Naweed Ahmadzai Research Paper I September 30, 2013 Poverty in my Community The nomads and the poor families

that live in Khushal Khan, the community in Kabul, Afghanistan where I grew up till I was 17 years old. The population in the capital city which Khushal Khan is part of has grown since 2002. These people with making a dollar or two have no way of taking providing clothing to keep themselves or their families warm during the cold winters. The help that is given through the government or Non-Profit Organizations usually go to the refugee camps and there is almost no attention given to these poor families who do not live in the refugee camps but suffer in the same way as the people living in the camps. I. The community I am trying to help out with the issue is located in Khushal Khan, which is part of the Kabul province in Afghanistan. a. The community is not a particular rich community, there is poverty seen through the way the people are living. I would be getting through these people through my resources in the field. i. In a phone conversation with Waheed Ahmadzai1, my brother, and his involvement in the community, he will help me approach these families who are in need of clothing during the winter season by talking with his teammates which some of them are part of the families that will need assistance during the winter season. ii. In a Skype conversation with Khalida Ahmadzai2, my mother, she told me about her support for the project and how she can be help as far as reaching these families. She knows many of the community since she is involved with many families who send their kids to school and she knows the families that will be in most need of help during the winter. b. According to the CIA World Fact Book, the population of Kabul is around 5 million people as of 2013. Waheed Ahmadzai, personal interview via Skype, September 14, 2013, football player in the community football team, Khushal Khan, Kabul, Afghanistan
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Khalida Ahmadzai, personal interview via Skype, September 15, 2013, School Principle Afshar Middle School, Koshal Khan, Kabul, Afghanistan.
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i. The capital city was made for thousands not millions. This is relevant because the population growth in the capital city caused the poverty numbers in the capital city to grow. ii. Population growth from 2009 of 3.5 million to 5 million in 2013. Most of the population came from the provinces around Kabul for economic opportunities, but most of them did not make it, which made the poverty level in the city grow rapidly. II. I realized how big of an issue the cold winters have become in Afghanistan. Many young infants die in a really young age because of severe colds that they get because of houses not equipped with modern day heating systems. a. I realized when the local news even made international sites. The deaths seen in the refugee camps caught many of the western media whereas the people who had died in the non-refugee camps did not receive any attention from the press, and no one even saw that as an issue. Hearing my family and friends discuss about the young children who were the victims of these witness got me to start working on this project because I personally wanted to do something to help. i. According to Al-Jazeera, Afghanistan faces tough winters that cause many deaths in the yearly basis. 1. The results of 2012 winter caused 40 people to die. 2. These numbers came from the refugee camps yet they are still relevant for my research. If the International aid could not fully help these refugee camps, the chances of helping locals in Kushal Khan sort of communities are very slim. ii. There is not enough aid that is helping out the poor in the refugee camps let alone the other poor communities that are not in the camps. (NY TIMES) 1. More than 100 children had died because of the cold winters. 26 dying only in one camp. 2. There is no statistics of the poor dying because of the cold weather. III. There are different aspects to why poverty is still a problem seen in Afghanistan even with billions of dollars flowing into the country.

a. Kabul as a whole is very poor for there is far more competition in the capital city rather than the other provinces. b. Corruption plays a huge role for it limits who gets support from financially and who does not. There is only little that gets the benefits of these aids coming in to the country. i. The powerful and the rich in the Afghan government is powerful in a country like Afghanistan because they are benefiting from the status quo and they like how the things are going. ii. The few who are in charge of distribution of the aid can choose where they would want to send their help. Most of them are from the rich communities and they allocate those resources to these communities instead of the real needy in communities like Khushal Khan, Kabul, Afghanistan. IV. There is struggle as far the issue being brought up at this moment when the United States and NATO are both pulling out of Afghanistan, and Afghanistan is no longer on the top priority. a. According to NY Daily News, with the departure of the United States and the NATO from Afghanistan, international fund to the poor is going to drop drastically. Millions will be out of their jobs. b. Focus on the Syrian refugees in Iraq and other countries are another factor that decreases the focus towards the poverty in Kabul. (Shelterforlife) an organization that worked hugely with the Afghans is no longer centered on Afghans but the Syrian refugees. c. It is hard to be finding an organization that still has quarters in Afghanistan to take the coats in my community. The country itself does not have any way of internally funding these poor families, Afghanistan is dependent on the outside help till they start some selfsustainable sources that they could help the poor getting out of the poverty within the borders. V. Getting involved in a community in Kabul, knowing the culture norms and expectations of the people is crucial in order to have a successful project with them seeing you as credible. a. It is very important to know the Afghan code of conduct also known as Pashtunwali for the Pashtun ethnic group. (Pashtunwali)

i. Pashtunwali: doing whatever you can to keep your mom, wife and sister safe and with dignity. No matter what the consequence. ii. Not knowing the code, I can be easily seen as an enemy. iii. Knowing the difference between asking how to help, than telling them what you are going to do to help them. iv. If a family is not willing to receive the help, do not question their reasoning. b. To be a good credible person in the community, I have to speak to my mother about how much the community has changed within the last four and half years that I have been away from it. c. For some people in the community, they have seen the poor suffer for such long time, that they are accustom to it and see it as an everyday thing, rather than an issue. VI. It is very advantageous because it will save the lives of the poor children in the impoverished neighborhood that I grew up in. a. Children are usually the victims of the severe winters in Kabul. b. It will take away one less thing that a poor family in my neighborhood should worry about. c. It will encourage the children to focus on their studies rather than worry about staying warm. d. It will help the literacy rate among other educational statistics in the long run. e. The families will be able to save some money that they can invest in buying wood for their bukharis wooden heaters. This issue is not seen as urgent right now because there is still a few months to the winter in Afghanistan. (My Mother) a. There is not much recognition to the issues right now just because people are not looking forward for the winter just now. b. Providing the poor with the clothing right now will take stress away from them when thinking about winter.

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c. It is very hard to predict the winters in Afghanistan because most of the poor do not have access to technology. VIII. Lacking attention given to this issue will cause much harm to the community. a. Everyone should get a chance to live through the winter, no matter what social status. b. We will be looked down upon in the future for not helping our own brothers and sisters through the winter. c. Members of the community become more susceptible to communicable diseases when not properly clothed.