Sources in Ghazni province told Hasht-e Subh on Monday that the residents of Nawur district on Sunday transported a patient on a wooden board from the Sefid Ab village in Nawur district to Kabul.
Abdul Khaliq Mahjoor, an activist in Nawur district, said that a few days ago, a man named Jawad, a resident of Sefid Ab village, wanted to break a rock that had slipped on the road and open the way for people to cross. According to him, when he broke the stone, a piece of it hit his eyes and caused severe damage. Over time, he felt more pain and his family and relatives became more concerned.
Mahjoor added that the transportation routes from Nawur district to the center of the country were blocked, saying there was no choice but to ask for help from the locals to transport the patient.
According to Mahjoor, people responded positively to Jawad family’s request for cooperation, and about 120 volunteers began shoveling snow on the Nawur-Behsud route in the heart of the rugged Hindu Kush Mountain.
The route, however, was so difficult that even 120 people were not enough to carry the patient. For this reason, the rest of the route was cleaned by a car, paid for by the people. “About 120 locals accompanied the convoy to transport the patient,” said Abdul Khaliq Mahjoor. “We walked about 12 kilometers through the snow. We could no longer walk. The route was cleaned by a car at a cost of 240,000 afghanis from public aid (people’s personal expenses).”
Transferring patients from Nawur to hospitals in Kabul is a routine task for the residents of Nawur. Due to the lack of paved roads and the shortage of equipment, people were forced to carry the patient on their shoulders and arms.
“We often face this challenge during winter,” says Mahjoor. “Fortunately, by the clearance of this route yesterday, a gynecological-obstetric patient was also transferred to Kabul. Three persons are reported to be in a critical condition in the area today and need serious help.”
Yahya Mohammadi, one of Jawad’s relatives who has accompanied him from the beginning until now, says that with the cooperation and help of local people, Jawad (patient) was taken to Ramuz Eye Hospital in western Kabul yesterday. While suffering from extreme cold and the hardships of the path made his eyes ache and scream.
The fate of Jawad, however, is the destiny of most patients in Nawur in winter. Yahya says that yesterday when Jawad was transferred to Kabul, another patient named Isa, suffering from a respiratory problem, was placed in a box by his family and carried from Kurala village to the center of Nawur district by hands.
“Please make the authorities pay attention to our voice,” Yahya said. His memories of the coldness and the road blockades are harsh and shocking.
According to Yahya, patients who do not get the chance to be transported to the hospital die due to lack of crossable roads and hospitals. “In winter, all roads from the villages to the district center and Kabul are blocked,” he said. “In recent years and this winter, we have lost several patients because of road closures and lack of access to hospitals and medical centers.”
However, some patients who get a chance do not get lost along the way, and at least, get to the hospital and a doctor. There are many patients who die in bed and no one can hear them.
Meanwhile, the snow on this road had previously been wiped by the Association of Empathy Supporters and the public gathering of the people of Ghazni’s Nawur and Maidan Wardak’s Behsud districts.
Many people from Nawur district took part in this effort and after about two days of struggle, they opened the way.
At that time, some urgent patients had the opportunity to be transferred to Kabul. Now, three weeks later, the route is closed to passengers again because of snow and monsoon storms.
The post Ghazni’s Nawur Residents Carry a Patient to Kabul on a Wooden Board appeared first on Hasht-e Subh Daily.
Source: Hasht-e Subh Daily
