The Afghan Red Crescent Society, with financial support from the International Federation of the Red Cross, has built homes for 288 families affected by the earthquake in Herat.

These houses, constructed in three earthquake-affected villages in Herat’s Gulran District, cost over 100 million Afghanis.

Shahabuddin Delawar, acting Director of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, said about the construction: “We inspected each solidly built home, and every afghani contributed by Muslims or other donors has, thank God, been spent properly.”

Noor Ahmad Islamjar, the governor of Herat, said: “All expenses were recorded transparently and reported to the Prime Minister and separately to the Emir. You now see examples of what has been distributed to the people.”

Some earthquake survivors in Gulran District report having lived without shelter for over a year. They are now relieved to receive homes as winter approaches and the weather gets colder.

Basir Ahmad, a resident of Gulran District in Herat, told TOLOnews, “Previously, the people here didn’t even have tents. If they did, two or three families would share one tent, and we spent the entire winter under those tents.”

Mohammad Ibrahim, another resident of Gulran, said, “It was very difficult. We lived in broken houses, and some of us were living under tents.”

Last year’s devastating earthquakes affected not only Zinda Jan District in Herat but also Enjil, Keshk Rabat Sangi, and Gulran, where hundreds of homes were destroyed.

Although thousands of homes have been built for earthquake survivors in Herat over the past year, some earthquake victims in the province remain without shelter.