AFGHAN FACTORY OFFERS LIFELINE TO WAR WIDOWS
120 women employed to make uniforms for servicemen, prisoners
DOZENS of women widowed by the Afghan war have been given a lifeline by the army, stitching military uniforms indistinguishable from the ones their husbands died in.
Around 120 women are employed by the Defence Ministry to make uniforms for servicemen and prisoners at a factory here.
Many are widows, but all are related to someone who was serving in the military and either died or was invalided out.
Roya Naimati, a 31-year-old with four children, was given an apartment in the capital here and a job at the factory when her husband drowned in a river during a military operation.
“Initially I lost hope and was wondering how to feed and bring up my little children,” she said. “I’m thankful to the Defence Ministry for this job.”
With her 5-year-old daughter next to her at the sewing machine, Naimati is now the breadwinner of her family, earning 12,000 Afghanis a month.
In deeply conservative Afghanistan, families usually rely on men for financial support.
Afghanistan has fought a twodecade insurgency by the Taliban
since the Islamist militants were ousted by a US-led invasion in 2001.
Despite supposed peace talks between the warring sides, violence has surged across the country with thousands of soldiers and civilians killed.
The exact number of Afghan security personnel killed in the war is unknown, but in 2019, President Ashraf Ghani said more than 45,000 had “paid the ultimate sacrifice” since his election five years earlier.
“I feel sad when I’m sewing because this was the uniform my son was killed in,” said 37year-old Mahbooba Sadid Parwani.
“Though my son died, I am happy that other young people are fighting against the traitor Taliban.”
Great Eastern pledges a total of RM1 million under the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund to help customers following the recent roll-out of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
The fund is extended to customers of Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad, Great Eastern General Insurance (Malaysia) Berhad and Great Eastern Takaful Berhad. Customers of Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) must be a registered e-Connect user whose policies are in-force during the fund’s coverage period, from Feb 25 to Dec 31, 2021 or when the fund has reached its RM1 million limit.
The fund aims to support customers with daily hospital cash benefit of
RM200 per day, up to a maximum of 7 days for hospitalisation due to adverse effects following immunisation
(AEFI), within 14 days of receiving an approved Covid-19 vaccination. Additionally, a lump sum of RM10,000 is provided for AEFI related deaths occurring within 30 days of receiving a Covid-19 vaccine or from date of admission to hospital due to AEFI.
“As the leading life insurer in Malaysia, safeguarding the physical and financial wellbeing of our customers has always been at the core of everything we do. Since the onset of Covid-19, we have been introducing initiatives to support our customers on every journey during these unprecedented times. The Covid-19 Vaccine Fund is another such initiative, as they prepare for their vaccination,” said Datuk Koh Yaw
Hui, Chief Executive Officer of Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad.
The Covid-19 Vaccine Fund is in addition to its RM2 million Financial Assistance Programme announced in February 2020 to help customers mitigate the effects of the pandemic, which was fully utilised.
To find out more about the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund, customers may contact Great Eastern Customer Service at 1300-1300 88 or email wecaremy@greateasternlife.com.