07/09/2003

“When the Taliban came here, we fled to Beisud, but when we heard the Taliban had left last year, we came back to our homes.  We have received food assistance twice since we have returned, once last year and once before winter.  Our life this year is a little better than last year.  Last year we started our lives from the very beginning.  When we came last year, we had no shelter.  We had nothing.  But some NGOs helped us with shelter so now we have a house.  Last year we couldn’t cultivate much of our land.  We saved the seeds that were given out last year and this year we have cultivated all our land.  This year our crop and harvest will be better, but we still need fertilizer.  Before the Taliban, our lives were good.  We had many animals.  If the harvest was bad, then we could sell our animals for food.  We could also use the milk for food.  Now if the harvest is not good, how will we have food for the winter?  We are like ants here.  The winters here are very cold, so we always think about what we will eat in the winter.”