In cooperation with the Bayat Foundation, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation & Development (MRRD) and coordinated by Food for Kidz partners, Host Nation PerspectivesSWA and AZ Corp., together we are able to transport, deliver and distribute 45,000 meals and 28,000 bottles of water to the victims of the flooding and landslide survivors in northern Afghanistan. The Food for Kidz supply of food that was quickly available was from an initial donation from Food for Kidz to the Bayat Foundation for their work with the impoverished in Afghanistan. The Bayat Foundation graciously made available what remained from 500,000 meals that airlifted from the 437th Air Wing, MPLS in early spring. A response for humanitarian aid following a natural disaster has to be well planned and coordinated through many channels to affect the best results. Every point of contact, from the warehouse pickup, logistics transport, organizational support and the planned and well-orchestrated distribution, needs to be in sync and with all prepared to perform their respective duties. The coordination of these events was masterfully handled by Todd Cline, CTO of Host Nation PerspectivesSWA.
Afghan survivors wait for food donations Tuesday, May 6, near where a double landslide struck in the northeastern province of Badakhshan. More than 2,000 people were killed when a mass of rock and mud came crashing down Friday, May 2, in the village of Abi Barak.
According to a recent CNN article published on May 5th “White tents line the sides of the valley where the landslide struck. Some villagers weep, others pray. The remnants of their shattered community lies buried below, submerged under as much as 60 meters of mud. In the space of one devastating week, natural disasters killed more people in Afghanistan than they did all last year. At the heart of the destruction was the double landslide that engulfed a village in a remote northeastern province on Friday, killing more than 2,000 people.”
“The scale of this landslide is absolutely devastating, with an entire village practically wiped away,” said Richard Danziger, the chief of mission for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Afghanistan. “Hundreds of families have lost everything and are in immense need of assistance.” (quoted from CNN article)
Food for Kidz is also currently working with Richard Danziger’s staff at International Organization of Migration to provide solutions for further aid and redevelopment in the future. Food for Kidz, along with ImpactLives is donating over 500,000 additional meals in response to the needs not only in the landslide area, but the northern region devastated by the flooding.
