For privacy reasons, the images of Hamdiya and Kaameh are not used.
Women in Afghanistan cannot leave the house without a man, are not allowed to see a male doctor, and their choices are restricted.
But when they walk through a set of blue doors into an MSI clinic, they can choose reproductive healthcare that will suit them, and it will be delivered with compassion and care by women healthcare professionals.
Choosing to access these services can be a small but powerful act of agency in their lives.
In an Afghan clinic, we met Hamdiya, whose reason for being there couldn’t be simpler:
“I want my children to be safe and I would not like to have any more.”
She continues: “Many of the girls can’t attend school classes and many women lose their jobs. These things are difficult. I wish to have job security, safety and a better life.”
“It was totally by accident that my new neighbour told me about the MSI clinic. She told me there is a clinic for mothers and they have a solution for avoiding pregnancy. Since then, I thank my neighbour in my prayers.”
Also visiting the clinic was 25-year-old Kaameh who was witness to something that keeps her up at night:
“I saw a woman who had given birth to their sixth child at home. They couldn’t go to a hospital as they were poor, and when they were brought here, the child had already died.“
What she hopes for is more Afghan women to know about clinics like MSI’s where they can improve their health, which she says will especially help the many families who can’t afford private centres or hospital fees.
“This is easily accessible. We can vaccinate our children here, do ultrasound checks here. I hope all women use the advice they get here. This way, they will have healthy children, with the necessary gap between each birth and also it will be good for the mother’s health.”
For more than two decades, MSI has been there for women in Afghanistan. Today, and every day, we continue to be there – as a safe space with real choices.
