Jalalabad: Visiting a Village for Returned Refugees |
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November 21st, 2006 - 03:20PM |
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Photo: Anne Richard/The IRC Later, looking on a map, I will learn that the village of Sheikh Mesri is not really very far from the center of Jalalabad. But driving to the outskirts of the city means that we leave the modern city behind. Once we head away from the river, we see very little vegetation and few inhabitants. The mud houses have roofs of dried grasses. There are sheep and chickens outside the houses and the main means of transportation is by foot or donkey. The dirt road is bumpy and tricky to navigate. I feel like I have just traveled back to the middle ages. But the village is new. It is being set up by the Government of Afghanistan to host refugee families moving back from Pakistan after many years of living in camps. The problems confronting this brand new community are obvious: they are far from the main road. They are also far from the river and the vegetation that grows alongside it. The ground seems dry and dusty. There is no market, no school, and very little sense of permanence. The only health care is from a temporary medical clinic where families patiently wait their turn for examinations. I meet a family that lives in a tent. The head of the household is a widow. She has one son who is mentally ill and sits on a mat in the yard. Another, smaller child clings to her skirts. Across the dirt road I meet another family who are slightly more prosperous and live in a mud house. I sit for a few minutes with a mother, her daughter-in-law and several beautiful little children. The children’s toys are empty plastic bottles that are tied with string and dragged along the ground. The chickens scatter as the children dash about. The women do not speak English but are gracious. Still, life here seems very hard. Yet there is room for hope. We attend a graduation ceremony for brick masons who have learned their trade in an IRC training class. Each is being given a certificate featuring their names, photos and the IRC logo. The youngest graduate is a teenage orphan who now stands a better chance of earning a living. I get to shake hands with and congratulate the graduates. Later that same day, I meet a friendly US army sergeant involved in reconstruction projects in Jalalabad. He mentions Sheikh Masri as a positive example of how quickly a village can spring up when refugees are resettled on an absolutely empty piece of land. He is trying hard to find solutions for the problems of the local population, even if his original training was in war fighting. But I remain troubled by the lack of infrastructure and services provided to the returned refugees, and how isolated they seem from the flourishing, busy center of Jalalabad. They will have to struggle to make a life for themselves in their own country. Next: What I Learned > IRC vice president Anne Richard was in Afghanistan in late October to visit IRC programs and discuss the situation there with IRC staff in Kabul, Jalalabad, and rural Logar Province. Posted By: Anne Richard | Asia, Diaries & Journals, Rebuilding Communities Permalink |
