1,300 most needy families get winter aid in Bamyan

BAMYAN CITY (Pajhwok): The Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) and the Islamic Relief Organization (IRO) distributed food and warm clothes to 1,300 needy families in central Bamyan province, an official said Thursday.

Ahmad Reza Rafat, ANDMA head for Bamyan, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the assistance included flour, rice, ghee, blankets, tarpaulin and a set of winter clothes.

He said the IRO provided the relief items to 500 needy families, with each family receiving a sack of flour, a sack of rice, ghee, a set of warm clothes, four blankets and two tarpaulins.

Rafat said 800 other families also received similar aid from Natural Disaster Management Authority and the package included three bags of flour, ghee and three blankets.

The number of needy families was high and only 10 percent of them, who were in desperate need of help, received the assistance due to shortage of resources, he added.

“We are ready to provide food assistance to 1,000 families in districts and 4,000 families in the provincial capital if a disaster strikes and other items will be provided by aid organizations in Bamyan,” he said.

Mohammad Jawad, a resident of Shebarto village of Bamyan city, told Pajhwok the current winter was very snowy and would reduce drought but it was also a challenging season for poor families.

He was happy over the assistance given to families in need. “We have no money to buy food or warm clothes for our children and this aid will somehow help protect children and others from the biting winter,” he added.

The aid distribution comes after 50 to 80 centimeters of snow was measured in some parts of the country.

mds/ma

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