Qaratana village is among the most climate-affected areas in Almar district of Faryab Province in Afghanistan. All the residents of the area consisting of 588 families are suffering from water scarcity, lack of proper hygiene and sanitation facilities, and poor practices of hygiene behavior.

Most of the people of Qaratana village are farmers and they are busy in animal husbandry. They do not have access to water for irrigation of their agricultural lands and most of the lands are rain-fed lands. The residents of this area complained that due to lack of access to safe drinking water, they are facing many problems and difficulties.

Qaratana Village, Almar District

The lack of access to water not only affected the economy but also affected the health of the people. People in the area suffer different water-borne diseases; such as; diarrhea, typhoid, cholera, and hepatitis.

FA Drinking Water Source in Qaratana Village

DACAAR is implementing a WASH project in the mentioned village. The project started on 12 May 2023 and will be completed on 11 May 2024. The project is funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre @KSRelief, through the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund #AHTF, facilitated by The Islamic Development Bank @isdb_group, and The Organization of Islamic Cooperation @OIC_OCI.

Throughout the project implementation, DACAAR will construct the water supply networks with household connections to 588 families, and also provide three rounds of hygiene and sanitation awareness sessions with the hygiene kits to the targeted families.

Abdullah, one of the residents of the Qaratana village said that they have been facing many problems in providing safe drinking water and DACAAR fortunately will provide the service in this regard. He continued that they will have a safe and clean environment and will have easy access to safe drinking water.

Abdullah added, “We were not aware of the importance of hygiene and sanitation in our lives. We used pool and canal water for our daily consumption; we were not aware of the negative impact of open defecation. Now, we know about the negative impacts of using contaminated water and open defecation on our health and environment.”

The people of the village were very satisfied and recommended DACAAR to continue their service to other areas and they also requested DACAAR to provide different services in their village in addition to the WASH project.

Written by: Israrullah Sahil