Earthquakes: WV Mobile Teams Reached Affected Villages Within Hours

When the first earthquakes struck Herat Province, 7 October, World Vision Afghanistan immediately deployed its Mobile Health and Nutrition Teams (MHNTs) to the areas most affected.

Pop-up 'container' facilities were immediately deployed in villages with the greatest damage and highest number of fatalities, such as Sia Arb, to provide 24-hour healthcare. 

The team on the ground offers a large range of services to people who urgently need medical and psychological support. Children and women, especially pregnant and breastfeeding women, are prioritised to get vital support. 

Preliminary reports indicated that affected people, mostly women and children, are experiencing neuronic and anaphylactic shocks due to flashbacks, which require full day care. Our health teams are available 24/7 to support as many people as they can.

Women and girls suffered from the earthquake the most since many were at home.

Our doctors and medical personnel provided outpatient services to 351 affected people, psychosocial counselling to 184 people, mental health treatment services to 49 people, and maternal services to two affected pregnant women. Children and pregnant and breastfeeding women received nutritional support, over the counter cold medicine and vitamins.

"My seven-year-old daughter went inside the house to make tea for us, but she never came back," says 30-year-old Hawa Gul.

"When a person has a shock, it takes a while to get rid of it. The shock of losing houses, children and family members in particular, that these people have experienced, is an enormous shock," says Razia, World Vision Mobile Health Team counsellor.

World Vision's dedicated team is ready to help people who lost their loved ones or who are injured because of the devastating earthquake.