Winter in the West
Afghanistan Blog | 1st February 2008
Our field director in Afghanistan reports on life during one of the worst winters in living memory and its impact on the street children we work with.
From my hotel room there was a panoramic view of the city and all I can see were mounds and mounds of snow, the landmarks distinguishing road and streams had disappeared, and almost all the Afghanis were carry shovels and wheel barrows for clearing snow.
There was an almost complete shut down of markets and black marketeering and hyperinflation reigned for one week and continues to. Mobility was severely curtailed, as many taxis and cars broke down. Fuel prices have skyrocketed.
The situation for children living on streets was grim. There were a few children who took shelter in garages and restaurants. Finding shelter for these children was extremely difficult but we were able to negotiate with orphanages who eventually admitted the children.
This excerpt from a UNAMA report shows the extent of the problems in Western Afghanistan:
“Up to 17 January 2008 the following human and livestock deaths were reported to UNAMA by the Provincial Combined Disaster Management Teams (P-CDMTs) of the Western region:
Herat: Human fatality: 105 persons / Livestock: 28,700 goat, sheep and cows.
Ghor: Human fatality: 27 persons / Livestock: 849 goat, sheep and cows.
Farah: Human fatality: 20 persons / Livestock: 317 sheep and cows.
Badghis: Human fatality: 53 persons / Livestock: 12,250 sheep, goat and cows.
Badghis has been hard hit by several avalanches in Murghab. Approximately 100 villages are cut off from the district centres in Ghor. Several people were killed by avalanches in Saghar district or were trapped in the snow while on the road. Ghorian, Shindand and Farsi districts were hardest hit in Herat province as shepherds were caught outside with their livestock when the cold front hit the area. In Farah province, Purchaman and Lash wa Juwein districts were most affected.
The closure of many roads due to the heavy unexpected snowfall has led to people having limited access to food and fuel and being able to seek medical care when needed. In areas such as Farah and Ghorian, people have never experienced large amounts of snow and extreme cold temperatures and were not prepared in matters of clothes and fuel to be able to cope with the cold. Even animals were badly affected since there is no shelter or fodder available for them.”
After ten days of getting acclimatised to the cold I went out to the market. I could see many more women and children on begging on the streets. There are increased reports of assault, robbery and stealing as people are desperate for food and warmth.
The government systems, UN and other NGOs are very inadequately prepared for such worst case scenarios. The anger and disillusionment with government inefficiency and ineffectiveness is increasing. Now some government officials have started to hold the locals NGOs to ransom for delivering the aid. We are continuously facing these challenges with the juvenile justice department. The government expects aid agencies to bail them out of all crises and are crude in the way they try to negotiate support. While the impact of snow has been colossal, the government’s estimates go over and beyond the actual impact.
