Success Story

Good News about Life in Zeri

The Community Development Councils (CDCs) are quickly becoming the grass-roots level of local governance through which Afghanistan is rebuilding its villages and uniting its people. The Zeri district in the province of Kandahar is one of these.

The province is being transformed by development activities and efforts to replace opium production with the cultivation of wheat and corn. Evidence of rebuilding can be seen in the construction of apartments, the grape and pomegranate orchards that line this city’s roadsides and district road projects.

Prior to the establishment of a Community Development Council (CDC) in Zeri district, the eight local villages were not connected by a useable road.

Said a villager: "Before the construction of the road, we used to carry our patients on our back to health clinics. And even some of the serious patients often lost their lives on the way before reaching the health centers in time."

Through the painstaking efforts of the local CDC and with the help and guidance of the National Solidarity Program (NSP), villagers proposed the project, gathered the much needed local resources, and provided employment opportunities for a large number of the local residents.

Added another villager: "Before the project was established in our community, we had to go to Iran or Pakistan for work. As soon as NSP launched its coverage to our district, it helped form a transparent and hardworking CDC that is currently responsible for development activities in the region. Considering the most important and essential projects, the CDC members gave top priority to the construction of the road. The project's total cost is AFN 800,000 (equivalent to USD 16,000) of which 10 % is community contribution."

 Fortunately, the road project not only connected many villages to each other, but also crated employment opportunities for many villagers that can meet their daily needs this way.

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