Timor's Story

My name is Timor. I have been working at Children in Crisis in Afghanistan for 12 years. My father and I both joined Children in Crisis when the charity first started working in Kabul, Afghanistan.

My father worked as a security guard at the Karte Char Day Care Centre. I also worked as a security guard for Children in Crisis but in the main office. At this time Kabul was under the power of the Taliban and it was a dangerous time to work for an international organisation. Under the Taliban the rights of women were severely reduced. Children in Crisis’ main project at this time was a home-based school for women and girls. Children in Crisis had schools like this one all over Kabul.

Although I was only working as a guard at the time I decided to volunteer to distribute necessary supplies to one of the schools in Kabul. My contribution to Children in Crisis’ project really helped the plight of girls and women in Kabul. It may sound like an easy job but this was, in fact one of the most dangerous at the time.

In addition to working as a guard and distributing materials, the Country Director of Children in Crisis saw that I was helping with these additional tasks and trained me to use the computer.

After the fall of the Taliban the need for education projects was at its greatest. Children began enrolling in schools in huge numbers and the education system struggled to cope due to the lack of qualified teachers and school buildings. At this time Children in Crisis’ education programmes became more vital than ever. This was good not only for the organisation but also provided the opportunity to move upwards within Children in Crisis.

In 2002 I became the Admin and Logistics Assistant. I worked hard in this position and the senior staff recognised this. In 2005 I was promoted to Finance Officer working alongside the Finance Manager.

For all of this time my father continued to work as a guard. In 2005 my father had an accident. He was guarding the stairs of the play ground one night and fell down breaking his leg. He was taken to hospital and it was decided after 20 days in hospital that he would need an operation. Sadly because of the lack of clean materials in the hospital my father caught tetanus after his operation. He died within 24 hours.

I continue to work in memory of my father, knowing that he would have wanted me to succeed and to keep working for Children in Crisis. When the Finance Manager left in 2006 I was asked to take on this role. It was a big step for me. I am proud to work for Children in Crisis. I can see how much the organisation has changed and grown, and the real change this has made to the lives of children in Afghanistan.