We often go to bed hungry: Helmand widow

LASHKARGAH (Pajhwok): A woman in southern Helmand province, having lost her two sons in an airstrike two years ago, is facing a serious financial crisis. She has to support her eight children.

Zargari (not a real name), an elderly woman from Sangeen district, shared her painful story with Pajhwok Afghan News.

“My husband died a few years ago and my two sons were martyred the same day in an airstrike. Both her sons were engaged and her daughters-in-law remain widows in their parental houses,” she said.

The caretaker of two sons and six daughters, the woebegone woman has been facing in an extremely difficult financial situation.

“One of my sons is 10-year-old and the other eight-year-old. My daughters are older than my sons and they cannot go to school due to poverty. We are up against a host of difficulties,” she complained.

Zargari revealed most of the time they went to bed on empty stomach. The distraught mother said: “I have asked the district’s administrative chief for help. But so far, I have received no assistance.”

She also hit out at donor agencies for ignoring the principle of justice in distributing assistance.

“The aid is not distributed to deserving people, I’m sick and along with my children, I visited several times the district centre in search of aid,” she continued.

Pajhwok shared the issue of the poor woman with the officials.

Maulvi Abdul Sami, administrative chief for the district, said nothing about the woman’s predicament. However, he insisted assistance was distributed transparently. The authorities did their best to identify aid-deserving families, he added.

Maulvi Mohammad Qasim, deputy director of information, told Pajhwok: “The Islamic Emirate is committed to helping the needy families and providing them with aid.”

He promised the government would soon help the poor households as it had done in the past.

sa/mud