MEDAIR
Water and Sanitation October 2011
It is ten years since the Taliban lost power in Afghanistan, and since then over 800 billion dollars worth of Aid has flooded the country. But despite this, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world; 92 % of the population have no proper sanitation; four out of five people have no access to safe drinking water. Over twenty percent of children under the age of five will die as a result of water related diseases. In October, 2011, I was asked to travel with the international NGO, Medair, to photograph their Water and Sanitation (WASH) programmes in the province of Bamyan in Western Afghanistan.
MEDAIR’s WASH teams have assisted over 40,000 people. They have provided communities with hygiene education, protected fresh water springs from contamination, built wells, latrines and stand pipes and encouraged communities to develop hygienic practices as part of their daily lives.
Community members participate in a WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) meeting in the village of Talaqul, Bamyan, Afghanistan, on the 19th October, 2011.
- Community members participate in a WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) meeting after which they receive red plastic buckets to help them implement what they have learnt in the village of Talaqul, Bamyan, Afghanistan, on the 19th October, 2011.
- Community members participate in a WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) meeting after which they receive red plastic buckets to help them implement what they have learnt in the village of Talaqul, Bamyan, Afghanistan, on the 19th October, 2011.
- A view down one of the valleys in which Medair work near the the village of Talaqul, Bamyan, Afghanistan, on the 19th October, 2011.
- Small houses dot the landscape in valleys in which Medair have WASH projects throughout Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 21st October, 2011.
- Yousef, who has six children, holds up his harvest of potatoes at his house in the village of Borlak Paein in Bamyan Afghanistan on October 21st 2011. As a result of a prolonged drought his crop is not as good as it has been and he has had to buy in a lot of food for the winter. His village have never had WASH but have heard of the benefits and would like to see the programme implemented.
- Yousef, who has six children, holds up his harvest of potatoes at his house in the village of Borlak Paein in Bamyan Afghanistan on October 21st 2011. As a result of a prolonged drought his crop is not as good as it has been and he has had to buy in a lot of food for the winter. His village have never had WASH but have heard of the benefits and would like to see the programme implemented.
- Women collect water from a stream in the village of Borlak Paein in Bamyan Afghanistan on October 21st 2011. Their village has never had WASH but have heard of the benefits and would like to see the programme implemented.
- A young girl feeds her goats in the village of Borlak Paein in Bamyan Afghanistan on October 21st 2011. Her village has never had WASH but have heard of the benefits and would like to see the programme implemented.
- Masomah, who was widowed when her husband was killed during the war with the Russians, poses for photographs with her two grandchildren who now live with her after their mother left to marry another man when her husband died. She is a beneficiary of Medairs vulnerable persons programme as she has no means of income or place of her own to live.
- Masomah, who was widowed when her husband was killed during the war with the Russians, poses for photographs with her two grandchildren who now live with her after their mother left to marry another man when her husband died. She is a beneficiary of Medairs vulnerable persons programme as she has no means of income or place of her own to live.
- A woman holds her child who is suffering from acute diarrhea in the district hospital in Panjob in the province of Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 22nd October, 2011. The doctor in the hospital said that he has noticed that villages in which WASH programmes have run have much less cases of water related diseases.
- Community members participate in a WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) meeting after which they receive red plastic buckets to help them implement what they have learnt in the village of Talaqul, Bamyan, Afghanistan, on the 19th October, 2011.
- A sewing machine, marked with the words Titanic, sits in the corner of a room where community members participate in a WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) meeting after which they receive red plastic buckets to help them implement what they have learnt in the village of Talaqul, Bamyan, Afghanistan, on the 19th October, 2011.
- Community members participate in a WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) meeting after which they receive red plastic buckets to help them implement what they have learnt in the village of Talaqul, Bamyan, Afghanistan, on the 19th October, 2011.
- A young girl herds her sheep in the evening light near to the village of Bostock, in the province of Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 18th October, 2011.
- A young girl herds her sheep in the evening light near to the village of Bostock, in the province of Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 18th October, 2011.
- Young girls pose for a photograph near to a water pump installed by Medair in the village of Bostock in Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 20th October, 2011.
- A girl leads donkeys while her father stands on the plough behind in a village in the region of Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 21st October, 2011. As a result of a prolonged drought the harvest this year is much less than it has been in previous years and many people are worried that they may not have enough food to see them through the winter months.
- The wife of Yousef, who has six children, washes potatoes at their house in the village of Borlak Paein in Bamyan Afghanistan on October 21st 2011. As a result of a prolonged drought his crop is not as good as it has been and he has had to buy in a lot of food for the winter. His village have never had WASH but have heard of the benefits and would like to see the programme implemented.
- Masomah, who was widowed when her husband was killed during the war with the Russians, poses for photographs with her two grandchildren who now live with her after their mother left to marry another man when her husband died. She is a beneficiary of MEDAIRS's vulnerable persons programme as she has no means of income or place of her own to live.
- Women take part in a WASH training, organised by Medair in the village mosque in Obuqa, in the region of Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 22nd October, 2011.
- Photos of the prophet Mohammed decorate the walls of a mosque where women take part in a WASH training, organised by Medair in the village mosque in Obuqa, in the region of Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 22nd October, 2011.
- Women take part in a WASH training, organised by Medair in the village mosque in Obuqa, in the region of Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 22nd October, 2011.
- A woman holds her child who is suffering from acute diarrhea in the district hospital in Panjob in the province of Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 22nd October, 2011. The doctor in the hospital said that he has noticed that villages in which WASH programmes have run have much less cases of water related diseases.
- Amin, who is disabled and a widow, poses for a photograph in his home in the village near Panjob, in Bamyan Afghanistan on October 22nd, 2011. Amin is a beneficiary of Medairs Financial support programme for vulnerable people and has been able to pay off loans with the money they have given him.
- Amin, who is disabled and a widower, poses for a photograph in his home in the village near Panjob, in Bamyan Afghanistan on October 22nd, 2011. Amin is a beneficiary of Medairs Financial support programme for vulnerable people and has been able to pay off loans with the money they have given him.
- An old man carries food he has just harvested in a basket on his back up a hillside in the region of Bamyan, Afghanistan on the 22nd October, 2011.
