Winter woollies distributed in Afghanistan
Friday 26 November, 2004
The babies and children in several Afghanistan villages now face a warmer winter, courtesy of the New Zealand Defence Force Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZ PRT), and donors, including a Christchurch knitwear manufacturer.
Hugh Douglas of Weft Industries says the merino wool fabric off cuts of adult woollen singlets he makes were destined for the rubbish bin when he and his staff decided to make them into small singlets for babies and children in poor countries.
Printed with two kiwis supporting a globe – to show New Zealanders helping less fortunate people throughout the world – the 1200 singlets were packaged and transported on an RNZAF flight to Bamian, Afghanistan, where the NZ PRT is based.
Captain Amy Brosnan, who helped distribute the singlets, as well as other clothing donated from New Zealand and America, said it was good to see the aid going directly to the people who needed it.
“With the fall of the Taliban in 2003, many Afghan families that had fled to Iran or Pakistan to escape Taliban rule, began to return to their home country. However, on their return, a large number of these families found themselves homeless, as their houses or land had been taken over in their absence.
“Around the Bamian province are a number of returnee camps that provide a temporary living arrangement for these displaced families, but with disputes over land ownership, there is no foreseeable date for when they will be able to move away. With limited facilities, inadequate food or water supplies, and many of the families still living in tents, there were concerns about the vulnerability of these people and their ability to survive the winter months.
Temperatures in Bamian can reach as low as minus 20, with large snowfalls expected during December and January. Captain Brosnan said two United Nations aid organisations and the PRT had combined to assist the returnees, distributing blankets, winter tents, heating and cooking stoves, and winter clothing.
“Most of the winter clothing has been donated by New Zealanders and Americans, and was much appreciated by the families whose children were inadequately dressed to cope with the cold – many of them without shoes.”
The distribution began at the Shaspoel and Dragon Valley returnee camps – which are closest to the Bamian township, last weekend. About 60 families are at Shaspoel, and 30 at Dragon Valley, with the average family size being five to seven members. The distribution will continue throughout the Bamian province over the next few weeks, reaching out to all accessible areas.
Mr Douglas says he made the singlets because it was a good use of waste material, and would benefit children in need. His company regularly makes hundreds of the small singlets free for distribution to poor children in Turkey, Nepal and Kazakhstan.
He has also used fabric he had left over from an order to make enough shirts to outfit two soccer teams. He donated them for the PRT to distribute, along with four soccer balls and four ball pumps.
In addition to the winter clothing and soccer gear, the PRT are also distributing other items of charitable freight sent to them from New Zealand, including brand new soft toys donated by Wellington City Mission (many of which are now in the grateful arms of sick children at the Bamian hospital) and 10,000 BIC ballpoint pens.
The BIC pens have been handed out directly to children often waiting to greet the PRT patrols either outside schools or along the roadside as they pass by to deliver USAID funded stationery kits to the schools and liaise with village leaders. Pens are much sought after, as although there is a strong desire to learn such basic stationery items are not affordable.
Image Captions:
- Top: Capt Amy Brosnan with 3 young girls, holding on to their new kiwi singlets at Shaspoel.
- Middle: Capt Shane Ruane talks with local children and shows them where NZ is on the Globe
- Bottom:Local child with his new toy
This page was last reviewed 29 September, 2011 and is current.
