Afghanistan Humanitarian Bulletin Issue 47 | 01 – 31 December 2015

HIGHLIGHTS

• Military airstrikes forced female-headed family to flee Pakistan.

• Family found shelter on the property of a compassionate neighbour.

• Following registration as refugees, CARE and UNHCR provided essential items.

• With materials supplied by CARE and the acquisition of new weaving skills, single mother now earns an income to support her five children.

CARE helps female-headed refugee families

Even before military operations forced 36-year-old Basira and her five children to flee their home in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area, life was a struggle. Three years ago, Basira’s husband was killed tragically in a traffic accident, leaving Basira, her two sons and three daughters without a viable source of income.

Since traditional Waziristan culture forbids women from working outside of the home, the burden of supporting the family fell on the shoulders of Basira’s first born son Ahmad, who was merely 9 years old at the time of his father’s death. The family managed to subsist on Ahmad’s meagre earnings of 50 to 100 Pakistani rupees (about US$.50-$1) per day hauling items in his wheelbarrow at the local market.

Family lost everything in military airstrikes

But then an aggressive military campaign was launched in June 2014, aimed at routing out militant groups in North Waziristan. “We lost everything in the bombings. We had no belongings to bring. All we could do was try to save our lives,” recalls Basira of her family’s harrowing journey across the Pakistan-Afghan border into Khost Province’s Gurbuz District.

Bashira, her eldest son Ahmad, 12, daughters Zarghona, 6, Mina, 4, Raisa, 3 and youngest son Mahmood, 3, all lived in a tent until winter set in and a compassionate man in Shah Wali Khan Village invited the family to move into an old abandoned house on his property. “The weather was getting cold and he could see I had small children,” says Basira. “Now, we live next to him as neighbours.”

The family were registered as refugees with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which provided them with food. UNHCR manages the database of registered refugee families in Afghanistan, including verifying records as well as cross-checking and updating data to improve the accuracy of information related to refugees in need of humanitarian assistance.

Cash for work project helps refugees provide for their families

Staff from the international non-governmental organization, CARE, also surveyed the needs of Basira and her children. “I was selected as an eligible beneficiary for winterization assistance and we received a winterization package from CARE. My children did not have any winter clothes or shoes and I couldn’t afford to buy them any so it was good assistance for us,” says Basira. Each winterization package contained three blankets, one plastic sheet, and clothing for winter, including socks, hats, sweaters, gloves and boots for male and female members of the family.

Later, Basira was selected to participate in a cash for work project sponsored by CARE with funding from the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) that provided her with the opportunity to learn how to weave quilts. With materials supplied by CARE project staff members and the acquisition of new weaving skills, Basira is now able to generate an income and provide for her family. Her children no longer have to work and her schoolaged children are able to attend school. Basira could not be more pleased.

“I am earning 350 Afghanis per day weaving quilts,” the mother of five says proudly. “We are very happy that CARE has provided me with this opportunity to learn quilt weaving because it will allow me to support our family now and into the future.”