1099 persons asking for help
Taloqan, April 11, 2011.
Yesterday, due to bad weather in Badakhshan making it impossible to fly out of there, we were forced to drive to the other main Mission East base in the North-east of Afghanistan.
This provided us with the great chance of meeting some of the 75 Mission East staff based in the Taloqan office, and of spending a couple of hours in a poor village just outside of Taloqan, now finally getting basic help in terms of clean water, hygiene education and sanitary installations.
Despite encouraging improvements in recent years, with a reduction in infant mortality rates, better access to clean water, and a strong growth in the economy, life expectancy in Afghanistan remains at only 43 years, with only 27 percent of Afghans having access to safe drinking water and 5 percent to adequate sanitation.
Seeing Mission East and our local partner, the ‘Peace Organization’, working jointly on a water and sanitation project in the poor village of Taka Tamest, changing the lives of the 1099 persons there, was another encouraging sign that indeed Afghanistan is moving in the right direction.
Read MoreYesterday, due to bad weather in Badakhshan making it impossible to fly out of there, we were forced to drive to the other main Mission East base in the North-east of Afghanistan.
This provided us with the great chance of meeting some of the 75 Mission East staff based in the Taloqan office, and of spending a couple of hours in a poor village just outside of Taloqan, now finally getting basic help in terms of clean water, hygiene education and sanitary installations.
Despite encouraging improvements in recent years, with a reduction in infant mortality rates, better access to clean water, and a strong growth in the economy, life expectancy in Afghanistan remains at only 43 years, with only 27 percent of Afghans having access to safe drinking water and 5 percent to adequate sanitation.
Seeing Mission East and our local partner, the ‘Peace Organization’, working jointly on a water and sanitation project in the poor village of Taka Tamest, changing the lives of the 1099 persons there, was another encouraging sign that indeed Afghanistan is moving in the right direction.
The signs of poverty are to be seen everywhere in the village. Last year, the village elders went to see the District Governor who in turn referred them to the Provincial Governor, who in turn referred them to the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, who in turn referred them to Mission East. Before starting the project, Mission East had long discusssions with the village elders, clarifying mutual expectations and signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the village.
