Reflections Under the Afghan Sun

By Vicel Meregillano-Hicks and Caroline Brennan

Mohammad Ayoob leans contentedly against a sunny wall, warming himself from the cold winter. A troop of children walk by on their way to school. He watches people below fill their buckets of water from a new, deep well and recounts that it wasn't always like this.

Now 70, Mohammad had a difficult childhood, but one not unlike many living in this rural village of Poshte Barikzai in western Afghanistan. He was born to a family of farmers and suffered the loss of his father when he was just 2 years old. Immediately following his father's death, Mohammad watched his older brothers assume the caretaking responsibilities for the family.

By the time he was of age to attend school, Mohammad instead tended the farm. Many young men in his village were doing the same. For years, Mohammad would collect firewood, and labor in the field. His family owned almost 10 acres of land, and their living depended on the income from planting and selling wheat. The work was rigorous, and took a high toll on the family.

"One by one, my older brothers died. My brothers worked hard on our field. They got sick a lot. There was no clinic near our village, and it was too expensive to go the city for treatment," says Mohammad.

A Hard Row

Mohammad was a young adult when his brothers died. Suddenly, as the next male adult, the responsibility of taking care of his family was thrust upon him.

Mohammad worked hard to produce a bountiful harvest. Unfortunately, the rainy season brought flooding, which often destroyed crops, fertile land and the area's only irrigation canal. One year, Mohammad witnessed floodwaters rip his field in half, making one section unsuitable for cultivation.

For years, flood devastation was a burden on Poshte Barikzai's people and their livelihoods. Many felt powerless. Mohammad worked on half of what remained of his field in hopes that one day the flooded path would be covered in concrete to prevent flooding of nearby irrigation canals and fields.

Years have passed. Mohammad Ayoob is now married with seven children and approaching his 71st birthday.

"For years my sons and I worked in sowing, cultivating and harvesting wheat from our field. We also spent time fixing and repairing irrigation canals and trying to do whatever we could to prevent floodwaters from destroying our crops and remaining fertile land. Despite all the hard work, my wish of getting a good harvest [wouldn't] come true," says Mohammad.

In 2006, Catholic Relief Services came to the village to support the community with the Rural Development program, which carries out livelihood and water projects. In less than a year, Mohammad's community took part in the construction of three concrete flood channels to prevent damage from the rainy season. The project also involved the construction of deep wells for clean drinking water.

"We now have safe drinking water in the village. We used to get our drinking water from the river. I even donated 20 square meters [about 24 square yards] of my land so that CRS can dig a well there. I did this for my people because I want to take part in solving the problems here in our village," says Mohammad.

'Thank God My Wish Came True'

CRS has worked in western Afghanistan since 2001 and focuses on long-term development in some of the most rural, impoverished areas of the country. In close collaboration with communities and local leadership, CRS implements projects that improve the quality of and accessibility to sustainable agriculture, clean water, hygiene and sanitation.

In Mohammad's village alone, roughly 3,000 families have benefited from water projects. This include 120 children, mostly girls, attending the new village school. Another 5,000 people have benefited from the paid labor involved in the water irrigation projects, and scores of women have taken part in the hygiene awareness trainings.

"These days, I feel young again. I want to cultivate all my land next year. All the farmers in my village now harvest more crops. We no longer face the danger of floodwaters destroying our crops and our land," says Mohammad.

And, nearly six decades after he first took to his family's fields, Mohammad feels great appreciation for the chances now so visible for his family and those around him.

"I thank God that my wish came true after 70 years. Now that it is cold, I sit under [the] sun beside this wall and joyfully watch children going to school. I see that my people are happy. I see farmers working hard on their land. I enjoy all this, and I thank God that I lived long enough to see my wish come true," he says.

Vicel Meregillano-Hicks is a pharmacist and consultant to CRS Afghanistan on health programs. Caroline Brennan is the CRS regional information officer for Asia based in Delhi.