---
title: "How clean water is helping to fight the pandemic"
description: "“We lost at least five people during the pandemic in this site. Many got infected,” says Abdul Raziq, 60. The lack of clean water, soap and information enabled Covid-19 to sweep through the Shaidayee displacement site in Afghanistan earlier this year. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) quickly intervened to help the residents protect themselves from the deadly virus."
url: "https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2020/how-clean-water-is-helping-to-fight-the-pandemic"
language: "en"
published: "2020-12-30T17:10:06Z"
modified: "2020-12-30T17:10:06Z"
---

![Mullah Mohammad Ayub, 42, is one of the countless displaced persons in Hirat whose heart is beating for his hometown, but can’t go there. He and his family of five are forced from his home in Bala Morghab district of Badghis province three years ago. Since then, they live in an IDP site for drought and conflict-affected families in Shaidayee camp. Some 7,000 households live in a private owned land in Shaidayee. Less than a kilometer to the east is another IDP camp that hosts an estimated 40,000 households named Shahrake-sabz. These families have been displaced from Badghis, Faryab and Ghor Province three years ago due to drought and conflict. Ayub desparately looks for the betterment of the security situation in Bala Morghab where he can go and start up with agricultural activities and livelihoods. “I follow the news of my hometown very closely through the radio. We don’t have electricity connections or a television here and I usually listen to the radio on my mobile phone that I charge with a small solar panel. There wasn’t any concerning news on my district and I went to see if I can go back to home with my family. I went there and I spent only one night. There was fighting ongoing and I was about to be killed. The security situation is volatile everywhere in the country and the media ignores many news if it is not the matter of collapsing a district center or a province.” “It is very hard to live here and I have taken a lot of personal loans now. I am cleric and if I ask for a loan people do not say no to me. I have taken loans from my brother-in-law who lives in Turkey, cousins in Iran and people in Badghis. I have a rich and fertile field in Bala Morghab and if there is any chance to go back I can work hard and pay their money within two years or less. But we are stuck here. We can’t go back home and neither do we work here. If there is peace, I won’t stay here for one extra day. I don’t know if peace will prevail sometime soon in this country but I hope for it. This is not the life we do here. I was teaching students and we had everything in life we needed. Here, we do not even have water to wash our hands and face. We are very thankful to NRC for providing water for us. Accessing water was a great challenge for us, especially during the hot summer season. Children and women were providing water for the whole family. It was taking them hours to find a good willing neighbor who was helping us with a small water container. Sometimes we were also paying for water. Now, we have sufficient water at our doorstep. We have enough water for cooking and cleaning. We are not roaming around the camp for a water container and even the neighbors are happier that we are not disturbing them anymore.” Mullah Nohammad Ayub knows the importance of education and though he struggles to provide food for his family, he is keen to support his children get education. He has convinced the headmaster to admit her daughter and two more girls from the camp and teach them for free as there is no school in the camp for displaced children. “Those who are running a school knows who we are and what is our financial status. I went to a private school nearby and explained that we can’t afford the fees you require and as their parents we have failed to provide them the education they are entitled to, but it is up to you now to help them along the right path. The headmaster offered scholarships for three girls. Now, my daughter, Bibi Amina, 8, and two of her friends Brishna, 10, which means (brightness) and Khanzada, 9, are attending class. We just provide stationaries and transportation for them. Education is very vital for children and will help them move out of poverty when they are young.” When I asked him why is he look much older than his actual age and the reply was: “I have lost three sons in this war. Three young sons!” Photo: Enayatullah Azad / NRC](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/afghanistan/2020/how-clean-water-is-helping-to-fight-the-pandemic/_mgl0490.jpg)

Afghanistan

# How clean water is helping to fight the pandemic

Eileen McCarthy and Enayatullah Azad Published 30. Dec 2020

[Afghanistan](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=29) [Water, sanitation and hygiene promotion (WASH)](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=168) [Coronavirus](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=347)

People collecting clean water in the Shaidayee displacement site. Photo: Enayatullah Azad/NRC

This article was first published more than 5 years ago

“We lost at least five people during the pandemic in this site. Many got infected,” says Abdul Raziq, 60. The lack of clean water, soap and information enabled Covid-19 to sweep through the Shaidayee displacement site in Afghanistan earlier this year. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) quickly intervened to help the residents protect themselves from the deadly virus.

Daily life was already a struggle for displaced Afghans. Families who fled their homes due to conflict and natural disasters had their hopes of a new life dashed as the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

In March, as the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in western Herat province, we found that most families in Shaidayee were reporting lack of water as their main concern. With no water easily available to wash their hands, these 14,000 displaced Afghans were at increased risk of infection.

*The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) works to support refugees and displaced people in over 30 countries around the world, including Afghanistan.*  *[**Support our work today**](https://www.nrc.no/make-a-difference-today)*

### Giving access to clean water

Mullah Mohammad Ayub, 42, is one of the countless displaced people living in Shaidayee whose heart is beating for home, but who can’t return. “I have lost three sons in this war. Three young sons,” says Ayub. “We can’t go home until peace prevails.”

“Here, accessing water is a great challenge for us. We do not even have water to wash our hands and face.”

![Mohammad Ayub, 42, is one of 14,000 displaced Afghans living in the Shaidayee camp. Photo: Enayatullah Azad/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/afghanistan/2020/how-clean-water-is-helping-to-fight-the-pandemic/_mgl0289.jpg)

With support provided by the [European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations](https://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en) (ECHO), NRC has been able to provide critical water, sanitation and hygiene assistance in Shaidayee, so that these families can protect themselves during the pandemic.

“Now, we have sufficient water at our doorstep,” says Ayub. “We have enough water for cooking and cleaning. We are not roaming around the camp for a water container and the landlords are happy that we are not troubling them for water anymore.”

![NRC has provided access to clean water for the families of Shaidayee camp. Photo: Enayatullah Azad/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/afghanistan/2020/how-clean-water-is-helping-to-fight-the-pandemic/_mgl0434.jpg)

Fatima, 13 was displaced with her family from Badghis province two and half years ago. She and her family received a hygiene and sanitation package to help protect them against Covid-19.   
  
“Before the distribution we had nothing at home. We received a package that included soaps, shampoos, toothpaste and washing equipment,” said Fatima’s mother.

Raising awareness of the virus and the precautions people should take was vital in stopping the spread in this camp. Through hygiene promotion workshops, NRC has empowered the camp’s residents to play an important role in their community by sharing these messages to help keep people safe.

Abdul Raziq, who attended one of these workshops says: “We have to be careful now to protect ourselves and people around us.”

### Further challenges ahead

Early lockdowns to stem the spread of Covid-19 left many without jobs and incomes. This forced some to adopt negative coping mechanisms, such as borrowing money or forcing girls into [early marriage](https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2020/many-will-starve-to-death-this-winter) just to meet their basic needs. NRC has [warned of a possible humanitarian disaster](https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2020/many-will-starve-to-death-this-winter) as winter approaches.

Abdul Raziq says: “My two young sons and I worked as daily labourers before Covid-19, and we all lost our jobs when the lockdown restrictions were in place. We couldn’t find a job for almost three months.”

![Abdul Raziq shares the challenges that he and other camp residents are facing during the pandemic. Photo: Enayatullah Azad/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/afghanistan/2020/how-clean-water-is-helping-to-fight-the-pandemic/_mgl0067.jpg)

“We have a hard winter ahead,” says Abdul Raziq. “Previously, we were working during the summer to save for the winter months, but this year is totally different. We work and eat what we’ve earned the same day, and there are no savings for the harsh winter ahead. We hope the government and aid agencies will support the families in the camps.”

Female-headed households are at particular risk and as winter arrives along with the second wave of the virus, humanitarian needs are multiplying.

“The winter is approaching, and we do not have food to eat,” says Fatima’s mother. “I always worry about my children and I may lose them due to hunger and cold this winter.”

![Fatima, 13, and her family were displaced from Badghis province two and half years ago. Photo: Enayatullah Azad/NRC ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/afghanistan/2020/how-clean-water-is-helping-to-fight-the-pandemic/_mgl0250.jpg)

In southern Kandahar province, NRC identified the high risk of evictions, particularly for women, early on in the pandemic. With ECHO’s support we’ve been able to provide cash-for-rent assistance to 200 female-headed households.

Astrid Sletten is NRC’s country director in Afghanistan, and visited Kandahar to speak with some of the women who had received assistance.

She says: “We know that the loss of livelihoods and income due to the Covid-19 pandemic is having a massive impact on housing security for displaced people, especially women. By providing cash-for-rent assistance, NRC can help to ensure these women and their families are able to stay in their homes – a safe haven while the outside world reels from Covid-19 and conflict.”

\*\*\*

In total, through [ECHO](https://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en)-funded projects, NRC will reach 10,500 households – approximately 73,500 individuals – with life-saving interventions such as hygiene promotion, Covid-19 awareness sessions, hygiene kit distributions, construction of handwashing facilities in schools, Covid-specific protection monitoring and cash-for-rent assistance.