During March, 2002 an earthquake struck
in the Baghlan Province of Afghanistan. Three areas were affected: Nahrin,Burka
and Julga. Shelter Now/Shelter For Life (SNI/SFL) sent an initial assessment
team to see the damage first hand. The city of Nahrin was over 90% severely
damaged or destroyed. The villages of Burka and Julga were also severely
damaged. Based on the assessment team findings, 20-25,000 homes in Baghlan
Province will need to be completely reconstructed.
Shelter Now/Shelter For Life is creating
a new project that will aid 5,000 families whose homes fall into the "severely
damaged" category. Assuming an average of five persons per family,
this project will benefit 25,000 persons.
Tents have been provided by others for immediate protection from exposure, but this is a very temporary solution, which provides only limited protection from harsh Afghan weather.
Reconstruction will take a long time, and better temporary shelter will be needed in the interim period. (SNI/SFL) is now seeking support to provide one-room temporary shelters, which will provide basic protection from extreme temperatures and winds experienced in Afghanistan until such time as permanent homes can be reconstructed.
For maximum impact, these shelters will be incorporated into the permanent construction as it takes place.
This project will also introduce earthquake- resistant construction techniques to the area before such rebuilding is started.
SNI/SFL will coordinate the proposed project activities with Afghan government authorities, regional coordinating bodies (RCB=D5s) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The shelters will provide approximately 3.5 sq meters/person of living space in accordance with Sphere Project guidelines. Shelters will be made of traditional materials (mud brick walls and mud roofs), but will incorporate earthquake-resistant measures so as to help prevent future loss of life.
Shelter construction materials will be distributed to beneficiaries identified by local village leaders and verified by SNI/SFL staff. Actual construction will typically be by the beneficiaries themselves, with a limited amount of skilled labor assistance by SNI/SFL. Unskilled labor assistance will be provided for widows and other vulnerable families.
The entire project will last approximately seven months and will start as soon as funds can be made available.
We have been operational in Afghanistan since 1998 and were already implementing cash-for-work and complimentary food community rehabilitation projects in the Takhar, Badakhshan and Kunduz provinces of Afghanistan, as well as a cash-for-work project in the Herat province.
We currently have 18 expatriate staff, and 125 local employees (20 of which are Afghan engineers) on existing projects. Another 100 Afghans also work for us through local subcontractors on our existing projects.
