Daily Abuses and a Poisoned Political Atmosphere: Local NGOs Denounce During Digital Solidarity Visit
“I screamed at my husband to get up and run outdoors with the children as the earthquake struck at 1:30 AM,” said Raamineh.
Raamineh rushed outside carrying two of her children. She went back inside and managed to bring out three more of her children. “The roof collapsed and my husband and one son died under the rubble. After the earthquake, I started to dig through the rubble to find my husband and son. There was no help as everyone was searching for their loved ones under the debris. My brothers, who came for my rescue, lost their children in the earthquake too. But they helped me in recovering my husband and son’s lifeless bodies after six hours of digging.”
Raamineh saved two of her sons and three daughters. “One of my sons is severely injured. We lost all the cattle we owned, our home and belongings in the earthquake. I am left with nothing. I do not have any financial support to treat my injured son.”
Raamineh lived in Osam Rogha village of Giyan district with her husband and six children. Her husband worked as a labourer who earned a daily income of AFN 300 (Approx. USD 3.4) whenever he managed to find work. “Life was challenging enough before the earthquake struck. As our income did not meet our eight family members’ needs, it was tough to get through each day. There are no schools in the area. In the morning, my children would attend the madrassa. They would travel to the mountains once they got home to gather wood to use as fuel.”
Osam Rogha has witnessed a death toll of over 15 people after the earthquake. The affected families were provided with AFN 500 by the government. In addition, some humanitarian organisations provided the families basic food supplies, such as bread and biscuits. “We are in need of food, shelter and healthcare for the injured. As we reside in a remote area, there is little help till now,” added Raamineh sadly. “Our houses need to be rebuilt as the winters are approaching and we have to keep our children warm. There is nothing left here, only the injured.” Giyan and Barmal are the two districts which were severely affected by the earthquake. The districts are located alongside the Durand line, where access to transportation and health facilities is restricted. More than 3,000 houses have been destroyed in the earthquake that shook southeast Afghanistan.
This article is re-posted from Community World Service’s website
The aid organisation helps civilians living in bomb shelters and subway stations of the city besieged since the start of the war
Article shared by HIA
Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine in close proximity to the Russian border has received its first aid consignment from Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA). Half of the 1.5 million inhabitants have already fled due to the constant attacks on the city since the outbreak of war. Most of those who stayed have nowhere to go, or are unable to flee to a safer environment because they need to care for their small children, elderly and those needing constant medical care. Taking refuge in bomb shelters, cellars, basements and subway stations these people are subjected to 5-6 air raid warnings and subsequent attacks often lasting hours.
Several utility services are out of order, apartments are left without running water, gas or heating. Electricity is also frequently cut. Returning to flats in housing blocks – even if only for a couple of hours and presuming the flats are still intact – is very hard or the socially most disadvantaged civilians with health problems, as elevators have stopped working city-wide. Although in the city some grocery stores are still open, they can be hard to reach since public transport isn’t operational either. Travel is already risky due to the constant fighting, frequent missile attacks and air raids especially targeting infrastructure.
Sergei Babin and his wife have stayed in the city nevertheless. Their association “International Bridge” aims to help the citizens of Kharkiv suffering the effects of the war and is affiliated with HIA partners Zlatograd Foundation of Dnipro. Altogether, they have 50 volunteers helping them in their efforts. Despite all war-related difficulties, HIA managed to deliver an aid consignment to the besieged city on 30 April. The 70 food parcels and almost 100 hygiene kits were distributed to civilians who had been holed up in the subway stations and bunkers for a good part of the two months since the start of the invasion.
„There is a great need for food and hygiene products, potable water and flashlights. We receive a huge number of requests for aid from the hospitals, maternity wards of the different districts of the city, and there is also a shortage of medicine. We are grateful for any kind of help, as the people of Kharkiv have been suffering from this serious humanitarian crisis for many weeks now” said Sergey Babin, expressing his gratitude for the HIA aid consignment.
In the two months since the outbreak of the war, HIA has been able to continuously expand their assistance to new methods and geographical areas. The humanitarian operations now stretch from the extreme west of the country to the Dnieper bend in the east, encompassing 10 regions of Ukraine. Until 24 April, the HIA response has reached 70,921 people, providing emergency access to basic food and non-food items, health & hygiene products, protection and links to transportation services. In total, HIA has sent 40 trucks filled to brim with core relief – every week 4 or more trucks cross the Hungarian border. In addition to the tangible, in-kind aid, in cooperation with partner organisations the aid organisation is also able to provide psychosocial assistance to the traumatised people fleeing the horrors of war. Furthermore, the organisation also supplies over 200 community shelters for IDPs with all kinds of aid.
