Afghans face new challenges during the chilling winter months, and life continues to worsen for many families who are uncertain about their next meal. A Bamiyan widow named Kubra lives in this predicament. She lost all of her firewood in August this year when they fled their home amid the chaos after the Taliban moved towards Kabul. Furthermore, the flour she bought months ago is going to expire in a couple of days.
During the chilling winter season, Kubra says she does not know how she will get fuel to heat her room. Also, she doesn’t know where she will get her next meal for her and her grandchildren. 57-year-old Kubra says they received 2 sacks of flour last spring, which they still use. After that, they need to believe that God will help them.
According to Kubra, she and her family won’t be able to eat for the next few days. Every other household has been left at the mercy of God due to the shortage of food and water. Kubra’s dire situation is the same as all the other houses in Bamiyan. Because of severe droughts and money shortages, locals have suffered greatly in their daily lives.
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan resulted in the confiscation of all foreign aid, which constituted over 80 percent of the country’s GDP. The US and the international community are unsure about trusting the new Taliban regime. This is in addition to sanctions imposed by the US on top leaders of the Taliban, resulting in a crisis of water and food in Afghanistan. Nearly 9 million Afghans are at risk of starvation as winter approaches, according to estimates by the United Nations (UN).
Kubra’s family, like many others in the region, relies on working on farms from spring to summer, earning potatoes as a reward. She is sitting in her one-room house, which is not spacious enough to accommodate the whole family, as she says, ‘My son used to collect scrap metal, but now he has nothing to do’.
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Mama Massouma, a 26-year-old mother of four, has always had a difficult life with very limited food options. Rice and cooking oil were the only foods she prepared for her family every day. Now, she only cooks the same meal once a week. ‘We never used to have different kinds of food, but in the past it was alright, we had rice and cooking oil. We used to cook once a day and that was good. Now, it’s once a week and sometimes there isn’t even any bread to eat,’ said Massouma.
According to the Taliban, they are well aware of the current crisis that the people are suffering through. According to their leaders, part of the cause of this crisis is the negative impact of nearly four decades of war, mismanagement and corruption under Ashraf Ghani’s previous government.
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