Reconstruction of shelters in earthquake-stricken Herat
In the late evening of October 7, we received terrible news from Afghanistan: several severe earthquakes shook the west of the country, more than 2,500 people are already estimated to have died and entire villages in the province of Herat have been destroyed. We must act quickly now and provide emergency aid for the survivors – every donation and every effort to raise awareness makes an important contribution!
What happened?
The earth shook eight times on Saturday in the province of Herat. With a magnitude of up to 6.3, the earthquakes caused devastating damage. Over 2,500 people lost their lives, more than 2,000 others were injured and At least 11,000 people were acutely affected by the consequences of the quakes. 13 villages and over 1,300 houses were completely destroyed and countless people are still trapped in the rubble. The number of victims and affected families is likely to increase as remote regions are reached.
What is the situation on the ground?
Many places are cut off from the outside world by the destroyed access roads, so the extent of the disaster can only be guessed at so far. The search for survivors is underway and Survivors who have lost their livelihoods as a result of the disaster are now in urgent need of support. We are also supporting Visions for Children e.V. with initial aid measures.
The pictures were taken by our colleagues on site. Pictures 2 and 4 were provided to us by the Afghan photographer Mohammad Balabuluki.
What can we do?
Our colleagues are on site and identify the most urgent needs. Due to the remoteness of some villages, this will still take some time. We will keep you up to date on all further developments on Instagram. What is certain, however, is that clean drinking water, food, blankets and emergency accommodation are urgently needed for the survivors.
So that we can continue quickly and flexibly, every donation counts. If you would like to support us, you can do so via our website, Paypal, Instagram (up to €50) or a bank transfer.
Visibility for the situation in Afghanistan also makes a contribution! Every sharing of our campaign is effective, even if you are not currently in a financial position to donate yourself.
We thank you for your solidarity and generous support!
Thanks to your generous donations, we have the opportunity to build new homes for families in Herat in the next few months! To achieve this, we work with the local partner organization OHW (Organization of Human Welfare), which has been active in Afghanistan since 2007 and implements projects that support particularly vulnerable groups and people in need.
What has happened so far? Our partners are currently identifying the families and people in the village where the construction will take place who are most in need of support – these include female-headed households, people with disabilities and injuries – and are evaluating the construction options on site. Meetings are held with the village communities to ensure that exactly the type of support that the survivors want and need is provided.
We will of course keep you informed about the next steps.
