Afghanistan: Providing 600 families access to safe, clean water

Islamic Relief provided 600 families access to safe drinking water, after constructing three solar-powered water networks in three rural villages: Kamal, Azar and Raja, and Miama villages in the Gayan district of Paktika province.

The water networks also include three concrete water storage tanks and solar panel-powered pumps, which pump water from the wells to the central tanks. Then, through a network of gravity-fed pipes, water is distributed throughout the village.

Most of the locals in Afghanistan rely on farming and grazing as a source of income. A string of unsuccessful harvests and animal deaths brought on by the protracted drought caused previously prosperous families to give up their conventional means of subsistence.

Gani Khaila, a 50-year-old widowed mother, lives with ten children and grandchildren in Kamal, a remote hilly village in Gayan district of Paktika province. She is sharing a two-room mud brick home with the rest of her family. There’s no indication of any bedding except for a few old blankets and pillows stacked in the corner.

“Throughout my life, I have always known the river valleys as our water source. Sometimes the water is clear, and some days muddy and smelly. It didn’t matter. We used it for drinking, washing and cooking.”

Traditionally, women and girls are responsible for collecting water for their households. So, without a nearby well, they have no option but to walk miles to find water. Women and girls bear the brunt of water shortages as they trek long distances to collect water, exposing them to risks such as sexual and physical abuse.

She said emotionally. “When I first woke up in the morning, it was never about food; only water worried me most.”
Struggling to speak, she said further; “Other women and girls have the strength to walk and fetch water from the river, which is far away. I can no longer walk and carry water on my head. Since then, I have been asking people for water door-to-door.”

Islamic Relief constructed three solar-powered water networks in three rural villages: Kamal, Azar and Raja, and Miama villages in the Gayan district of Paktika province. The water networks also include three concrete water storage tanks and solar panel-powered pumps that pump water from the wells to the central tanks. Then, through a network of gravity-fed pipes, water is distributed throughout the village. Today, 600 families have access to safe drinking water.

Before these networks were built, about 300 school going children had to walk 3km daily to fetch water for their families. The new water facility means women and girls won’t have to endanger their lives by walking great distances, and children won’t be exposed to contaminated water that can cause cholera, diarrhoea, and typhoid.

Gani prays for the donors and supporters who brought water to her doorstep and promises to continue asking them for forgiveness from Allah in the remaining part of her life.