Afghanistan: Stories From the Field

When Nasreen was a child, her favourite activity was attending the wedding parties of her many cousins and relatives.   She always dreamed of having her own wedding party, with all her relatives, in her home village in Wardak, near Ghazni.   After the breakout of the war, her family had to flee to Pakistan as refugees along with many others.

Upon the breakout of peace, at first under the Taliban, Nasreen returned to her homeland after almost two decades as a refugee.  Within a week of her return, she stepped on a landmine by accident – she cannot even recollect where she was when the explosion happened.  As a result, both of her legs were amputated below the knee.

After receiving only basic treatment in the Ghazni civil hospital, she was housebound and became extremely depressed. Her family was not wealthy to begin with and she had become a physical and economic burden instead of an asset.

This situation continued for several years as the orthopaedic workshop was non-functional.  After the arrival of funding from Adopt-A-Minefield, a house-to-house survey was conducted and Nasreen was discovered.  She was promptly introduced to the workshop in Ghazni where she was provided with crutches to get her used to standing upright.  A week later, she was fitted with artificial legs.in order to grow food to support their families.

After years in the dark of her mud-home, ignored and cursed by her family, Nasreen refused to believe that she would walk again, even after having her legs cast.  The fitting of her legs was emotionally difficult, but it was only after she began to receive gait training that she realised that she would actually be able to walk.

Nasreen is now completely mobile.  For the first six months, her greatest joy was being able to attend her relatives wedding parties.  As a result of her public appearances, her determination and her broad smile, Nasreen will be getting married in a few months and will be starting her own life and having a wedding party of her own – as she had always hoped.