Afghanistan Environmental Mission

by

Jean Faullimmel

On early August of this year I went to Kabul, Afghanistan, to help a French NGO, La Chaîne de
l’Espoir, to solve a drinking water problem necessary for the proper functioning of its hospital.
This hospital was over 10 years old, and was built for the poor, women and children. The main
partners are the Chaîne de l’Espoir, the French and Afghan governments and the Aga Khan
Foundation. Since the invasion of the USSR in 1979, Afghanistan is in turmoil. After the Russians
left, the civil war started, and finally the United State arrived and whose military might is still
present today. Afghanistan is in a permanent state of suffering and chaos for almost 40 years.
Today there are four fractions that oppose each other: The Afghan government, the Taliban, Al
Qaida and lately ISIS. The last three want a piece of the country, a piece of the poppy fields,
needed for their survival and to buy arms to destroy and kill the innocents. As in any conflict it is
the population that suffers most from this rivalry that makes the country poorer and less
governable. Nobody wants to invest in a country of high risk. Fortunately there are still
humanitarian NGOs, such as the Chaîne de l’Espoir to relief the people of their suffering.

The supply of drinking water is vital for the survival of the hospital. There is a city water supply,
but while I was there, however, the hospital received water for only one hour a day. As this
situation occurs often, the hospital built water wells. Unfortunately this water is contaminated. So
the hospital had to install an ultra-filtration system to purify the water. Kabul has a population of
4.7 million inhabitants, but the city has no municipal wastewater treatment plant. Under the city
is a groundwater well, but sooner or later this well will also be contaminated, which could lead to
serious sanitation issues affecting Kabul’s inhabitants. The same situation exists in China because
of poor wastewater treatment or none at all. The more fresh water becomes contaminated
worldwide the less there will be in the future. This could also lead to conflicts between nations. As
shown in Figure 1, we can understand why fresh water must be protected from contamination
coming from synthetic toxic chemicals, human excreta and sewage. Only 2.5% of Earth’s water is
fresh water. The rest is ocean salt water. Of this 2.5%, only 1% represents surface water. Of this
1%, the vast majority is in lakes and soil moisture, with1% being river water.

Figure 1: Earth’s water repartition

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With global warming and climate change, there is also less yearly rainfall and snow in the region.
In Kabul, in one year, the groundwater level lowered by more that 30 meters. From the plane we
could see that Afghanistan is a mountain desert with no snowcaps on mountains even at 4000
meters altitude. Green valleys and small villages between the mountain slopes could be seen. It
reminded me flying over the Indian Himalayas were snow caps are also drastically vanishing,
threatening the future life of the villages. A year ago while trekking in Ladakh and Zanskar, in the
northern region of India, snow started to appear only above 5000 meters.

Figures 2 and 3: View from the plane towards Kabul.

Coming from Dubai, I landed in Kabul after flying over the arid mountain region of the north-east
of Afghanistan. From the airport I was taken with a bulletproof car to the hospital of La Chaîne de
l’Espoir. During my stay, for safety reasons, I was not allowed to go into the city. I was confined to
the hospital guesthouse where French physicians and surgeons were staying. At the entrance of
the hospital we had to pass an armored gate, and another one to reach the guesthouse. There
were soldiers and guards everywhere. The incoming cars with their new patients were checked
with a large mirror to see if no explosive material was hidden underneath the car. From the
rooftop of the hospital we could see the scars of a war with no end. I felt I was under house arrest.
Despite the safety precautions I was worried, as at any time, the madness of man without respect
for the lives of others, could kill at random innocent people.

Figures 4 and 5: Kabul and its traffic

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 Figures 6 and 7: The hospital of La chaîne de l’Espoir and the scars of civil war

I’m in full admiration and respect for these French doctors, surgeons and administrators going to
such a high risk region to relief the suffering of the poor and sick, sometimes at the expense of
their own family. On one side you have these NGOs that help to rebuild war-torn land and
alleviate the suffering of innocent people, and on the other hand, there are those, who for
ideological reasons, behave as though human life has no value. What a sad world we live in! Only
non-violence and the respect of human dignity, can one day allow the recovery of Afghanistan.

JF/27/09/2018