Afghanistan earthquake victims rebuild after disaster

Afghans caught up in the devastating earthquake that struck the country on June 22, killing more than 1,000 and injuring more than 6,000, are sharing their harrowing stories.

JEAN, Afghanistan – Under the scorching sun, earthquake victims gathered on a high-level plateau at an altitude of 2,170 meters, surveying the damage to their homes and community. Two weeks after the disaster, the death toll rose to 1,036 and more than 6,000 were injured.

Zerlacht, a mother of six, is among the victims. Her home in downtown Ji’an was completely destroyed.

“When I started shaking, I ran out of my room, and when I went in through the door I saw the ceiling had already fallen. I grabbed my girls, but we had no way out. I shook so hard I didn’t know where I was. I was screaming, I was crying – I thought the whole world had collapsed There was no one to help me.My husband and many of my children were trapped under the rubble.

Like many others, she had no choice but to pack what she could and leave what was left of her house.

She and her family set up a camp nearby in an IOM tent. She is unsure about the future and how her community will rebuild and recover from the disaster.

In the early hours of June 22, the 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck a rural, underserved and hard-to-reach area. Aid workers continue to assist the victims, but the mountainous terrain and torrential rains common during this time of year hamper their efforts. Survivors of Afghanistan’s deadliest earthquake in more than two decades are still waiting in their devastated villages, without shelter, food or water, for emergency aid to reach them, with torrential rains making the situation worse.

The humanitarian community has mobilized funds and people for the response. IOM teams were on the ground in the affected area in the aftermath of the earthquake, weathering the aftershocks along with the affected community. Humanitarian actors are busy: meeting with community members to assess their needs, organizing first emergency distributions and setting up tents, latrines and handwashing stations. Trucks loaded with a variety of groups arrive in waves, having successfully navigated remote mountains, riverbeds and roads that make access to this area particularly difficult. Thousands of people are trying to get the basic items they need for immediate survival – food, water, health care and shelter.

“I was in my house sleeping when it started shaking,” says Krushnal, a Parmal survivor, who still lives with his four children at the site of their collapsed home. A piece of the wall hit me, but I was not seriously injured. I saw corpses pulled out from the rubble, wounded, possibly dead. I heard cries of pain everywhere I went.”

The majority of the fragile mud houses in the area did not withstand the earthquake. While many currently lack the means to rebuild much of their communities, survivors have come together with humanitarian actors to plan for community recovery.

The response of IOM and its partners has revealed how important it is to invest in rapid response to disasters. Rapid emergency assistance can save lives and reduce suffering.

“I was in the woods when it happened,” says Zarmatgul, a 57-year-old man who lived in Ji’an District when the quake struck. Stones were falling from the mountains. When we returned to the village, our houses were destroyed. Our children died. Our cattle died. Death surrounded us. Our brains were damaged, and we were unable to sleep.”

On top of a ridge, a few kilometers from Jaén, IOM mental health and psychosocial support staff hold counseling sessions with victims amid the remains of the rubble. Mountains appear behind the collapsed walls. Three distinct session groups are formed: women, men and children.

“Our hearts are reassured by the advisor, who gives us more and more confidence,” Zarmatgul adds.

The group of women hold their hands while breathing deeply. After all the noise and chaos that followed the earthquake, time stood still for a moment. With the guidance of an IOM psychosocial counsellor, women begin to address their stress and pain in a safe environment.

Mobile clinics operate in this mountainous region far from health centers. In addition, community members identified psychological support as a core need, which has been included in the IOM earthquake response from day one. Thanks to IOM’s network of pre-existing elements and mobile teams, IOM has been able to mobilize and deploy rapidly in the region from day one of the response. As of 8 July, 140 trucks have reached the affected areas in Paktika and Khost provinces. Some 30,000 emergency shelter kits and non-food items were distributed to 5,600 families in need.

With emergency relief items delivered to ensure families have a safe place to sleep and a way to feed their families, the focus is shifting to rebuilding homes and long-term life after a disaster. IOM and other shelter actors are working together to support communities to remove the rubble of damaged homes and rebuild their homes safely.

Other public infrastructure must also be rehabilitated to ensure that communities return to normal. Contaminated water sources must be treated and repaired to ensure access to safe and clean water again – and this is now more important than ever with the increasing incidence of waterborne diseases in the region. Ensuring safe access to schools for children will also be important to protecting the future of societies.

The reallocation of existing emergency funding has enabled IOM to conduct a rapid and immediate response to provide life-saving assistance to affected communities. However, long-term funding from both humanitarian and development actors must be committed and made available immediately to ensure that homes and basic community infrastructure are reconstructed before the harsh Afghan winter arrives in November. – UN News

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