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Dateline ACT

Afghanistan 01/04

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A weight off their shoulders and a roof over their heads

By Chris Menist, Church World Service - Pakistan/Afghanistan/ACT International

Shomali Valley, Afghanistan, June 30, 2004--Nothing can quite prepare one for the abject destruction of the village of Uzbashi. An isolated village, it has the feel of an ancient ruin, not a place that suffered this damage only a few years ago.

In a courtyard surrounded by several ruined houses, Masoum Khan is slowly building a shelter that will eventually be a home for his family, as well as protection from the relentless sunshine that beats down on this arid landscape.

Khan is being assisted through the House Reconstruction Program of Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS) and its local partner, Norwegian Project Office/Rural Rehabilitation Association for Afghanistan. CWS is a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, a global alliance of churches and related agencies. With support from ACT members around the world, CWS has been working in Afghanistan’s Shomali Valley since November 2003 as part of an appeal that also includes ACT members Norwegian Church Aid and Hungarian Interchurch Aid. ACT member United Methodist Committee on Relief joined the work this year in Afghanistan.

As he sits on the ground in the half-completed shelter, Khan explains that he and his family have been back in their home country for only one and a half months. Before that, he had been in exile in Pakistan for 24 years. “When the Russians came and the war started, I decided to go there, and I stayed for all those years,” he says quietly.

Because the Shomali Valley was the frontline between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, people fled to neighboring countries to save their lives. Now most of them have returned to their area of origin, but have no shelter or source of income.

CWS is providing families with house reconstruction materials and skilled labor as they resettle in the area. The materials from CWS will allow each family to reconstruct a house of two rooms, a corridor and a latrine.

“When the Taliban left, I heard from my villagers that security and everything was okay,” Khan continues. “They said NGOs were coming and assisting needy people. Then I decided, ‘I am working here, but it is better to go back to my home.’ So I came back.”

In spite of the current state of his village, he says he doesn’t regret leaving Pakistan after all that time.

“When I came [back], I saw a lot of destruction," he says. "But I knew that one day I would come back. It is better that I’ve come at this time, as I’ve received assistance as well.”

Mohammad Nabi has also returned, and has been back in Uzbashi for six months. After the Russian invasion, he went to a camp near Mianwali, in Punjab Province, where he stayed for 14 years. He made a living loading and unloading tractors of soil and other materials.

“We are happy with this project, especially with the engineers,’ he says. “If this assistance didn’t come to us, I would have to be a refugee somewhere because I wasn’t in a position to construct my house. They help us a lot.”

Abdul Sattar agrees. “This project will mobilize others to reconstruct and come back to their country and their village. We are also happy with all the staff from this organization. They are working with us as brothers.”

The village of Qala-e-Nasro is not in the same perilous state as Uzbashi, but it is the location of more home rebuilding, which has made a promising start.

"When the Taliban came here, this village was the frontline between Taliban and the Northern Alliance. The Taliban was in this village," Abdul Ghani, the head of the village shura (collective decision-making body), says.

Most residents of this village are very poor, worsened by the onset of a drought this year, despite good rains in 2002 and 2003.

"There are two groups of people here," explains Said Agha, a villager. "One has some small [amounts of] money. Already they have started their businesses. The second group, they don’t have any access [to resources]. They are walking around their lands and they are praying to God to send rain, so they can survive."

The majority of the village’s residents are in the second group, and the provision of shelter is hugely welcomed.

"Since this project has started, there’s been a big change in this village," says Abdul Ghani. "Every day people are coming back because they hear that people have started their houses and NGOs are assisting in this village."

"It was so difficult for us when we came back," adds Agha. "When we came here, all the village was destroyed, and we had a lot of problems. In the first year, we stayed in Kabul. When we arrived here it was raining, but there was no place to have shelter from the rain. We are happy with this project. It was very timely for us."

In all, CWS plans to assist 1,000 families (approximately 7,000 people) with their shelter needs. So far, in the first phase of the program, 250 homes have been reconstructed. CWS and the other ACT members working in Afghanistan are hoping for more funding so they can complete their programs as planned.

Another villager, Sher Agha, sums up his feelings about the project. “One person went to the mountain; he collected some things, like wood. He carried it on his shoulders back down. Because the distance was so far to the village, he got tired. Another person came and said, ‘Can I help you to carry the load?’ Of course, he was happy because he was so tired. This project is like that. We are so happy because we had a lot of problems. This is that kind of help, a weight off our shoulders.”