Shelter Now was founded in the early eighties. At that time, the invasion of Soviet troops in Afghanistan caused the largest refugee movement in the world. Several million Afghan refugees lived in the region of the border city of Peshawar in Pakistan. Shelter Now was registered as an international relief organization in 1983, distributing food, drinking water, milk and other relief supplies to many thousands of families and building emergency shelters and soup kitchens for them.

In the refugee camps, Shelter Now built clinics, schools, wells and widows’ houses, among other things. This work took many years, because until Afghanistan’s liberation from the Taliban regime in 2001, war and oppression led to repeated streams of refugees to Pakistan.

Shelter Now has been working in Afghanistan since 1988 and has been officially registered there by the changing governments since 1992. The relief organization built several cement factories, which mainly produce roofing material for the reconstruction of residential buildings. So that also a normal family can build itself a house, the material is delivered particularly low-priced, sometimes also free of charge. Renewing the destroyed irrigation systems and establishing a center for the street children of Kabul are other important projects of Shelter Now in these years.

In 2001, 24 Shelter Now employees, including four Germans, were arrested and accused. The Reproach: Spreading the christian faith. The arrest soon turned out to be a hostage-taking by the Taliban regime. With this drastic step, it wanted to counter the US threat of war after the attacks of September 11. In November, the employees were freed from hostage-taking in a dramatic action.

Shelter Now has been working in Afghanistan again since summer 2002. In the meantime, some “villages of hope” have been built for returning refugees, as well as several schools, also for girls. In Kabul a destroyed eye clinic was rebuilt together with partners. There the organization has also adopted a center for the deaf where children and adults are taught and trained for a profession. In northern Afghanistan, Shelter Now runs a school for English and computer courses and maintains drinking water production projects, in the west of the country a modern dental clinic and agricultural projects in several regions.

After the takeover of the Taliban in the summer of 2021, Shelter Now was re-registered under the new government. All projects had to be reapplied for and gradually they can all start again. Some projects continued without interruption.

Country information Afghanistan

Status 2019

After the great earthquake disaster in northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005, Shelter Now distributed winter equipment to 12,500 families with tents, or transitional shelters made of wood and corrugated iron, with mattresses, warm quilts, stoves and floor tarpaulins. In this way, Shelter Now was able to help more than 75,000 people through the winter. In a tent village, the organization provided 10,000 homeless people with a daily warm meal in winter 2005/2006.

We were also participating in the reconstruction of the destroyed region and built 25 earthquake-proof schools. We are also helping earthquake victims to rebuild their homes through training in earthquake-resistant construction methods.

The great flood disaster in the summer of 2010 again made hundreds of thousands of people homeless. We are also involved in the flooded area with far-reaching projects: daily hot meals for up to 4000 people, cooking and kitchen utensils for thousands of families, water treatment, clothing, reconstruction of flood-proof houses, home furnishings and more.

We also got involved after the severe flood in the summer of 2022, distributing food, water filters and medicine to over 2,000 people through a local partner. Temporary tent cities were set up to accommodate people, in addition they were provided with a daily meal.
We hope to be able to help with the reconstruction as well.

Since autumn 2014, we have been supporting people who fled from the terrorist militias of the “Islamic State” to the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq. We give them food, toiletries and other necessities of life. Read more in this travel report by Udo Stolte.

Since 2019, Shelter Now is registered in Kurdistan and our office is located in Erbil.

In the city of Baadre, we have a trauma center where women and girls can come to deal with their horrific experiences with IS and the trauma they have suffered as a result. In a refugee camp just outside the city is our Children’s Center, where children of kindergarten and primary school age are taught and have fun together. Here they can forget the daily camp routine at least for a few hours.