Chaqani Village Community Development Committee, Warsaj

The community members of Chaqani village have started three projects through the Concern implemented National Solidarity Progamme (NSP): a flourmill, drinking water supply and tailoring training for women.  Before the community had access to NSP resources, they had a water-powered flourmill.  This was not good as it was of poor quality and was not producing flour.  The flourmill machine is nearing completion, however the community must still formulate a plan to ensure that this project is income generating.  This is important as the community can become self-sufficient and less reliant on the charities and the government for their development.  The drinking water supply is now complete and the community are very happy with this.  In previous winters, there was no access to potable water and many people became sick.  This is the first winter that people have not got sick which is a notable improvement.  The tailoring class has been running for one month.  The community were able to buy 20 sewing machines and thirty girls and women are participating in the class.  The aim of the project is to allow women to help themselves through learning a new skill.  It is primarily for their own confidence-building and development but has the potential to be income-generating for women if they have access to markets.

In the future, the Chaqani community would like to develop a micro-hydro power (MHP) system  as they believe ‘electricity is good for life’.  They would also like to introduce literacy classes for men and women.  While there is a secondary school for girls and a high school for boys only ten minutes from the village, they would like to see a high school for girls.  According to the NSP conditions, the community has a budget of $200 USD per family (there are 127 families in Chaqani).  Having pursued the flourmill, drinking water supply and tailoring projects, the Chaqani CDC has no more money left in their budget.  In order to pursue other projects, the Chaqani CDC has two options: they can apply to the Afghan government for a ‘top-up’ grant or can formulate a proposal to present to other INGOs. 

The members of the Chaqani CDC feel that the NSP has been very good for their village and community.  All of the projects which involved construction employed local people, allowing them to work and earn money for the development of their village.  They also explain that ‘The NSP has increased our awareness of solidarity and development, and that we should have solidarity among ourselves.  The NSP makes a strong relationship between the community and Afghan government’.  They explain that they feel the government has prioritised the needs of the people of Afghanistan through NSP, and all of the community feel positive towards the government and community awareness has been built

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