Najma, from Bamyan Markaz

Najma was born in Waras District of Bamyan Province. She grew up in an extremely destitute
family. The major reason for being poor was that her father was a framer, and couldn’t provide
enough food for the family including other basic needs for life. In order to become financially
stable, Najma’s family preferred to displace to Bamiyan Province and settled down in Sorkhqol
Village close to Bamyan city. A few days after the displacement, Najma’s father due to an
unknown cause passed away suddenly, which led the family even to a more destitute state.

After the death of her Father, Najma’s dream to get an education and go to school faded away,
because there were five members in her family and it was quite problematic for Najma to
continue her education in such a destitute state of the family. Due to the hope of education,
Najma lost, and the sudden demise of her father, Najma happened to suffer from severe
depression and anxiety, and with time passing by, her depression caused her a lot of other health
is the sues such as she would rarely eat and drinking including exercising very low and social and
family interaction.

Najm’s prayers for education come true when YHDO established a CFS centre in the village where
Njama was living. YHDO CFS was providing education, and as Njama got aware, she instantly
referred to the CFS, and got registered in the CFS – being a student of CFS wasn’t only an
opportunity for Njama to learn, but was a golden chance for her to socialize with friends, and
build a network of acquaintance, and this she somehow mitigated her mental depression to a
greater state, and important enough, the CFS was a place where she could fulfil the promise she
made with her father of becoming a teacher.

Based on Najam’s Mother, the CFS classes brought considerable improvements in her health, and
she is now a totally changed person both as a daughter and as a student. Her mother further
added that she helps her with chores, doing her homework and finding time to socialize with
family friends and relatives. Najama is on the path of recovery, and her mother added that after
her father’s demise, Njama’s depression tortured us a lot and we really prayed and wished her to
bounce back as we couldn’t yet bear additional sorrow.
The success story of Ahmad from the Panjab district
Ahmad is the eight-year-old son of Ali Mohammad. He was born eight years ago in a Poor family
in the Punjab district of Bamyan province. The economic situation of Ahmad's family was as bad
as other families living in the Punjab district. Ahmed's father owns a small shop in the market of
Punjab district and merely earns his livelihood doing business food selling and buying, and it was
the main source of livelihood for the family, which by the way wasn’t generating enough income
to meet the family expenses.

The extreme poverty left a devastating effect on Ahmad’s mental state and caused him to lose
interest in his social life including going to schools and other academic institutions for learning,
and despite he was being pushed by his family to go to school, he wasn’t going nor was showing
interest in any of the social activities. Further, Ahmad, unlike other children, was demonstrating
no interest in recreational activities, had a low spirit throughout the day and preferred to sit
alone in a corner and cry for no obvious reasons. Ahamd was evidently suffering from the
syndromes of depression, and as it was noted by his family, and his peers, his family referred him
to the Child-Friendly Space of YHOD sponsored by UNICEF, located in Punjab District.

As he was admitted to the Child-friendly space, the Psychosocial support workers gave Ahamd
exclusive attention and started the psychosocial support Process. Within a month or two, Ahamd
relatively recovered to a great extent and began to improve gradually. The counselling and the
Child-friendly space environment and resource brought significant improvement in psychological,
and social interaction. Ahamd seemed on the path to full recovery, was gaining momentum to go
to school again, and regained the courage he needed to participate in his peer social event, meet
with friends, and relatives, and interact with them normally.