CIVIC: Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict

ARIFA'S STORY
By Han Shan

The story of an Afghani widow who lost eight members of her family to a U.S. bomb, and the work that Marla and CIVIC have done to help her get the new home she desperately needed .

On Wednesday I returned from Kabul, Afghanistan, where my friend Marla Ruzicka was often on my mind. In Kabul, I spent several days with a woman named Arifa, who was one of the first war-affected people that Marla met there. On November 6, 2001, a U.S. bomb hit her family home, killing her husband, her eldest son, and six other members of her family. Arifa became a widow at age 30 and a few weeks later Marla went to see her. Marla vowed then to do whatever she could to see that Arifa, and others like her, received the help that they needed to piece their devastated lives back together. Marla returned to Kabul on several occasions, always going to see Arifa and her remaining family.

Arifa wept as she recounted how her young daughters - 6 and 8 years old now - adored Marla. She told me how they would run to her and hug her and giggle. "I love Marla more than my own life," she told me and asked if I had the phone number for Marla's mother. Arifa wanted to tell her what a gift she gave the world. She unfolded a flimsy piece of posterboard that Marla had scrawled on: "I need a new home, I lost 8 family members. -Orfa." Orfa was Marla's mistaken phonetic spelling of Arifa's name. Marla took her to the U.S. Embassy to see what kind of help they would give. After they were rebuffed, Marla made her this sign so that she could stand outside and try to draw attention to her tragic plight. Guards at the embassy gate promised that someone would come out to investigate but no one ever did.

Now 4 1/2 years later, Arifa has received no assistance and every day is a challenge. Her family must leave the home they are renting - a small mud-brick house of two rooms with no indoor plumbing and tattered plastic over the windows to keep out the wind and dust and cold. The family who owns it is returning from Pakistan and they will have to move to another house in the poor neighborhood, where the rent is $10 more a month - $50, an increase of 20%, and an amount that will make it more difficult to take care of her children on her $75/month income. Arifa and her family desperately need a home of their own.

I found Arifa through someone who knew Marla there and she allowed us to come and talk to her because I was Marla's friend. One day, we walked the dusty road from her rented home to the cemetery where the 8 family members killed in the bombing are buried. We walked and my friends walked alongside, filming. While we stood by the grave-site, a man asked why we were filming. He was Arifa's neighbor, who lost 2 family members in the same bombing. As he spoke he appeared both angry and hurt. "Why are you filming this poor woman? Time and again, people have come and taken pictures and left, and nothing has changed. No help has ever come."

I told him and Arifa then that I did not know what I would be able to do but that I promised I would do my best to see that she got help. I was already in touch with the staff at CIVIC, who are carrying on Marla's legacy of helping innocents caught in the cross-fire of war. Marla's files on Afghanistan were messy - the folks at CIVIC were glad that I had located Arifa, and have assured me that the money Marla had lobbied for is available to help. It just needs to be pushed through via the on the ground staff of USAID.

So CIVIC is pushing and I've offered evidence - pictures and video and documents I collected from Arifa and scanned. It looks likely that Arifa will finally have a new house. Arifa’s is one of the many cases that CIVIC - the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict - is working to help.