Mandool, a breathtaking land wrapped in the arms of the mighty mountains, is blessed with crystal water and humble, kind-hearted people. This beautiful district lies in Nuristan province, eastern Afghanistan. Yet, for decades, neither government officials nor humanitarian organizations had ever reached Mandool.

Behind its natural beauty hid deep hardship. The residents of this paradisiacal place had no road, no connection to other provinces, no electricity, and no hope. The loss of pregnancies and patients dying on the way to the hospital had become a part of daily life.

_{Tertiary Road Constructed section in Gulenshah village, Mondool}

Qudratullah Atayee, a resident of Chapa Dara village, said, “We had no facilities. Transporting our crops was extremely difficult. The cost of transporting goods was doubled. We carried our products on our shoulders.”

_{Qudratullah Atayee, a resident of Chapa Dara village, Mandool}

But everything changed when DACAAR, with the financial support of UNOPS https://www.unops.org/, launched the Community Resilience and Livelihood Project (CRLP) in Mandool. The project, implemented from 17 July 2024 to 16 November 2025, aims to improve community resilience, enhance livelihoods, and restore hope in one of the most remote areas of Nuristan.

Through this project, DACAAR implemented four life-changing components: Cash for Work, Social Grant (SG), 3B, and Capacity-Building Trainings. Under the Cash for Work component, community members were paid to construct a 71.55-km tertiary road connecting the Mandool district center to all valleys (villages) and to the province of Panjshir. Of this total, nearly a 20-kilometer (19.77 km) section was built entirely through community efforts, connecting Chapa Dara in Mandool to Arib Kotal in the Paryan district of Panjshir. As a result, the overall road length extended to 91.55 km. Through Social Grant, vulnerable families received essential food packages. In the 3B component, women were economically empowered through the provision of 18 chickens and essential supplies. Capacity-Building Trainings strengthened community knowledge in areas such as:

1. Re-establishment of Sub Committee/CDP Review
2. Sub-Committee Planning/How to deliver inclusive Aid
3. Kitchen Garden
4. DRM (Disaster Risk Mitigation)
5. Self-Confidence & Self-Care
6. Resilience

The results were transformative. For the first time in history, vehicles entered Chapa Dara village, Mandool. Elderly residents wept as they watched cars driving where only mules and feet had ever gone.

“Now patients reach hospitals on time. Our products go straight from the village to Kabul. Life has completely changed,” said Atayee.

Atayee added with emotion, “We cannot find words to thank DACAAR for what they’ve done for us.”

Today, Mandool is no longer forgotten. Its people, once cut off from the world, now stand on a road that connects them to life, opportunity, and hope. Yet, they still dream of more, a pipe scheme, a standard health clinic, a school, electricity stations (MHP), and a small dam.

Because they are human too, and they deserve to live like others.

_{Visualizing the road construction area, in Sarwar Khan bridge, Linar or chapa dara, Mandool}