Medair

Afghanistan: Joy in His Eyes

Meet Sufi Tayeb, an 85-year-old man who recently tasted his first-ever drink of clean water.

By Andrew Robinson, Medair Field Communications Officer, Afghanistan.

Life is hard in the mountains of north-east Afghanistan. Winter buries villages under thick layers of snow for several months of the year, making travel impossible. Many families work tirelessly during the summer just to earn a small income. Most people have no access to safe drinking water, which leads to serious health problems.
 
Now imagine living your entire life in such a tough seasonal cycle of back-breaking labour and frequent illness. By the time you reached 85, you might expect to be cynical, disheartened, or utterly worn down. But not Sufi Tayeb.

I first met Sufi Tayeb in August 2010. Our team was visiting the mountain village of Qaber-e-shahid in Kohistan district, home to about 80 families. We met with their elders and leaders to discuss how we could work together to improve access to WASH—safe water, sanitation, and improved hygiene—for their community.

As we walked around the village looking for a possible location for a water reservoir, Sufi Tayeb slowly followed us, walking down the steep paths with the help of his cane, taking a genuine interest in everything that we said.

When we stopped at a spot near his house, he began to grin so broadly that I had to join his contagious smile. “I hope they will build the water reservoir right here, next to the apple tree by my house!” he said.

Three hundred metres down-slope, the sun glinted off the fast-moving river below. Sufi Tayeb told me that he has to brave his way up and down the steep dirt slope to the river at least three times a day: cane in one hand, water container in the other. If it rains or snows, the slope becomes muddy and treacherous.

Sufi Tayeb needs the water to drink, to clean with, to cook; he needs it to survive. But he also knows that the river water is unsafe to drink.

Later that afternoon, I went back to visit Sufi Tayeb’s house. As I approached, I found him sitting under the apple tree, his granddaughter in his arms. They sat together silently, peacefully gazing at the river below. It was a lovely moment.

Sufi Tayeb welcomed me warmly. He told me he had lived in this village his entire life. His wife had now died and he had six adult children and three grandchildren. He also told me how sick he gets from drinking the river water. “The water has made me sick many times,” he said. “I often get diarrhoea.”

As we spoke, a crowd of seven children gathered around us. I asked them if they ever became sick from drinking the river water. All of them said, “Yes.”

“When they drink the water and get sick, they end up vomiting all the time,” said Sufi Tayeb, his voice becoming serious. “If a person gets really sick he will have to go to a clinic. But if they have no money, they end up staying here and just getting sicker. Then, maybe they will die.”

We know that diarrhoeal disease can be greatly reduced when families and young children have  access to safe WASH. That’s why we are working hard to provide WASH in small rural villages like Qaber-e-shahid, many of which have never had clean drinking water before.

When a young boy joined the circle of children surrounding us, Sufi Tayeb beamed and introduced me to his grandson Ismail. I asked if I could take a photo of them together. Grinning broadly, he pulled out a comb, and got to work smartening up his grandson.

Before I left, he made me a promise: “When the reservoir opens I will be the very first person to drink the water!” he said with a wink and a smile.

Ten months later, I returned to the village of Qaber-e-shahid. Most of the work had been completed, including a reservoir, water taps, and village-wide hygiene training.

When Sufi Tayeb saw us, he invited us in for tea and naan bread. “Many generations of my family have lived here,” he said. “This village is hundreds of years old and now, for the first time, we have clean water.”

 After he had finished his tea, he took us outside and proudly showed us the water point that had been built near his home. “The tap by my house was the first one to receive water because it is the closest to the reservoir,” he said.  “And, as I promised you, I was the first person to drink the water from the tap. It tastes very good!”

As Sufi Tayeb walked with us, he occasionally treated us with a big broad grin to show his appreciation.

“Things have changed so much here,” he said. “Things are much better. There is clean water available right beside my home. There is plenty of water for all our needs: washing, cooking, and cleaning. And now no one gets sick because of the water.”

That’s the best news we could ever hope to hear. As we walked together, I felt very moved to hear about the impact our work had made and about the way people were improving their hygiene using new items like soap and toothpaste.

“I just wish I could have received a toothbrush earlier,” Sufi Tayeb said with a mischievous grin. “I only have three teeth left!”

We laughed together often that afternoon, and when we said farewell, Sufi Tayeb expressed his great appreciation for our work. “I am very happy with Medair and thankful to the people who gave money for this project. You have put the joy back in our eyes.”

__________________________________________________________________________

In the past two years, our projects have assisted more than 50,000 people in remote Afghanistan villages. And over the next 12 months, we hope to reach another 35,000. We are making real progress in improving rural water access and hygiene in Afghanistan, progress that is transforming the lives of entire communities. Please help us continue this vital work. Make a donation today.


For more information about Medair’s work in Afghanistan, please visit  http://www.medair.org/en/where-we-work/afghanistan.

This web feature was produced with resources gathered by Medair field and headquarters staff. The views expressed herein are those solely of Medair and should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of any other organisation.

Sources:

1. Levels and Trends in Child Mortality, Report 2011. UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. www.unicef.org/media/files/Child_Mortality_Report_2011_Final.pdf

2. WHO Statistics 2011. www.who.int/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS2011_Full.pdf
 
3. The United Nations World Water Development Report 3: Water in a Changing World, page 89. (2009)