The Real Afghan People:

Arbab Mahammad and his village

"If we don't get help, we don't know what will happen."

Arbab Mahammad is the village elder of an isolated village called Barkhol, high in the hills of central Afghanistan. He is the richest man in the village, but you can see from his old, worn-out clothes that desperate times have come to Barkhol.

"Our crops are in bad condition. Usually, we would have enough wheat to feed us through the winter and to plant for the next year. But this year, only about 10% of our wheat has survived."

ISOLATED - far away from other places

WORN-OUT CLOTHES are too old and damaged to be used anymore

There has been severe drought for three years and the harvest has failed each year. 560 people live in Barkhol. They have only enough food to feed them for a few weeks.

"We want to stay here, but we need help, and if we don't get help, we don't know what will happen. Soon the winter snows will come and cut off our contact with the rest of the world, and we will not be able to escape from here. We will stay here and, if it is God's will, we will die."

Arbab Mahammad says this calmly, in a way that shows he accepts this fate.

A SEVERE DROUGHT occurs when there has been no rain for a very long time.