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The Story of Shahnaz
by Susan Reynolds, CARE Staff
CARE employee recounts the heartrending first-hand account of a young girl struggling to make ends meet in Afghanistan.
I have been working for CARE Afghanistan since 1997 as a monitoring and evaluation officer in CARE's Partnership Umbrella Initiative (PUI). PUI administers the Canada Fund for local initiatives on behalf of the Canadian High Commission. By providing financial, technical and managerial support to Afghan non governmental organizations (NGOs), PUI is strengthening their ability to carry out effective development and relief efforts.
The major part of my job involves monitoring PUI-supported projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I travel often to Afghanistan where I see the impact of CARE's interventions, especially on needy women and children. Although I face a lot of difficulties and risks as a woman working in Afghanistan, I love my job because it brings me closer to my people. Through my work I am able to understand their problems and help them to overcome them.
One of PUI's most valuable partners is ASCHIANA, an organization that is working to address the needs of orphans and street children in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city. Commenting on the significance of CARE's assistance, ASCHIANA's director, Mohammad Yousef said, "CARE's PUI project extended valuable assistance in training many of our children in carpet weaving, electronic repair and other profitable vocations."
On a recent visit, I met Shahnaz, one of the girls who has received such training. She shared her story with me. Shahnaz and her younger brothers were orphaned. She spoke of this and the suffering that they have endured, and how ASCHIANA has touched their lives. Her story is not unique, but it is compelling.
"It was in the evening of the month of Mizan (September) in the Afghan year of 1371 (1992). A rocket landed on our house and injured my father, mother and myself. Shortly after, my mother passed away because of the injuries. My father died four days later. That left my two brothers and myself alone and parentless. Now it has been eight years since I lost my parents. Since then, I have had the responsibilities of father and mother for my brothers.
"After some time the physical wounds healed and I recovered my health, but life did not have any value and meaning to me. We started our life in our uncle's house. He had to feed us as my brothers and myself were too young to work to earn our own bread. I was 13 years old when my uncle told us that he was not able to provide us with food and clothing. He wanted to support us to some minimum degree, but his wife was the main hindrance. They had fights and arguments about us every day. They had a bitter life and we were tasting the consequences. Such unrest and disturbance continued until we were forced to cover our own expenses.
"It is very hard and even intolerable to have responsibilities and not be able to fulfill and cope with them. I had to find something to eat for my brothers and myself. But what could I have done being 13 years old and having no literacy, skills, or ability to work?
"Such circumstances force you to do anything possible, so I started sewing. I made small bags and sacks using old garments purchased from the market. Nobody wanted to buy the sacks and I was not happy with the work. The money I earned from one week was only sufficient to purchase one kilogram [2.2 pounds] of low quality rice.
"Lack of money for me and my brothers' worried me a lot. So I searched for more work and my neighbors gave me some wool for spinning. One kilogram of wool was spun in a weeks time for which I earned Afghanis 13,000 [45 cents]. After a while, it was raised to Afghanis 15,000 [52 cents] and then Afghanis 20,000 [70 cents]. The work was difficult and the amount of money was still not enough for us.
"I was in a very difficult position. I did not have any other way except to send my brothers out to collect pieces of paper and wood to use as fuel to make tea and cook meals. It was very agonizing for me as my brothers were too young for such work. They were roving around and searching for materials on streets and alleys as well as junkyards under the severe heat of the sun. And whatever they brought home was not doing anything to improve our condition of life.
"My youngest brother, Qand Agha, was crying from morning to noon for a piece of bread because he was hungry and we did have any to give to him. So he accompanied his brother, hoping that a compassionate person might give him a piece of bread. You can imagine how hard it was for me to see him out on the streets, but what else could I have done? Life was passing in a very bitter condition for us.
"One memory I will never forget: In June 2000, I became ill with a severe case of malaria. The sickness made it so I couldn't work. I could not sew sacks, spin wool, or even prepare meals for my brothers. I could not eat anything: I just slept. One day while sleeping, a loud noise woke me up. Then I got out of the room, I found out that my young brother, being hungry, had taken a piece of bread from my uncle's house. My cousins had seen him do so. My uncle's wife ran after him and began to beat him. I beat him also. This incident was very hard for me as he had stolen the bread because he was hungry. Hunger does not recognize theft and evil deeds, it knows only need.
"But our bad fortune finally changed. One day my older brother came home and told me that while collecting the pieces of paper and wood from the garbage, he met some people who took him to a place called ASCHIANA. They had fed him and treated him well -- something he had not experienced for many years. After a short time, my youngest brother also was admitted to ASCHIANA.
"From that time, a complete change and improvement took place in our life. They were not hungry any more. They had clothes and were clean and tidy. Also they were learning useful skills. They made things at ASCHIANA that they sold on the streets to pay for fuel for making tea and cooking food. My oldest brother was trained in carpentry skills and will be able to work as a carpenter to make money.
"Fortunately, after recovering from illness, I was admitted by ASCHIANA too as an apprentice of carpet weaving. I have learned carpet weaving and in the meantime, I am paid Rupees 500 [$8.24] per month as a stipend. With this money, I can purchase basic food items and other requirements. This money is still not enough for all our needs so I also am spinning wool. But I am planning to start weaving carpets at home to earn income in the future.
"It is very obvious that if ASCHIANA did not help us at this critical time, we would not have been able to overcome all our problems and difficulties. We are indebted to ASCHIANA for saving us from such a dreadful life."
CARE in Afghanistan
CARE established its mission in Afghanistan in 1961. Its first projects focused on medical training and improving health care service delivery. The 1979 Soviet invasion and the violent civil war that followed made it necessary for CARE to suspend operations from 1980 until 1989. In 1989, CARE launched a relief and rehabilitation project in Konar province, an area that had been badly affected by the war. CARE currently operates a wide variety of activities, including local NGO-strengthening with partners like ASCHIANA, food distribution, road reconstruction, irrigation system repair, erosion control, water and sanitation system rehabilitation/operation, home schooling, and small economic activity development. Due to the insecurity caused by continued fighting between rival factions, CARE Afghanistan's main office is located in Peshawar, Pakistan, near the Afghan/Pakistani border, but CARE maintains sub-offices in Kabul and five other cities.
*The author's name has been changed to protect their privacy.
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