Support vulnerable families in rural Afghanistan

Fatima lives with her son, daughter, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren in a remote village in Afghanistan. Now 70-years old, Fatima has lived in this village for her whole life, and has witnessed many changes over the decades. Her husband had lived here by her side until three years ago, when sadly he fell ill and passed away.

Following her husband’s death, the family were forced to live on one income. Working as a labourer, Fatima’s son’s income can be very insecure, with many jobs drying up as a result of ongoing economic crisis and the oncoming winter season. The money he earns is often not enough to properly feed a family of eight, or make sure they have enough fuel and heating equipment for the harsh winter months. During the winter months, he is also unable to supplement his income with farm work until spring comes.

The isolated nature of Fatima’s village also makes it much harder to source the essentials they need. “The market is very far away,” she told us, “it costs 150 Afghanis to go to market and 150 Afghani to return, so we cannot afford to go and buy items that we need. The land closer to the city is too expensive, so we have to live here.”

When Afghanaid visited Fatima’s village, she immediately signed herself up to receive winterisation support. A key component of our work in the winter months, our winterisation projects work to ensure vulnerable families have what they need to stay healthy and strong throughout winter, and to increase their resilience when the temperature begins to drop. Necessities like blankets, lamps and stoves provide a lifeline for these families. 

Fatima told us how important this support was to her: “Afghanaid helped us with items for the winter season like blankets, gas stove and solar power. And I am very happy and used these items well in winter. Thanks a lot Afghanaid for helping us with these items because in the war I lost my home appliances and I didn’t have anything to use.”

In Afghanistan, nearly 8.6 million children live in homes that do not have enough blankets to go around. With support from people like you, Fatima was able to keep her grandchildren warm in the cold winter months, ensure her family stayed safe and warm, and begin to rebuild their lives after the tumultuous events of the past 12 months. We’ve supported over 1.57 million people across Afghanistan with emergency humanitarian support since the Taliban takeover. Your generosity ensures we can reach even more vulnerable families this winter.