Cautious hope

Lutheran, The, Apr 2002 by Frerichs, Jonathan

Today is better than yesterday for Afghan families receiving Lutheran aid

`We stayed home during the bombing'

Food shipments in Afghanistan decreased during the U.S.bombing, putting millions of people at risk. Despite warplanes and armed soldiers, Afghan aid workers helped 23,000 families by buying staples locally and setting up an underground ration system.One twomonth supply, made possible in part with money from U.S. Lutherans, reached a widow named Rahilla (her full name) living near Kabul.

Rahilla: "We stayed home during the bombing, which destroyed a camp used by Al Qaeda just up the road from here. We were afraid, and a nearby house collapsed, but we had no place to go.

"I've been a widow since a rocket landed here in 1996. The Taliban were fighting the Northern Alliance. One day, just over there, a rocket killed my husband. His [government] job was all we had. We don't own any land. Neighbors and relatives give us food and money from time to time. That's how we survive.

"During this war we received an aid parcel. There were 220 pounds of flour, 22 pounds of cooking butter, six pounds of sugar and some blankets. We didn't get anything like this during the war that killed my husband.

"I'm very happy the Taliban are gone. I've been waiting for this for a long time. It was a Taliban rocket that made me a widow.

"Now I'm optimistic about the future. I'm hoping for better times."

`The next six months will tell us a lot'

Former soldier Agi Amanullah laid down his weapons years ago to work for the development of his country. He has a job in the Mazar-e-Sharif area with a local relief group that works with Action by Churches Together,an ELCA and Lutheran World Relief partner.

Amanullah: "Men are still carrying guns-sometimes since they were teenagers. It's their living. We will have to make a deal with them that is sweeter than what they can do with a gun.

"During this last war ... we realized that, although innocent people were killed, the bombs this time were keeping very strictly to their own targets.

"During and after the war we've helped displaced people with tents, food and blankets, building small houses and digging wells. We have a mobile clinic that visits the camps and trains midwives. We are also sending convoys of food out to remote villages where the hunger is worst.

"I lost all hope about three years ago under the Taliban when so many of our schools were closed. During an education meeting in Kabul, an old man with nothing to lose [spoke] about how low a nation had sunk if it was ashamed to educate its children. He was right.

"My family is still in Pakistan. I will bring them back to Afghanistan when our schools reopen. I have hope, but the next six months will tell us a lot about our future."

'I am happy. We have a home...'

Months before Sept. 11, drought and civil war smoldered across northern Afghanistan. People fleeing these dangers set up camps around Mazar-e-Sharif. By the time the city came under siege last fall, 15,000 families had settled in 27 camps. Aid workers resettled 2,500 of the most vulnerable families at Sakhi,a camp outside of town,where for Abdel Nabi,today is a little better than yesterday, but tomorrow is still a question mark.

Nabi: "About the time the warlords took over we lost everything and became beggars. We've been on the move for nine years. I work as a daily laborer whenever I can. My 15-year-- old son found work as a waiter, paid with food.

Last summer we [camped] on the edge of Mazar-e-Sharif. People in white vehicles came to give us help. They registered us [and] offered ration cards. Then [relief workers] gave us a tent, tarpaulins, blankets and food. Later they helped us build a solid house. They also dug wells. I am happy here. We are out of the Taliban's control, and we have a

home ....

To help:

Five million (one in five) Afghans need food. The war has displaced one in three from their homes. Members of Action by Churches Together are providing aid to Afghanistan, with $1.25 million so far from the ELCA and Lutheran World Relief. Prayers, concern and funds will be needed for years to come. For more stories on Afghanistan, visit www.lwr. org. Send monetary gifts to: ELCA International Disaster Response, PO Box 71764, Chicago, IL 60694-1764.

Frerichs is communication director of Lutheran World Relief.