One stone at a time
Rebuilding, after the earthquake
In the eastern provinces, the earthquake of August 2025 destroyed or severely damaged more than 6,700 homes, schools, and healthcare facilities, worsening the already high-risk conditions faced by the local population, particularly women, children, and people with disabilities.
Through the project One stone at a time, NOVE rebuilt the completely destroyed homes of Samena and Nafas Gul, two women heads of household in Nangarhar province.
Samena, a 39-year-old widow, has eight young children. To build the house she once lived in, reduced to rubble by the earthquake, she had taken on a debt she was unable to repay. Her only source of income comes from occasional sewing and tailoring work; she struggles to put together even one meal a day. She and her children took shelter in a small rented room until NOVE handed her the keys to her new home.
Nafas Gul, a 58-year-old widow, and her two daughters have no income and no way to earn one, due to restrictions and the severe poverty widespread in the area. Nafas Gul’s only son is an adult but unable to work: he is affected by a severe mental disability and depends entirely on his mother. The family found a precarious accomodation in a tent until they received their new home from NOVE.
Having a home does not solve every problem faced by families living in extreme poverty, like those of Samena and Nafas Gul, but it provides essential protection and a basic condition for a dignified life—especially for women.
The homes were rebuilt following simple local building models, ensuring structural safety, using local materials and labor drawn from within the community. This approach made it possible to deliver a fast, context-appropriate response while also offering a small but concrete opportunity to workers in the affected area.
This intervention was conceived as the starting point for a broader initiative, one that can be replicated for other families once the necessary resources become available.