By: Jessie Sha

Send help to Afghanistan, because a devastating earthquake has their people, and their world, so now they are seeking help which tests their relationship with other countries. People in Afghanistan have hit a shattering reality of losing many loved ones and their homes to an earthquake. Many people have been hurt internally and out, and help is needed so they can heal.

Afghan officials have reported more than 1,000 people dead, and the United Nations humanitarian office reported less at 770 and 1,440 people were injured, although they expect the number of injured people to rise again. 1,500 homes have been damaged or demolished. The survivors described many villages being wiped out. Thousands of survivors spent their nights in unseasonably chilly weather, even including rain and snow. People have even been seen in the rain.

New York Times journalists went toward Geyan, the Afghanistan mountainous border to Pakistan, to find that almost every car they passed carried some type of medical aid. The other cars were delivering bread, flour, rice, and blankets. They reported that ambulances were piled with medical workers treating injured people that couldn’t make it to a hospital. Even with all the help, the roads are causing trouble, making it hard to deliver food and medical aid to people, like the village of Azor Kalai.

In the village of Azor Kalai, in the Geyan District, the mud-brick houses that were incompletely destroyed had been scattered. The survivors around the area build make-shift homes for now but are now surviving on the things they salvaged from the rubble. Even before the earthquake, they were struggling to survive on the money they made by selling fruit. Many of these people don’t make more than $55 a month.

This also tests the Biden administration’s approach to the Taliban, which refuses to help with financial aid. After the Taliban took over in August, the Biden administration has refused to acknowledge the group and cut off $7 billion in foreign currency. He refuses because the Taliban has not been living up to the international community’s expectations. While the U.S. has sent $1 billion directly, human rights advocates say that America must work with the Taliban.

Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/06/23/world/afghanistan-earthquake