Three people your donations reached in Afghanistan

In December last year, we launched an urgent appeal for the crisis in Afghanistan. 

Conflict, drought and the impact of the pandemic had combined to leave 95% of the population without enough to eat, and a million children at risk of dying from malnutrition. 

The DEC appeal has raised an incredible £50 million, thanks to the generosity of the UK public.

With this support, DEC charities have been able to reach over tens of thousands of people since the launch of the appeal, providing lifesaving food and cash, medical care, and malnutrition treatment. Working across many of Afghanistan’s provinces, the scale of our response has been both vast and crucial. 

From the thousands of people helped, here are three lives we have impacted, thanks to donations to the DEC appeal. Names have been changed to protect identities.

Fatima can go to school again

Fatima’s father died of cancer four years ago. Since then, the family’s sole source of income has been her brother Mohammed’s snack cart. He makes only a couple of dollars a day - not nearly enough to feed all his family. One by one, the children dropped out of school as they could not afford to eat, let alone buy school supplies.

Fatima’s mother Marzia received food parcels from DEC charity Islamic Relief.

“After receiving aid, we experienced extraordinary changes to our daily life,” she says. “As a mother, I no longer had to worry about how to feed my children. Mohammed was able to pay for school bags and books instead of buying food. If Islamic Relief didn’t provide this aid, my children would never be able to return to school.”

DEC charities have provided food assistance to tens of thousands of people since the launch of the appeal, and continue to reach those most in need.

Sameem is receiving lifesaving treatment

Sameem’s family struggle to get enough to eat, and hunger makes them vulnerable to disease. 

Last year, Sameem’s brother became sick, but in the words of his mother Yasamin,  “we didn’t have money to take him to get treatment and he lost his life. He was two years old.”

Yasamin became desperately worried when Sameem too developed chest pains and a cough that kept him awake at night. Thankfully, she was able to get treatment for him at a mobile clinic run by DEC charity Save the Children. 

Yasamin and her children are now receiving nutritious porridge to help them get the vitamins and minerals they need to stay healthy. Sameem is also receiving treatment for pneumonia.

Millions of children in Afghanistan are acutely malnourished. Save the Children’s work screening and supporting them has helped many children get through the difficult winter, and this crucial work continues in the months ahead.

Aina can afford to buy food for her family

Aina has watched the price of food spiral out of control over the past year, way beyond what she can afford.

“Last year it was 1,750 Afghanis [about £15.75] for a bag of flour. But now it is 3,000-3,300 Afghanis [£27 to £29.75].”

Aina was hugely relieved to receive cash support from DEC charity CAFOD, through their local partner in Afghanistan. She says:

“The cash distribution programme has been a lifeline for me and my family. Cash is good because every family has their own problems which are not alike. For example, there are families who already have food supplies, but they need cash to buy other things - like visiting a doctor or paying for transport.

“The help from the cash assistance is doing an amazing job at helping families like mine in the community to provide a better life for their children and themselves.”

Food prices in Afghanistan were already on the rise due to the worst drought in 27 years destroying the harvests. Now the conflict in Ukraine, one of the world’s largest wheat and sunflower oil exporters, has driven up the price of imported goods, pushing many Afghan families further into poverty and hunger.

Through their partner Caritas Germany, CAFOD have enabled thousands of families in Afghanistan to meet their own needs with dignity. In the next phase of our work, DEC charities will continue to provide emergency cash and also run livelihood projects to help people get back on their feet.

Donations are saving lives

Fatima, Sameem and Aina are just three out of thousands of people that DEC charities have supported in their hour of need. But as Aina says, “hunger and poverty still loom over many of us.” 

A crisis of this magnitude is not resolved quickly.

DEC charities will continue to provide emergency assistance to the people of Afghanistan and help them towards a more secure future.