Food packages

What our partners have done

Provided food for more than 200 families

Today, Zia lives with her 17-year-old daughter, and relies on casual work and zakat – Islamic charity - to survive. But soaring food prices, a long-term severe drought and harsh winters mean that people in her community no longer have spare money to offer her as charity or for chores.

Our partner Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been providing short-term ‘cash-for-work’ opportunities to families to help them earn enough money to survive.

Some families are unable to take part, either because one of them is disabled like Zia Gul, or because of cultural barriers.

We have been helping vulnerable families such as Zia Gul’s by providing packages containing essentials such as sugar, rice, lentils, cooking oil and kerosene.

Zia says, “I am so happy when I receive my package, because I know the food will support us for six months. I don’t need to worry what we will eat.”

“Instead of making decisions above our heads, CRS asked us what we needed, and the best thing is that they distribute the aid themselves, so we receive it directly.”

Sense of control

Lucy Morris, our programme officer for Afghanistan, said, “Through our work with CRS, we have provided people with enough food and fuel to help them survive.

“The vouchers allow people to select the things that they need most, and help to give people back a sense of control.”

Lucy adds, “In the long term, we will help families find ways to earn an income so they can support themselves, which will also enable traditional support systems like zakat to recover.”

In the meantime, Zia says, “Now I can sleep at night, knowing my family can eat.”

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