Feature: Harsh winter adds to suffering of poor Afghans

For the impoverished people in this Afghan capital city, the cold winter has added to their suffering, forcing some of them to beg in the streets.

"I have no wood, no fuel and no coal to keep me and my family warm," an elderly Afghan woman, who asked not to identified, said while begging from passersby.

In the conservative Afghanistan where traditions are deeply rooted, women mostly prefer not to disclose their names to strangers except to close relatives.

The woman, wrapped in the traditional burqa or veil, said that the cold weather and snowfall had left her with no choice but to beg although it is a shameful act.

Since Friday, the temperature dropped to below zero in some parts of Kabul and adjoining areas. Snowfall and the rains have exacerbated the suffering of the poor city residents, most of them living in shanties with thin roofs and walls.

The woman, who has three children and without a husband, said that she has to beg from total strangers just to feed her children and keep them warm during the cold season.

The foreign-aid-dependent Afghanistan is among the poorest countries in the world.

Addressing the Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of Parliament last Tuesday as he introduced the minister-nominees for confirmation, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani admitted that 36 percent of Afghans still live under the poverty line.

President Ghani vowed to alleviate poverty and lift the living conditions of the Afghan people by improving the economy, inviting foreign investors in order to create jobs.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans, particularly the internally displaced people or those without permanent homes, have left their houses to safer places due to the continuing fighting between government security forces and the Taliban militants.

During the fighting, innocent civilians, including women and children, are often caught in the crossfire.

The unity government headed by President Ghani is hard-pressed to look for solutions to the problems faced by the displaced people, especially those who are forced to beg or sleep in sidewalks and vacant spaces.

Most of these vagrant people and those who live in slum areas and makeshift camps lost their breadwinners in the conflict and are dependent on assistance provided by government, international aid agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs).

"The meager foodstuff or few blankets provided by some aid agencies, businessmen or government during winter are not the solution of our problems. We want the government to provide houses and jobs for us," Ahmad Fawad, 42, also a beggar, said.

Fawad, who left his home in Sangin District of the province of Helmand due to war last year and has since settled in Charahi Qambar locality in western edge of Kabul city, said he used to work as a day laborer last month but the snowfall has reduced his income to zero.

"I had worked and used to have a hand-to-mouth existence before the snowfall but the harsh winter left me jobless and forced me to beg as the only way to survive," Fawad said.

Beggars can be found not just in busy streets in the capital but so in Murad Khani, an ancient neighborhood just a few hundred yards away from Arg or Presidential Palace. Endi