Two and a half decades of war and violence have devastated Afghanistan. After the Taliban was driven from power in 2001, most of the country's institutions, as well as its infrastructure, were in shambles, the economy devastated. Half of Afghanistan's people lived in absolute poverty.

If Afghanistan is to recover and take its place among the nations of the world, efforts must continue to rebuild and stabilize the country. Violence and extremism must be quelled and the economy revitalized. But to get to this point, Afghanistan needs outside help.

The United States Agency For International Development, or USAID, has been helping the people of Afghanistan since 2002, building schools and clinics, training farmers in modern farming, storage and marketing methods, building roads and investing in power-generation and expansion programs.

Zabul Province in the south-eastern part of the country is one of the beneficiaries of USAID's development programs. USAID is overseeing a series of development projects in Zabul Province, from building road, water and energy networks to rehabilitating hydroelectric dams; from constructing and rehabilitating wells to sponsoring programs to improve the health of people, livestock and crops.

USAID helps farmers by improving irrigation, distributing high quality seeds and fertilizers, and by training them in modern animal husbandry and livestock management techniques.

To help secure a better future for the children of Zabul, USAID helps finance school construction and refurbishment. USAID is also building a Teacher Training College to help build a corps of professional teachers who will provide quality education to Zabul's future generations.

And finally, to support democracy and promote good governance, USAID works, often through training, to strengthen governance and civil society, to help raise women's status in society, and to foster more effective and transparent leadership.

In all, between January 2002 and September 2008 alone, USAID invested a little over $140 million to help improve the lives and future of the people of Zabul Province.

Only investment in Afghanistan's people will ultimately lead the country to prosperity, peace and stability on a long-term, sustainable basis.