'People are starving in Afghanistan' says Milton Keynes charity in plea for help

Their staff are delivering food and water to desperate families and malnourished children
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Thousands of starving, displaced and impoverished people in Afghanistan are getting vital help from Milton Keynes-based international development charity World Vision UK.

Their staff on the ground are delivering food and water supplies to desperate families, treating malnourished infants and protecting children from exploitation.

Today the teams in Afghanistan have said a heartfelt thanks to those who have donated to World Vision's Afghanistan Emergency Appeal. But more help is needed, they say.

World Vision is running an Emergency Afghanistan AppealWorld Vision is running an Emergency Afghanistan Appeal
World Vision is running an Emergency Afghanistan Appeal

“They need more health services,” says a female doctor. “My daily duties are triage of patients, visiting outpatients, performing child and mother health services and consultation for pregnant women, and if necessary, introducing them to the vaccine and nutrition work. Also giving family planning advice is one of my duties,” says the doctor.

“With the current situation, most of the humanitarian activities have stopped. They (the communities) have no food and malnutrition is increasing among all of them, especially children. End result – they need more health services.

A nutrition assistant who takes food to malnourished children through World Vision said: “I work with nutrition nurses on a daily basis to identify malnourished children to provide them with necessary supplementary food and consult with mothers about the recovery process of their children.

“The conflict and drought mean many families and mothers can’t afford adequate food for their children.

“There is also a need for more health services for children and mothers. World Vision is a very well accepted organisation in the community and management is supporting us with equipment, with the necessary training and coordination support to operate safely in the field."

Another World Vision worker is a monitoring and assessment officer in Afghanistan. He said: "People are starving", and shared a story from a remote area of the province where he is based.

“There was an 11-month-old girl, and the team saw that her father brought her to the mobile health unit operating in this very mountainous province. The child’s mother passed away a few months ago and the baby lost a lot of weight.

“When she first came to the team, she was only 4.3kg. The nurse started a treatment of supplementary food and started counselling on how to give proper diet and food and how to use safe practices to avoid illness. She was screened every week to monitor her progress. After two months of treatment, her weight was increased to

6.4kg. The family was very thankful, and the child was able to smile again.”

He said the Afghan people were grateful for the support of people in the UK. “Thank you, UK, we are hopeful that you continue giving support to the most vulnerable people in Afghanistan.”

For more information or to donate to World Vision UK’s Afghanistan appeal click here.