Early childhood education is a pivotal moment in a child’s development. Attending preschool can boost their literacy and numeracy skills, as well as their social skills. They learn to draw, sing, dance and play with their peers.
But unfortunately for some children who live in rural Timor-Leste, distance makes it almost impossible for them to attend preschool. One community, Caicasavou in Liquica is perched on top of a mountain, and can only be accessed through one rocky, rough road.
ChildFund Timor-Leste worked with local partners to establish ten community preschools, in Lautem and Liquica, so that children aged three to five can access early education. One of the new preschools is in Caicasavou. Now, in Timor-Leste attending preschool has become a prerequisite for children to be accepted into Primary school.
Sebastiao, 48-years-old, is the president of a school management committee in Caicasavou. He led the construction of the classrooms and made sure they were ready for use.
“Here we have many children below the age of five and before now there was no preschool. When we heard about the plan to build a preschool here, we worked with the local authorities to construct this building so our children and grandchildren can enroll and study here,” said Sebastião.
Sebastiao also shared that he was happy to have the opportunity to work on the school.
One young teacher, Ronia, is excited about the new preschool. “It is important to have preschool in our village because oftentimes children repeat class because they did not go through preschool.”
When they started building the preschool, ChildFund worked to encourage local parents to be involved so they could learn about the importance of early childhood education. “Parents are more aware of the importance of preschool and now they bring their children to the school,” she said.
Ronia attended training by the Ministry of Education’s National Institute for Training of Teachers and Education Professionals to learn more about lesson planning, class management, leading group activities and other skills to support her in becoming a better teacher.
As a father, Pedro is happy to have a preschool near his home.
“My son now goes to school here. I don’t mind walking him here every day to come and learn because we finally have a preschool and a teacher that can teach our children,” he said.
Sebastiao is hopeful that the school will benefit children in the future. “I feel happy because this school is now helping more children to attend primary school,” he said.
ChildFund continues to support these communities and school management committees. This project is funded by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade ANCP and implemented by ChildFund, with support from the Ministry of Education’s National Institute for Training of Teachers and Education Professionals (INFORDEPE) for teacher training.
Children are hungry and mothers are desperate in Afghanistan’s latest crisis
A combination of decades of conflict, years of drought, and economic turmoil has led to a crippling food crisis and is pushing millions of children and their families into extreme poverty.
By ChildFund Australia
In the remote villages of Herat Province, where Afghanistan shares its border with Iran and Turkmenistan, hunger is a daily burden for many children and their families.
For widowed or single mothers such as Maliha* (pictured below) and their children, they are barely surviving.
Maliha lives with five of her children on a barren plateau in Herat. Her children, who are under the age of 12, and in urgent need of food and nutrition.
Maliha and her children have been living on bread and tea.
During the harsh Afghan winter earlier this year, Maliha lost her five-year-old son Amir*. He died in his sleep during a night when the temperatures dropped below freezing. Maliha found his little body, frozen, in the morning.
The days before his death, Amir had been undernourished because of a lack of food and sick with flu-like symptoms, but Maliha could not afford to take him to the doctor.
“I wish no mother to suffer the way I have,” Maliha said. “I lost a part of my heart, just because of poverty. What a mother feels in her heart after losing her children cannot be described with words.”
A combination of decades of conflict, recent years of drought, and worsening economic instability since late 2021 has led to a crippling food crisis in Afghanistan.
Nearly 9 million Afghans are at risk of starvation, according to the United Nations World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization. Two million children are already malnourished.
There are few job opportunities for women in Afghanistan, and for widowed or single mothers like Maliha the chances of earning a stable income to support and feed their children are almost impossible.
Maliha and her children have been surviving on a few dollars a week, which they earn from gathering licorice roots near their village.
The roots grow deep in the ground, and it is difficult for Maliha’s children to dig them out with their little hands so they often wait until a tractor works the ground and brings the roots to the surface.
It takes up to three days for Maliha and her children to collect four kilograms of roots, which is the amount they need to earn US$1 to buy basic foods such as bread, rice or sugar. If they are lucky, Maliha and her children eat rice once a week.
Desperate circumstances, heartbreaking choices
The United Nations Development Programme estimates that 97 per cent of Afghanistan’s population – almost 39 million people – could fall below the poverty line this year without emergency assistance.
In Herat Province, where Maliha and her children live, the impact of the food crisis is particularly concerning. A disproportionate number of households – 15 per cent – compared to the rest of the country (5 per cent) are run by women, mostly single mothers or widows, living with little to no income.
Not long ago in Maliha’s village there were about 100 families, many of whom farmed wheat for a living. Families who were better off would often give a third of their harvest to poorer families. This is how everyone in the community survived.
Years of drought have made it impossible to continue the agricultural and farming practices that once sustained communities like Maliha’s. Today, there are less than 30 families in Maliha’s village.
Many families have fled their homes. Those who can afford it have left their village in search for work and food elsewhere, while the poorest families like Maliha’s have had no choice but to stay.
Afghanistan’s economy, which has long been heavily dependent on foreign aid, is on the brink of collapse.
The withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan in 2021, and the subsequent takeover of the Taliban, led to countries such as the US and Germany suspending aid, and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund halting payments.
Basic services such as healthcare and education that were dependent on international support have been disrupted. Vulnerable families like Maliha’s, who once received support from the government, are now facing desperate circumstances and have been forced to make heartbreaking choices to survive.
Without money to buy food for their children, parents have been forced to take their children out of school to work or marry.
Maliha had no choice but to agree to an arranged marriage for her 13-year-old daughter to pay off a debt.
Young girls who enter marriages are more likely to face a future of isolation, poor mental health, abuse and sexual exploitation, and high rates of maternal mortality.
Emergency support for women and children
ChildFund Alliance member, WeWorld, is one of the few international humanitarian organisations working in Afghanistan in response to the crisis.
WeWorld’s National Coordinator in Afghanistan, Jailan, described the situation on the ground as “one of the worst emergencies” he had seen in the 12 years of working with humanitarian groups in the country.
“A lack of basic human and civil rights, and the impacts of poverty and drought have really broken people,” he said. “Families are desperate for food. Children are living in extreme poverty and do not have even a third of the food that they should be eating a day.”
“The stories are heartbreaking.
“When I heard of Maliha’s story I was shocked and devastated that this had happened.”
ChildFund Australia is working with WeWorld to respond to the crisis in Afghanistan by providing emergency cash transfers to vulnerable families in Herat Province, specifically women-led households with children.
*Individuals’ names have been changed.
The cash provided to families will be enough for them to buy food and water, and pay for health care for their children during the crisis.
Cash transfers have long been used as an efficient and trusted means to help families facing conflict and disaster.
They provide families with flexibility and uphold their dignity, allowing them to decide and buy the food – and other essentials – they need.
Your support can help save the lives of children in Afghanistan.
