July 2016—Matiullah*, who lives in western Kandahar, started his life with what many deem a severe strike against any chance of success: a congenitally disabled left leg. Dogged by poverty at a very young age, Matiullah began working in the poppy fields as a lancer to help his family earn enough to survive. The money he earned was never enough, but he had no other choice because of his leg.

“I had no idea how to start my own business, and local people were not hiring me as a laborer due to my disability. Such behavior of the local people in the society was disappointing,” says Matiullah.

Today, however, he never steps foot into the poppy fields. He has his own mechanical workshop where he spends countless hours repairing everything from tractors and motorcycles to cars.

Maitullah gained his new skills through a USAID-sponsored mechanical training in February-May 2015.

“As soon as I completed the training session successfully, I started my own business in the district center,” he said as he surveyed his workshop.

Because of Matiullah’s ambition to put his skills to work, he can now repay the loan he received from a relative to set up his workshop.

Matiullah now serves as a role model for those with disabilities in his community, encouraging others, who might have once been forced into the poppy fields due to their handicaps, to participate in the mechanical training.

The training was part of USAID’s Kandahar Food Zone Program (KFZ) project, which helps Afghans discover profitable alternatives to poppy cultivation. By identifying and addressing the root causes and sources of instability that lead to opium poppy cultivation, USAID is helping Afghans build new lives, free from the peril of illegal poppy farming. More than 800 people have benefited from alternative livelihood activities of the three-year, $27.7 million program, which began in July 2013.

*Many Afghans use only one name.

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