World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Rozma, a 59-year-old woman, who suffers from mental illness, said: "We are poor. Due to economical problems I was not able to send even one of my seven daughters to school. They need to work at home to weave the carpets. My daughters started carpet weaving at the age of five. The voucher is an important support for us and we are thankful to WFP for this assistance.”

Safar Mohammad, a 58-year-old blind man who was accompanied by his eight year-old son Abuzar to the voucher distribution site, told WFP: “We are 6 people in our family. I send my children to school but as soon as they return from school they help me to sell lottery tickets in the city. I don’t like to beg and with selling the lottery tickets I can pay the expenses of my children’s education and WFP’s food assistance is a valuable support for my family’s basic food needs.”

A worker at the voucher distribution site guides a beneficiary to the selected shops in the city where she can exchange the voucher card for food items. The voucher project targets urban poor who have access to food in the markets but are not able to afford it.

Mohamad Mehdi, aged 46, was injured during the Soviet war, and left without the use of one hand. He heads a family with eight members and is jobless. He said disappointedly: “We suffered a lot and we are illiterate, I can’t afford my family food need in these circumstances. This voucher is a good support for covering some of these needs.”

Koki, a 50-year-old widow who has five children said: “My younger son, who is 17, is working as a daily wage worker but he cannot meet the needs of my family.” She added: “We need food and I am going to buy oil and wheat with this voucher card.”

After receiving the voucher card, an old lady accompanies her disabled husband out of the voucher distribution site. For poor families, the vouchers mean guaranteed access to food every month.

Sayaf, a 50-year-old who lost both of his legs 18 years ago during the Soviet war said: “I am selling teacups on a wheelbarrow from which I can only earn around 100 AFs (2USD) a day. That cannot meet the food needs of the nine family members. This WFP assistance is a vital support for me but it is not enough to feed my family for a month.”

“It’s the beginning of the month, and so far I received 350 voucher cards and provided food items to the beneficiaries” said Samiullah, a shop owner in Kabul city who was selected by WFP to provide food items in exchange for voucher cards.  He added: “The voucher project increased my clientele and I expect more income this month.”