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CNN Live At Daybreak

Some of Afghanistan's Poorest People Just Now Getting Food Aid

Aired January 30, 2002 - 05:13   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Some of Afghanistan's poorest people are just now getting food aid.

Our Michael Holmes sets off from the Afghan capital of Kabul with a United Nations convoy carrying desperately needed food supplies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the predawn light, a mission of mercy leaves Kabul for northeastern Afghanistan. It's not an easy drive nor a fast one, five dusty hours over roads, sometimes tracks. The scenery spectacular. But for the U.N.'s World Food Program, this is about the destination, not the journey.

We're in the district of Nadrab (ph), a place getting its first food aid since pre-Taliban days. Some of these people, anxious, hungry and grateful, have been existing on dried corn and dried grass.

JORDAN DEY, WORLD FOOD PROGRAM: What happened with the Taliban is there were certain peoples in certain areas that were considered enemies and they just, they destroyed villages, they cut them off. They didn't allow assistance in.

HOLMES: I'm taking this to my family, Mohammed (ph) tells me. We have nothing right now. His house, four hour's walk away.

These children walked the battered track singing a song of thanks to aid agencies. The food, 100 kilos, or 220 pounds, of wheat per family, will last about two months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not only our village, but the whole country, 23 years of war made our people very poor. And because of the drought, we cannot grow crops.

HOLMES (on camera): We planned to walk with these people to their villages, but it's about three or four hour's walk. Now, that's not the problem. The problem is Afghanistan's problem, security. If we made the journey, it would be dark by the time we were heading back to Kabul and that's simply too dangerous.

DEY: Security is absolutely an issue around here. This, there's very few parts of Afghanistan that are considered safe.

HOLMES (voice-over): The WFP alone is feeding more than six million people in Afghanistan. Like other aid agencies, its trucks have been robbed, in accidents, hit land mines. But the food drops continue. Now that the war is over, the Taliban gone, nature holds all the aces for the people of Nadrab.

DEY: This is an area that's dependent on growing their own food and if there's good rain in the spring then they'll have a good harvest and they'll be fine. And if there's another drought, we're going to have another serious situation.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN, Nadrab District, northeastern Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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