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COLUMNLocals among thousands in Washington to mark Peace Corps' 50th anniversary
By Faith J. Van Gilderfvangilder@news-sentinel.com Thousands of people – many wearing woven hats, batik shirts, silk saris, striped serapes and other colorful attire from around the world – gathered in Washington, D.C., on Sunday for a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and a parade of flags across Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial. It was the culmination of a weekend of festivities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United States Peace Corps.
Terry Dougherty, a senior programmer analyst at IPFW, served 1973-74 in Afghanistan. He and his wife, Margie, joined with 65 returned volunteers at an Afghan restaurant called Bamian to relive memories and gathered with a group of about 135 at the Afghanistan embassy. On Saturday they went to a bazaar and a panel discussion with the first three Peace Corps Afghanistan directors.In Fort Wayne, Dougherty is president of Friends of Afghanistan; works with School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA), which brings students to the U.S. to study in high school and college; and also is involved with the Indiana Center for Mideast Peace.Dougherty said his Peace Corps experience continues to influence his work and volunteerism through ”a desire to understand international circumstances and to help educate and influence Americans to engage in peaceful solutions to world problems.” http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20110926%2FNEWS%2F110929723Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
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Issue No. 15 www.awwproject.org
September 2010 Welcome! Summer is winding down and Fall will shortly be upon us. What a wonderful whirlwind August turned out to be. As our wonderful writers celebrate the month of Ramadan, they have also been busy composing and reporting. Seeta's piece about a new venture by brave women journalists was picked up by no less than five blogs. To see the links, please scroll to the end of this newsletter. In addition, a piece by one of our writers about her current run for parliament explores vote-selling, traveling through provinces, and the poverty of the nomadic Kuchis. Another writer describes getting caught in a firefight while enroute from Kandahar to Kabul. Don't miss other strong pieces highlighted below. Your comments (on the website) always mean a lot to our writers. AWWP also received a bit of ink: Kay B Day wrote about us in Writer Mag.Com, "Now that AWWP exists, it is possible the words of these women may one day change the world." And in the newsletter of Awakening the Eco-Soul, Mary Reynolds Thompson recommended visiting the site and leaving a message. Click the links for the full articles. Just In: Author/activist Melissa Pritchard, to whom AWWP is forever indebted for her founding of the Ashton Goodman Grant, sent an email with the following news: "Even in challenging economic times, donations continue to come in for The Ashton Goodman Grant. I offer a great thank you to each of you who has given to further the writing, education and literacy of Afghan women and girls through the Afghan Women's Writing Project. This past month, the staff at 'O' Magazine held a book sale, raising over $1,000, and in five weeks' time, Pamela dePass organized a benefit dinner in Dover, Delaware, raising over $2,500! Also attorney Kathleen Fick has offered her legal services pro bono to help AWWP. A wholehearted thank you to everyone!!" Socks! Remember warm clothing sent by afghans for Afghans mentioned in last month's newsletter? Well, the hand-knitted socks landed safely in Kabul. They will be presented to our writers at a September gathering. However, Tina and Tahmina could not resist taking a peek and have reported that "they are indeed the most beautiful and colorful hand-knitted socks we have ever seen." Rachel de Baere hosted AWWP's Freshta at the International Women's Writing Guild (IWWG) Conference in Rhode Island. Everyone was duly impressed with Freshta's gentle presence and gift of poetry and prose. After a rousing success in the Ocean State, Freshta headed to the Big Apple, where she was a keynote speaker for the BlogHer2010 and one of the four recipients of a BlogHer scholarship. AWWP is wistfully saying a fond farewell and thank you to author and journalist Christina Asquith following a six-month tenure as Director. She did much in that short time to help AWWP and its writers. Rachel de Baere has agreed to step in as Acting Director while AWWP forms a board. With nearly a year-long involvement in AWWP, Rachel brings a wealth a knowledge and experience to this position. In addition to Workshop Director for IWWG, Rachel has over twenty years of experience working with not-for-profit organizations, including the Victim Services Agency of New York, Family Service of Westchester, the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice, the Child Abuse Prevention Center of Westchester County and Books Behind Bars. She also has Master's in Public Administration from New York University. Please enjoy the Editors' Picks of the Month, highlighted below. Jordan Schneider Editing Coordinator Running for Parliament, Afghan Style The Kuchis are very poor and hungry. Most are not educated and will vote as their elders tell them. And most of the elders do business with the candidates. They say, "Okay, we will vote for you, but then you have to pay us." As I understand, the rate for one vote is the equivalent of two and a half dollars by E Click here to read the full essay. From Kabul to Kandahar - May 2, 2010 We sat there for ten minutes when suddenly a vast explosion occurred, the sky was covered with dark smoke, and our ears deafened. The explosion seemed as loud as an atomic bomb. We could see big objects like parts of vehicles and human bodies flying. Thanks to almighty Allah that we left our bus when we did. ~by Sofia Click here to read the full essay. Picture of a Laptop At the beginning and end of each conversation I would ask for a laptop. Sometimes my conversations with him were only one word: laptop, laptop. Three weeks passed and I got a letter from my father. When I opened the envelope, there was a picture of a nice laptop. My father wrote a short note: "I am sorry. Laptops are expensive here." ~by Roya Click here to read the entire essay. I Wish My Country Was Not My Love I wish Afghanistan was not a country But instead a dry land And no one lived in it. I wish my country was not my love I suffer from its pains ~by Tabasom Click here to read the full poem. Have We Forgotten? My heart beats while listening to my friends talk of Afghanistan and politics My heart beats, but not from excitement. From fear. ~ by Meena Y Click here to read all of the poem. The Performance When my name was called, I found myself standing in front of almost two hundred people. I began to feel so nervous that I even forgot to smile. I could hear my heart beat like a bird trying to escape a cage. At the side of the stage, I noticed some of my teachers. On the other side stood Massud, smiling stupidly as if waiting to witness my failure. ~ by Shafiqa Click here to read the full essay. Who Am I? I laughed loud but couldn't hear the sound And when I did, everyone laughed at me Laughing, crying, shouting-all is silent for me. ~ by Shogofa Click here to read the full poem. A Bold Step for Afghan Women Journalists Being a woman journalist in Afghanistan can be extremely dangerous. Women who venture into that field routinely face harassment and threats, and have sometimes been killed. The dangers have resulted in fewer women studying to become journalists. But the new center hopes to counter this trend. ~by Seeta Click here to read the full piece. Also featured at these blogs: Editorsweblog.org Allensullivan.com Goodafghannews.com Fastcompany.com Freepress.net A Word From Our Teachers Meg Waite Clayton is the author of The Wednesday Sisters, a National Bestseller, and the forthcoming The Four Ms. Bradwells. The experience I'm having mentoring in the Afghan Women's Writing Project is amazing. The experiences these women have been through are extraordinary. Their stories are so emotionally powerful and compelling. Their prose and poetry is often lyrical. I'm quite sure I've learned as much from them as they have from me. And the idea that I might be helping their stories find voice is more satisfying than I imagined. Maria Espinosa is a novelist, poet, and translator as well as a teacher. Her publications include four novels: Incognito: Journey of a Secret Jew, Dark Plums, Longing, which received an American Book Award,and Dying Unfinished. She has also published two collections of poems, Love Feelings, and Night Music, and a translation of George Sand's novel, Lelia.Working with these women has been a profoundly moving experience. They write with enormous honesty and bravery within the confines of a society that is oppressive to women in the extreme. Yet they are still capable of tenderness and poetic revery. Some must depend on a male escort for access to the internet, as often women are not welcome or even safe in public places. Despite this male dominant culture and the cruelty of the Taliban with its increasing power, they describe individual men -- fathers, husbands, brothers-- who are kind and loving.As I have learned more of the incredibly difficult conditions of women in Afghan society, I have developed immense admiration, respect, and fondness for the women with whom I have had the privilege of working. Their writings focus world-wide attention on what has been too long ignored and pushed into the shadows. Contact AWWP: For more information on the Afghan Women's Writing Project please contact:Rachel de Baere, Acting Director Email: awwproject@yahoo.com AWWP Website/Magazine: www.awwproject.org Become our fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at AWWProject. Founder Masha' Hamilton's Website/Blog: www.mashahamilton.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Afghan Women's Writing Project was begun as a way to allow the voices of Afghan women - too often silenced - to enter the world directly, without any mediation. This project is possible only because of the outstanding American women authors and teachers who generously donate their time and energy as mentors. Additionally, the tireless contributions of these volunteers: Jeff Lyons, Creative Outreach Director StefanCooke, Webmaster and website designer Jordan Schneider, Online Magazine Editing CoordinatorElisabeth Lehr, Workshop Program CoordinatorRachel de Baere, Online Magazine Poetry EditorTahmina Popal and Tina Singleton, Liaisons in Afghanistan Kathleen Rafiq and Heidi Levine, Photography Valerie Wallace, Facebook and Newsletter Coordinator Our inspiring partners are SOLA and the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation; please visit their websites. Donations Online Donations for Afghan Women Writers: Many of our students and women writers, especially outside of Kabul, cannot get to an Internet cafe due to security considerations. A laptop at home and a jump drive would allow them to write their pieces, and then ask a male relative to send the work at an Internet cafe. A $20 donation will buy a flash drive and $500 in donations will buy a laptop for our women writers. No contribution is too small. Thank you for considering it. The Afghan Women's Writing Project has filed for non-profit with 501 (c) 3 status. Your donation is tax deductible. Click This Link To Make A Donation! To stay informed about the latest news, events, and other developments with the Afghan Women's Writing Project, please CLICK below and join our mailing list. We appreciate your support. In This Issue Running for Parliament, Afghan Style From Kabul to Kandahar - May 2, 2010 Picture of a Laptop I Wish My Country Was Not My Love Have We Forgotten? The Performance Who Am I? A Bold Step for Afghan Women Journalists Sponsors & Friends: Please visit our sponsors as a way to thank them for their wonderful support: Friends of Afghanistan Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
SOLA — School of Leadership, Afghanistan: Happy Birthday Mr. Ted: "Shhh! - we're planning a birthday surprise for Mr. Ted.... We setup a blog to capture SOLA student and friends comments. Come on over and check it out.Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan.
Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Afghan Blog June 2010 - from Tony Agnello
Afghanistan, The Longest War, Obama's War…Really? After years of neglect and second class status as the "other war," Afghanistan is now newly positioned at the political epicenter of American foreign policy debate equally on Main Street and in Congress. Elements as dissimilar as committed pacifist progressives and even high ranking officials in the Republican Party are critically framing our engagement in Afghanistan as our longest war or if contextually convenient as Obama's war. Let us take a quick look at our "longest war," at President Obama's war, to see if those descriptions pass the objectivity litmus test. This past June 7, 2010, marked the 104th month of US military engagement in Afghanistan, very objectively ascribing the title of America's longest war in history to the Afghan Campaign. The Vietnam War, between the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the withdrawal of the last American combat forces from Vietnam on April 30, 1975 lasted 103 months. I had just concluded my Afghanistan duties a few weeks after the conclusion of the Vietnam War. Having converted my travel allowance into a supple supply of US Dollars, flying Bakhtar Airlines from Kabul to Heart then overland through Iran, would mark the beginning of my journey home. On reflection, I now see this ceremony of return from our first responsibilities as young adults, as a rite of passage that we would all make, out of Afghanistan and our shared Peace Corps adventures, launched into the commencement rituals of our adult lives. In the subsequent decades that followed my departure Afghanistan would never be far from my thoughts. However, I would not return to Kabul again until 2003, to implement a girls school construction project through Sarah Chayes in Kandahar and contribute to the building of another school for girls in Ghazni, through Zolaykha Sherzad's School of Hope. My arrival was to a vibrant Kabul filled with optimism, economic activity and millions of people newly returned from the Afghan Diaspora. But that was then, this is now and things have changed. Then, in this context, there can be no argument, right? Afghanistan is the longest war in American history, case closed. Well actually, the answer might depend on what the real meaning of war is. I remember lamenting the uneven allocation of war funding in the early years of the Iraq/Afghanistan campaigns. I concluded at that point in time that the newly altered American policies in Afghanistan had become insufficiently funded to draw a timely or pragmatically successful closure to our Afghan commitment as our attention became fixed on Iraq. Maybe we were not all that concerned about finding bin' Laden after all and maybe we were not all that concerned about our commitment to Afghanistan. After a little more than a year or so of primary engagement our Afghan commitment became dwarfed by our efforts in Iraq. For the next seven years ISAF in Afghanistan would be charged with a holding policy hopefully giving the Afghan government sufficient time, if not sufficient resources, to get security issues stabilized. But to call the subsequent post invasion Coalition engagement in Afghanistan a war rather than a policing action would require a suspension of reason and a serious redefinition of what war really is, or should be. By late 2003 as much as ninety five percent of the financial support for the wars was being diverted away from Afghanistan toward Iraq along with a disproportionate reallocation of human and material resources. Any progress made during the approximately twelve months during which Afghanistan really was our primary military focus began to fade as we took our eyes off the Afghan prize and pursued our misadventure in Iraq. Remember no Iraqis were involved in the attacks on 09/11/2001 and as the unbiased rationale for the Iraqi invasion began to unravel with the revelation that there was no connection between secular Iraq and religio-militant Al'Qaeda, no viable association to enriched uranium…"from Africa" and no weapons of mass destruction, a hold order was put out on American action in Afghanistan for the next seven years. The Iraqi and American people continue to pay very high price for this ideologically driven rush to judgment. While we were preoccupied with the Iraqi calamity, the Taliban were organizing a regional resurgence in the tribal territories and the Northwest Frontier Province in Pakistan and in the east and south in Afghanistan. This threat extends right up to today and has grown to threaten the stability of nuclear armed Pakistan with the very real possibility of a non-national terrorist group acquiring nuclear weapons from a compromised Pakistani resource. Skeptics claim that Afghanistan may have simply served as a convenient segue for the ideologically driven Neo-Conservative rush to judgment that brought us, in Shock and Awe, into Iraq with what is generally regarded in hind sight as too few troops, poor intelligence regarding the nature of the Iraqi resistance and with no immediately viable exit strategy. Thus, with the ending of the Powell Doctrine and the advent of the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war, America was propelled into the new reality of the twenty first century with a new set of terms and definitions like rendition, enhanced interrogation and domestic surveillance. With Afghanistan placed on the back burner, the conflict in Iraq has raged on for the better part of the ensuing seven years only recently tapering off but still with the lingering threat that sectarian violence might erupt at any time and for any reason. On my second return visit to Afghanistan in 2006, this time to support Khris Nedam's Kids for Afghan Kids Program funding the construction of two schools in Wardak, I found a very different environment than I had r encountered earlier in 2003. Security, even in Kabul, was on a heightened alert. The insurgency had regrouped and was waging a tenacious resistance that persists up to the present day. I even experienced a bit of apprehension walking around the familiar and virtually unchanged Chicken and Flower Streets at the bus stop intersection Chariee Tora Boz Khan in Share Nau. My concern was probably compounded by the shopkeepers' stories of the occasional suicide bombing or IEDs which were constantly spoken about with a nervous smile and the resigned laughter that hints at the cultural awareness that fate, that kismet, may really be the driving force ultimately at work in all of this; unquestionably and without a shadow of doubt, everything occurring as a result of the guiding hand of Allah. .(Vote for Khris every day until the end of July to enable our continued support for the educational, medical, orphanage complex at Wonkhai Valley in Wardak.) http://www.energizerkeepgoinghalloffame.com/2010HallofFameFinalists/2010Finalists/tabid/89/Default.aspx#1 (Be sure to find Kris's picture and click on it, then voter for her) Now, to the next question; whose war is this anyhow? To drive a wedge between the inherited responsibility that the Obama Administration is now confronting in Afghanistan and his own progressive base, some in his own party and many among the loyal opposition in the Republican Party are declaring the war in Afghanistan to be Obama's War. Possession can be defined as being owned by, part of or proper to. In this context, this war that is clearly proper to America, that is a part of American history, this war is now certainly owned by the Obama Administration as the democratically elected Chief Executive of our nation. But it would be a disingenuous assertion to ascribe causal responsibility to the President. Barak Obama is in charge. It is his job to bring this war, that he did not start, to a successful and honorable conclusion that insures a secure and stable Afghanistan, which provides for the welfare and common good of its own citizens while posing no threat to the United States or to any of its regional neighbors. Now let's address the shortened answers to the two questions posed at the top of this missive. Is this the longest war in our history? Fewer than six months have passed since the Afghan surge began in earnest following a lengthy and serious debate about the optimal American and coalition response in the Afghan Theatre. Add to that the one year of serious military primacy that Afghanistan received prior to our Iraqi commitment and the true US focused and resolute effort in Afghanistan may still be somewhat shy of two years as a truly determined military endeavor. For that reason, I fall on the side of those who declare that this is in no way our longest war. But I also assert that success in Afghanistan, however we collectively come to define it in practical terms, unclouded by political obfuscation, is now our most pressing international responsibility. Lest we forget the lessons of history; abandoning Afghanistan to ruthless extremists has not worked out well for us in the past. Let's address the second assertion; that this is Obama's war. Well, of course it is. But let us also fairly understand that the President has been charged with cleaning up an extraordinary mess that was not of his creation either domestically or internationally. That said, it is clearly his responsibility and ours as RPCVs to once again do all that is in our power to help return Afghanistan to stable local rule devoid of foreign occupation forces whose presence always elicits a millenniums old response from Afghan patriots without any ulterior political motivation other than the ancient, visceral xenophobic opposition historically offered to all foreign invaders.Putting aside political motivations and secure in the understanding that we above all other Americans have a heartfelt interest in insuring a safe and secure Afghanistan for our Afghan friends, their children and grandchildren, let us renew our resolve to bring hostilities to an end that will safeguard the rights of women, as well as those of the Shiite faith and for all ethnic minorities in Afghanistan. Let's also clearly encourage and support American policies as they move in that direction and support the President as he attempts to draw the Afghan campaign to a reasonable closure that will leave a stable nation in place as foreign troops withdraw. But let us again remember that a precipitous abandonment that does not adequately address internal security concerns will plunge the area into yet another period of civil war with the possibility for a spillover into a wider regional conflict that will impel us back into Afghanistan once again within another decade, to deal with issues that the President must address and solve in the present day and in our time. President Obama has a very challenging task before him and he could greatly benefit from our support as could our former host nation, Afghanistan. -- Tony Agnello President, Friends of AfghanistanAfghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
You are invited to view Anna's photo album: Another Interesting day in the streets and out the car window...
Another Interesting day in the streets and out the car window...Kabul, Afghanistan - Jul 13, 2010 by Anna There are some days that you can not resist taking a photo of the activities. Tuesday was such a day...so here is your second day of Kabul sights. View Album Play slideshow Message from Anna:Enjoy if you have time to travel with me...Hugs,AnnaIf you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=anna.hacker&target=ALBUM&id=5493571908647590065&authkey=Gv1sRgCNnR5--E7JPbfA&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account. Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
You are invited to view Anna's photo album: The hot, dusty streets of Kabul in June and July 2010
The hot, dusty streets of Kabul in June and July 2010Jul 12, 2010
by Anna I spend lots of hours in the car going from one place to another to check on things. I wanted to share some of the sights I see with you. The streets are hot and dusty but each day brings another scene to life. I hope you can feel the heat but not the dust. View Album Play slideshow Message from Anna:Here is the album I finally got around to put together tonight. There will be more but not tonight. Hugs, AnnaIf you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=anna.hacker&target=ALBUM&id=5493027528168463937&authkey=Gv1sRgCO-r0cu7_sCM_AE&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account. Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
Cast your vote for Kris Nedam, founder of Kids for Afghan Kids at: http://www.energizerkeepgoinghalloffame.com/2010HallofFameFinalists/2010Finalists/tabid/89/Default.aspx#2
Khris Nedam Livonia (Detroit), MichiganIn 1998, with the help of her sixth-grade students in Northville, Mich., Nedam founded Kids 4 Afghan Kids, a non-profit organization aimed at using education to help make the world a better place for boys and girls in Afghanistan. It took three years to raise enough funds to build the first six-room school in Wardak, Afghanistan, where many of the children love going to school so much they walk more than four hours to get there. Nedam didn't stop there, however, and began raising funds to address other needs for the community. Kids 4 Afghan Kids has gone on to build two more schools, a medical clinic, orphanage, bakery and a guesthouse for the residents of the valley. Nedam has faced many obstacles, but she refuses to give up. Friends nominated her for the Energizer Keep Going® Hall of Fame, saying that through Nedam's unwavering determination, countless lives have been changed forever. Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Issue No. 13 www.awwproject.org
July 2010 Welcome! As we head into the July, I am amazed by the strong and moving pieces submitted by our writers, and tended to with grace and skill by our mentors. This past month, Seeta sends us a moving piece on a wedding she attended in which the bride must wear a burkah instead of a gown; Freshta wrote a touching piece about school childrens' resilience; Shogofa pens a tribute to the power of friendship; and Seeta, again, tells us the emotional story of a mother longing for the son who was taken from her by her husband's family. June was an active month for the Afghan Women's Writing Project (AWWP). Founder Masha Hamilton was presented with the 2010 Women's National Book Association Award for her work with AWWP. Well deserved, Masha! AWWP continues to grow. We have a new board member: Vic Getz, Phd, who is IN KABUL and is a gender specialist and runs the AfghanGenderCafe.org. We are looking to bring on 2-3 more board members over the next 6 months. We also have a new AWWP staff member in Kabul with Tina Singleton, who will be working on expanding our program on the ground. When not sucked into AWWP, Tina is the Advisor for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), Kabul. AWWP welcomes accountant, Ghelda Noor, who has extensive experience working with NGOs and is generously donating her time to organize our books as we race towards 501c3 status and continue to grow. Some of the photographs taken by our Afghan women during their photography class with Anne Jones are up on our site. Take a look at the images captured by Seeta and Zariasht of womens' lives-they show a side of Afghanistan that we rarely see in the news. - Thanks to author and AWWP mentor Melissa Pritchard, we have launched a new Sr Airman Ashton Goodman grant in honor of a US servicewoman killed in Afghanistan while trying to improve women's rights. All donations will be spent directly on efforts to improve Afghan women's literacy. http://www.awwproject.org/help-our-women-writers/ashton-goodman-grant/ -Looking ahead, we are planning two more theater performances! Hopefully in San Francisco and Boston. We are currently looking for venues and directors so ifyou have any ideas on this please contact Creative Outreach Director Jeff Lyons-- jlyons1@mindspring.com. Enjoy your summer reading list and please take a moment to comment on the Afghan women's writing on our website - it means so much to them. Warmly, Christina Asquith Director AWWP The Burqa Bride "She has only this day to start her life with happiness," I said. "Why should she be hidden under a burqa even on her wedding day?" By Seeta Click here to read the full essay. Bearing a Red Cross Hesitantly, Friba approached the front of the class. "I have decided to punish you to remind you not to forget my lesson," the teacher said. "You are not even prepared to give me yesterday's lesson, but you can make noise in the classroom." Then she turned to me. "Freshta, give Friba a slap on the face." By Freshta Click here to read the full piece. Someone Told Me I will hold your hand when you need to run, hold your hand when you need to write, and the clouds who feed you with rain. I will be with you. By Shogofa Click here to read the entire poem. A Mother Expecting Still "It was a son," her mother said with tears. "Where is he now?" The girl, too, began to cry. "Why didn't you allow me to see him even once?" by Seeta Click here for the full poem. A Word From Our Teachers This portion of the newsletter will return next month. Contact AWWP: For more information on the Afghan Women's Writing Project please contact:Christina Asquith, Director Phone: 202.230.6729 Email: christinaasquith@yahoo.com AWWP Website/Magazine: www.awwproject.org Become our fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at AWWProject. Founder Masha' Hamilton's Website/Blog: www.mashahamilton.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Afghan Women's Writing Project was begun as a way to allow the voices of Afghan women - too often silenced - to enter the world directly, without any mediation. This project is possible only because of the outstanding American women authors and teachers who generously donate their time and energy as mentors. Additionally, the tireless contributions of these volunteers: Jeff Lyons, Creative Outreach Director StefanCooke, Webmaster and website designer Jordan Schneider, Online Magazine Editing CoordinatorElisabeth Lehr, Workshop Program CoordinatorRachel de Baere, Online Magazine Poetry EditorTahmina Popal and Tina Singleton, Liaisons in Afghanistan Kathleen Rafiq and Heidi Levine, Photography Valerie Wallace, Online Communications Coordinator Our inspiring partners are SOLA and the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation; please visit their websites. Donations Online Donations for Afghan Women Writers: Many of our students and women writers, especially outside of Kabul, cannot get to an Internet cafe due to security considerations. A laptop at home and a jump drive would allow them to write their pieces, and then ask a male relative to send the work at an Internet cafe. A $20 donation will buy a flash drive and $500 in donations will buy a laptop for our women writers. No contribution is too small. Thank you for considering it. The Afghan Women's Writing Project has filed for non-profit with 501 (c) 3 status. Your donation is tax deductible. Click This Link To Make A Donation! To stay informed about the latest news, events, and other developments with the Afghan Women's Writing Project, please CLICK below and join our mailing list. We appreciate your support. In This Issue The Burqa Bride Bearing a Red Cross Someone Told Me A Mother Expecting Still Sponsors & Friends: Please visit our sponsors as a way to thank them for their wonderful support: Friends of Afghanistan Email Marketing by The Afghan Women's Writing Project | 6 Hilliard Place | Cambridge | MA | 02138 Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Issue No. 12 www.awwproject.org
June 2010 Welcome! It is with great pleasure and honor that I write to you all for the first time as the new director of the Afghan Women's Writing Project (AWWP). Since Masha Hamilton hatched this project one year ago, it has leapt forward, wrapped its arms around so many people-- myself included. After my last reporting trip to Afghanistan in 2007, I have longed to stay connected to the country and its women, and I'm honored to embrace the project, now, and continue the journey that Masha has started. We move into June with a strong collection of pieces submitted to us by our Afghan writers and workshopped by our talented group of US artists. The work includes: Freshta's powerful piece on sexual assault of a male prisoner, written from a man's perspective; Emaan's touching story of charity in "Taxi Driver"; Shogofa's open letter to President Obama; Roya's tribute to her grandmother and Afghanistan's ubiquitous pomegrantes; among many others. Under the mentorship of rotating authors whose work is supported by a strong team of editors Jordan Schneider, Rachel de Baere and Bridget Fitzgerald, our Afghan writers depict a society confronting an uncertain future with courage, humor and trepidation. Please comment on a piece or two today. Our brave writers are grateful to know they are being heard. May brought us a stunning performance of "Out of Silence" at the Theater J in Washington DC. Following on our debut in Los Angeles, nine actresses did dramatic readings of our writers pieces in front of a packed audience that included members from the US State Department, Capitol Hill, the Afghan Embassy, media, scholars and activists. Several of the actresses were Muslim, and under the sharp, creative direction of Jessica Lefkow, the pieces came to life and moved the audience to laughter and tears. We have an update about our anonymous writer who courageously wrote her story in "I Am For Sale" in January. Eighty-seven donations from seven countries have enabled her in recent weeks to free herself from an unwanted marriage and pursue her dream of independence. Thank you for reading her work and responding. AWWP continues to grow with new mentors, interns and connections. Creative Outreach Director Jeff Lyons continues to pursue theatrical opportunities, so be in touch with him if you have an idea. And if you're an author who wants to mentor the Afghan writers, contact Elisabeth Lehr. Enjoy the summer. With love, Christina Asquith Ice Cream: the Secret Password After the dreamy days of my childhood, I went to school far from Uncle Sha Agha's ice cream shop. During the war years, everything changed. Years passed and one day I heard that Uncle Ice Cream was killed when a rocket hit his shop. The most difficult time for me to eat ice cream was during the Taliban era. There were ice cream shops, but only for men. My kind father bought ice cream for me and brought it home on his bicycle. Sometimes it was all water, melting because of the hot weather. He felt sorry for me. Finally one day he said, "Daughter, wear your burqa and come with me." It sounded strange to me. For the past five years, I could leave the house only for weddings or when I was sick and had to see the doctor. Otherwise, I feared the Taliban would hit me with cables. By Roya Click here to read the full story. Sexual Assault I cannot live without you-my soul. Why is rape my punishment in this prison? Do they not understand Dignity is my soul? Like water running to the sea, self-worth won't return to me. I grieve despite others' compassion. Why? No one can give me my dignity back. By Freshta Click here to read the full poem. Dear President Obama I felt good when I saw President Barack Obama on TV. Everyone here was so happy to see him win. Everyone admired his speech and said he would be better than the previous president. They said he would be smart about Afghanistan and end the war and the killing. I saw faces full of happiness and hope. The reason I want to meet President Obama is to share with him all the tears of my people. I know I can't write about all our problems in one or two pages, and I know my letter can't clean the tears from my people's eyes. But I write it anyway. Dear President Barack Obama, By Shogofa Click here to read the entire piece. Taxi Driver . . .He paused for a minute; his tears did not allow him to carry on. After a short silence, he continued: "Since then, my mother became sick. We took her to the doctors every day. I am a driver; I don't make enough money. This taxi is not mine. The owner pays me 200 Afs per day. (About $4.30) I have a family with children. We live in a poor neighborhood. All my income used to go to my mother's medications. Whenever I got her prescriptions, I used to buy less than half because I couldn't afford to buy it all. Most nights we go to bed with empty stomachs. I deceive the kids by telling them tomorrow they will get good food with fruit. But how can they sleep after being hungry all day?" He stopped the car for a few second and put his head on the steering wheel. . . By Emaan Click here to read the whole story. The Smile of the Pomegranate Tree . . . On the tree, the pomegranates looked like lovely girls wearing red dresses. I was in love with them. I couldn't count to more than ten at that time, as I was only four years old and not at school. I had only learned to count with my father, and he taught me to count up to ten. Sometimes I could do it properly, but sometimes I missed and counted wrong, jumping around from one to three to seven. Although my grandma always promised to bring us pomegranates, I loved to have them from the tree and not from her blue bag. When I asked to have one, her response was, "They are raw now. You will be sick. When I bring it to your home it will be ready to eat!" Yet this wasn't a good enough reason for me. . . . By Roya Click here to read the full piece. The Childhood of My Father - Part II . . . When Shah came back, Mullah Sahib asked him to listen carefully: "I dreamt you will be a very famous, powerful, and well-known man. Try to learn more and more-never stop learning. You have to leave me and the mosque; you have to go to Kabul. This is not the right place for you." . . . By Elay Click here for the full essay. A Word From Our Teachers Anne Landsman is the award-winning author of The Devil's Chimney and The Rowing Lesson. When I signed up with the Afghan Women's Writing Project, I had never taught an on-line class before, much less an on-line class to students in Afghanistan. In the beginning, it felt a bit like fishing. I cast my writing prompt into the waters, and waited for a response, checking my in-box every so often to see if any of the women of Writing 102 had sent me their work. I'd sent the students 'Dust of Snow,' a Robert Frost poem about how a crow shaking snow from a tree changes the poet's state of mind. I'd asked them to reflect on something that had changed their moods from sad to happy, or vice versa. What I got back stunned me. One of my students wrote about her love of ice cream, and how the Taliban banned women from going to ice cream shops. Her father had taken her to one anyway, and she still remembered the sweet, wet taste of the ice cream mixed with the taste of her burqa. Very quickly, the live interchange in a real classroom didn't matter anymore, as these deeply significant stories, poems and essays glittered on my computer screen, describing life in another world. But despite the differences, many of the subjects were so familiar - the difficulty of enduring a critical mother-in-law's hostile comments, romantic yearning, the pain of losing aged grandparents, the poignancy of separating from one's family. Other pieces described the different Farsi dialects in Afghanistan spoken by returning refugees from Iran and Pakistan, the effects of thirty years of war and their imaginings of America. What struck me at every turn was the power of these narratives, the women's willingness to share their lives with me, and their ability to think and feel so profoundly in a language that was, for many of them, their third language. I was humbled over and over again by realizing that these courageous souls were making themselves heard despite all the restrictions on their freedoms, despite power outages, despite war. The other day, when I heard of a suicide bomb blast in Kabul on the radio, I stopped in my tracks, suddenly fearing for my students' lives, and the lives of their families, their friends and their neighbors, suddenly feeling a very personal investment in peace. Contact AWWP: For more information on the Afghan Women's Writing Project please contact:Christina Asquith, Director Phone: 202.230.6729 Email: christinaasquith@yahoo.com AWWP Website/Magazine: www.awwproject.org Become our fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at AWWProject. Founder Masha' Hamilton's Website/Blog: www.mashahamilton.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Afghan Women's Writing Project was begun as a way to allow the voices of Afghan women - too often silenced - to enter the world directly, without any mediation. This project is possible only because of the outstanding American women authors and teachers who generously donate their time and energy. Additionally, the tireless contributions of our Creative Outreach Director Jeff Lyons, webmaster designer StefanCooke, and our technical director Terry Dougherty have been crucial. Photography thanks and credit goes to Kathleen Rafiq and Heidi Levine. Our inspiring partners are SOLA and the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation; please visit their websites. Donations Online Donations for Afghan Women Writers: Many of our students and women writers, especially outside of Kabul, cannot get to an Internet cafe due to security considerations. A laptop at home and a jump drive would allow them to write their pieces, and then ask a male relative to send the work at an Internet cafe. A $20 donation will buy a flash drive and $500 in donations will buy a laptop for our women writers. No contribution is too small. Thank you for considering it. The Afghan Women's Writing Project has filed for non-profit with 501 (c) 3 status. Your donation is tax deductible. Click This Link To Make A Donation! To stay informed about the latest news, events, and other developments with the Afghan Women's Writing Project, please CLICK below and join our mailing list. We appreciate your support. In This Issue Ice Cream: the Secret Password Sexual Assault Dear President Obama Taxi Driver The Smile of the Pomegranate Tree The Childhood of My Father - Part II Sponsors & Friends: Please visit our sponsors as a way to thank them for their wonderful support: Friends of Afghanistan Email Marketing by The Afghan Women's Writing Project | 6 Hilliard Place | Cambridge | MA | 02138 Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
I asked Yaseer for permission to publish and share his message to me, here is his latest response. Also visit the Afghan Connections Blog where his message will also be posted.... Dear Terry, Salaam,Thank you for your message and for your tireless efforts and good intentions for helping Afghan RPCVs and the Afghans themselves. You have my sincere permission to quote anything or everything from my message(s) on the blog or any publications of Afghan Connection or Friends of Afghanistan. I am too old to be afraid of any risk. I will send you some materials regarding the activities of UNO Center for Afghanistan Studies (CAS) and its projects in Afghanistan attached to this message. I hope you will find it interesting and useful... also Yaseer's previous message with some parts redacted ...
From: Abdul Yaseer Date: 2010/2/1 Subject: Re: Friends of Afghanistan and Afghan women's rights To: Terry Dougherty Salaam Terry,I am very glad to hear from you. I certainly remember you and have seen your photos and, like your other friends, I have been very impressed by your efforts and good intentions to help Afghans and Afghanistan in these difficult situations. I have been receiving The Afghan-Connection Newsletter, and I did attend a PCV Reunion a few years ago in Washington DC. After that, I got very busy with UNO Afghan projects, and have been going back and forth to Afghanistan several times a year. Therefore, I have not been able to attend several other PC reunions ever since. I love my PCV friends and I am still in touch with some of them. The PC experience shaped up my life, as it did many other Afghan's and Americans' lives. Thinking of PC programs in Afghanistan,brings back very pleasant memories of the glorious days of the Pre-War developing Afghanistan. Despites all the efforts, help, and financial contributions of US & other International organizations, things do not get better there . Security, corruption and the interference of Pakistan Military (ISI) and some of its government departments, which are supported by Saudi Arabia government and some of its rich groups are in the increase. Ordinary Afghans who are sick and tired of the war, killing, looting, abduction, bribe, nepotism, drug trade, and warlordism, have not had a chance yet to live peacefully for a day or two yet. They are all insecure, frightened and worried about their children and their own lives and of their children's, and their own future. Each time I go back to Kabul, I witness the worsening of situations, and the increase of miseries for the ordinary folks there. A bunch of warlords, Jihadees, parliamentarians, ministers, and some contractors and businessmen are making fortunes by misusing the US and International donors' funds, and by repressing the Afghan people, grabbing the lands and properties of the people and of the government illegally, and by force, and by taking advantage of the chaos in beloved Afghanistan. It is a little too early for me to tell you whether I will be able to come to a PCVs' reunion this summer or not, because of the uncertainties of the schedule of my trips to Afghanistan. but I will definitely let you guys know if I could make it. I love to participate and meet some of the most wonderful people who used to live and work in Afghanistan, who loved the people and the country, and who stayed loyal, and supported the Afghan cause up to now. .... Please give my best regards to your colleagues and friends who knows me and wish them luck to make these reunions as successful as the previous ones and better. Khudaa haafiz, Yaseer Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Afghan Women's Writing Project
Bas Bi Bi and Khatema Posted: 04 Feb 2010 08:51 AM PST I was on my way home one day when the smell of spices wafting through the air drew my attention. My nose led me to look across the street. Sitting in the wet dirt was a thirty-year-old woman who looked more like sixty. She had a dry, yellow face and cracked lips. She wore a filthy burqa, though her face was uncovered. She was selling bolani—a ball of dough filled with salted leek and then fried and eaten with yogurt or spices. She was yelling: "Buy hot and fresh bolani. Buy home-cooked bolani." Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Afghan Women's Writing Project Has Moved !!!!! Posted: 01 Feb 2010 01:59 PM PST Please CLICK ON THE HYPERLINK BELOW to be transferred to new site: http://awwproject.org Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan.
Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Subject: OP NPC Week Activities (Third Goal Activities)
To: buffalorpcv@ Cc: anne@rpcv.org, vnguyen@peacecorps.gov Hi Andy, Here's what our Outreach group has agreed to present for the NPC Week celebration: February 26, Fashion show with WNY Girls School Coalition at Nardin Academy. This annual activity will benefit the Wonkhai Valley Project in Wardakl Province through the Circle of Women. There is an Orphanage, Schools and a Medical Center that OPHS Outreach and the WNY GSC have very substantially supported, building two schools on the complex grounds. (details to Buffalo PCV by Thursday) February 27, Movie, The Kite Runner. Tentative Site OP Middle School Auditorium. (Possible alternative feature is Kandahar if we receive confirmation from Toronto Filmmaker Nilofer Pariza) March 6, Two tentative sites OPHS Commons and OPMS Cafeteria. (details by Thursday) Afghanistan Awareness Program numbered below: First Presentation by Bethany Saul regarding the plight of women in Afghanistan today. The Taliban are officially gone but women still suffer arbitrary abuse in Afghanistan. Second Presentation by Charlotte Saul Outreach President and Tony Agnello Outreach Adviser and President of Friends of Afghanistan outlining projects and programs supported by Outreach since the construction of our first school in 2003 in Kandahar. The history of Peace Corps in Afghanistan. RPCVs George Deshaies and Tony Agnello. (Artifacts, film, etc.) Buckets of Love Committee @ OPHS formed. Starfish Initiative, https://sites.google.com/a/afghanconnections.org/afghan-connections/Home/starfish-initiatives FoA Blog, http://afghanconnections.blogspot.com All of the above increments have been approved by the committee. We are firming up the sites through our regular internal processes. Consider sending the above web site addresses to the Buffalo area RPCVs to take a look at the projects that Outreach and Friends of Afghanistan are working on and ask our RPCVs if they are interested in supporting any of the programs that support Afghan women and children. I'll see you on Thursday, ensh'Allah. (Ojala que si.) Peace, Tony Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
The Basij-Rasikh siblings look to shape Afghanistan’s future - The Boston Globe
Posted using ShareThisAfghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Salam Friends,
Here's the access to the Starfish Initiative page that you requested. Click here. Send this link to your network and enjoy the apocryphal story of young Rostam the great hero of the Persian speaking people and by acclaim, of the peoples of Central Asia, as a caring child "Making a Difference" in his world. The message is very simple. Essentially, our Friends of Afghanistan organization often in conjunction with my Orchard Park High School Educational Outreach students, can reach directly into Afghanistan and assist individuals. That is the essence of our Starfish Initiative making a difference for people one individual at a time. In the spirit of this program, we have five built schools, supported educational and vocational organizations put in a well and water supply system for a school, sent funds to purchase a sewing machine for a destitute woman enabling her to support her family, and now we are the visible partner in an effort to rescue a woman who is scheduled to be sold into a marriage by her brothers against her will. (Google: LA Times, I Am For Sale...Who Will Buy Me.) Regarding our current capital projects, we are focusing on supporting the construction of a dormitory for girls in Kabul and finalizing what we think is Afghanistan's only Internet Cafe built exclusively for women. We have purchased and / or facilitated purchases of more than a dozen computers for this project and through our web master and technical guru Terry Dougherty FoA has been a primary consultant during every phase of development for this unique project. We have even arranged to send Terry to Kabul to oversee the final details of construction and assembly of this high tech project. Last year we kicked off construction of the Internet Cafe in Kabul with almost $6,000.00 of seed money and we have already set aside another $5,000.00 of funds generated by students for our gender equity educational initiatives exclusively for the completion of this window out into the world for Afghan women and girls. This facility will serve as a computer work station and Distance Learning Center for SOLA, the School of Leadership Afghanistan, and will serve double duty as the hub for the AWWP, the Afghan Women's Writing Project. In fact, concurrent with this communication, we are setting up a video conference capability that will enable Afghan women and girls through SOLA and the AWWP to meet the intrepid young humanitarian girls of the OPHS Educational Outreach organization who have been such reliable supporters and enthusiastic advocates for this gender equity educational project. All of our officers are Seniors and have been working in support of this project for four years. They are tentatively scheduled to video conference with the girls in Kabul late next week and are as excited as I have ever seen them regarding this opportunity to actually see the product of four years of loving labor in service to their sisters in Afghanistan. We are also supporting SOLACE for the Children which brings War Wounded Afghan children to the US for medical treatment. Discuss forming a strategy for Buffalo becoming a satellite community for this vital program. We would have to locate doctors and hospitals willing to offer pro bono service and groups willing to support the costs for room, board and travel for the injured children. There are a lot to discuss but that's the synopsis of our major efforts to assist women and children who without our concern might remain hopeless, voiceless and marginalized within their own country. Re: you other question, Friends of Afghanistan (FoA) is the official Alumni organization for the returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs)who served in Afghanistan. FoA is a national organization of RPCVs and I am the current President of that national organization. Also, the Buffalo area RPCVs are planning a series of events during national Peace Corps Week in March featuring Afghanistan as our country of service. I'll update you about with the details so you can share it with your network of concerned citizens. Peace, Tony ***************************************************************************************************************** https://sites.google.com/a/afghanconnections.org/afghan-connections/Home/starfish-initiatives Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Anyone know who this organization is?
Seeking your Input on Foreign Strategy in Afghanistan Dear Terry Daughtery, We are asking for your expertise on international policy in Afghanistan. Atlantic-community.org - the first online think tank for international relations - is currently drafting a memo of policy recommendations for how best to proceed with the war in Afghanistan. Our members agree that two of the most important tasks are for NATO to clearly define its strategy and to develop stronger partnerships with the Afghan people. Specifically, we are asking for your assessment on the following questions: What are some concrete suggestions regarding how the international community can fight corruption?Should Western aid be contingent on certain standards of development?A recent poll suggests that support for international troops is up amongst Afghans. What projects and policies need to be undertaken to continue to improve ISAF's image amongst Afghans? There is a general consensus amongst the members of atlantic-community.org regarding the negative consequences of warlords in parliament. What practical steps should be taken to improve this situation? How can their hold on power be reduced/weakened? How can the international community empower new politicians? We would greatly appreciate your input on these timely policy questions and encourage you to share your comments at: www.atlantic-community.org/index/articles/view/Add_to_the_Debate%21 Please also feel free to cover these questions on your blog. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like to find out more about atlantic-community.org. With kind regards, The Editorial Team atlantic-community.org Atlantische Initiative e.V. Wilhelmstrasse 67 10117 Berlin Germany Tel: +49 - 30 - 206 337 88 Fax: +49 - 30 - 206 337 90 Email: info@atlantic-community.org -------------------- Atlantic-community.org is a project of Atlantic Initiative e.V., a Berlin based non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to furthering transatlantic cooperation. -- Terry Dougherty 260-438-0791Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Afghan Women's Writing Project
Take the Pen: Write a New Future Posted: 18 Jan 2010 09:07 AM PST Sahar is 20 years old. She is one of my friends who never gave up in the face of difficulty. She has given me the sense that I have something inside, that I can do what I want and that I have rights I am afraid to claim. Here is her story: The thing that makes me saddest is seeing the difference between girls and boys. From childhood, my father always told me: "You are a girl. You have to work and have no need to study." But I didn't listen. I studied and hid that from my father and my mother. I can't forget the day when I saw my father encourage my brother to study even though he didn't have talent in this area. I felt my father and mother both loved their sons more than their daughters. When I observed these things, it really made me sad and at the same time, it made me strong, determined that one day I will prove women can work in the home and study at the same time. My brother was smaller than me and everyone loved him a lot even when he didn't do anything. I was the girl so I cooked for my family. In Taliban time, my father couldn't find a job because he was Hazara (a Persian-speaking ethnic group commonly oppressed by the Taliban.) So I did carpet-weaving in the home. I kept studying at home too, waiting for a time when the Taliban would leave our country so I might find a chance to go to school. I never knew what childhood was and what mother and father love is. Especially in the Taliban time, women lived like slaves and I was a slave in my home. After some time, the Taliban left our country and I found an opportunity to go to school. I was very happy and told my father. He agreed but said, "When I want you to stop, then you must." I accepted because I wanted to start going to school. One day I was very happy because I got top student in my class, but when I showed my father, he wasn't happy. He tore up my paper and said he didn't believe it. I didn't cry that time. I decided to be still stronger. I studied more, working night and day. My father began to try to stop my studying many times, but I argued with him that I needed to study and improve. Then my father decided to marry me to a friend of his. My father needed the money of the dowry. My mother couldn't say anything or my father would beat her. I said to my father, "If you will marry me because of money, I will earn that much money." My father slapped me and said: "Don't talk. Just be quiet. You don't have choice in your future." But I got up and said, "Father, just give me one month. I will find the money." Then I began weaving carpets without break day and night, and my mother took them to the bazaar to sell them. During those days, my father constantly argued with my mother, saying: "We should not keep our daughter in our home. We have to force her to marry." In one month, I finished four carpets and gave the money I earned to my father. I said to him: "This is my money. Please never think that women are weak and you can just exchange them." I am the one who has dared to talk with my father when my other sisters were afraid of him. Now my friend Sahar is very proud of herself and I am too. She comes from a family in which, though her father was educated, her mother was not. She comes from a world which was full of discrimination from every side—both because she is a woman and because she is Hazara. Despite all this, she found her way. What I learned from Sahar is that we women are all strong; we can face any kind of difficulty. Bad days make us stronger. We should claim our rights ourselves and not wait for someone to give them to us. We should take the pen and put a full stop to all violent behavior against women and write a new future new of hope and bring smiles to women's faces and give them their value. That is what we are working toward. This is not the end. We will make this group bigger and bigger until we stop women from having to beg on the street and stop men from beating their women. By Shogofa Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
The Tradition of Baad Posted: 14 Jan 2010 12:12 PM PST
"I was usually beaten with cables and sticks. I got pregnant twice but lost my babies because of severe living conditions. In three years, I didn't leave my in-law's house even once; I was always locked in a small house," says Mahnaz. Mahnaz, 22, is my friend. I met her through my job. She was working in one of the ministries in Kabul. She did not want to hang out a lot or make close friends because she was scared of her husband finding her. She trusted me, so she shared her heart-touching stories and sometimes cried for hours. I tried to cheer her up and would invite her to lunch, but she never agreed to go. When she was 17 years old, her dad and brothers gave her to "baad" in exchange for a large amount of family debt. Baad is a practice aimed at resolving disputes between families, clans, and tribes by giving women to the family of the perceived victim of a crime. Mahnaz was forced to marry a 35-year-old man who was very cruel and treated her like a slave. She was beaten by her husband and her in-laws, especially her sister-in-law. After three years of hardship, Mahnaz escaped to Kabul and joined an organization that helped her financially. She lived with other women who were also victims of violence. She is fed up with life and very hopeless. She remains married because her husband is not willing to divorce her. She is in constant fear of her husband turning her into a slave again or killing her. Her family has disowned her, and people look down on her when they find out she has escaped from her married life. Samia is another victim of baad. Samia's painful story starts with her father raping a 10-year-old daughter of another villager named Yasin in Baghlan, a northern province of Afghanistan. After her father was arrested, he was ordered to trade off his daughter, who would marry the raped girl's brother. Samia was seven years old when this happened. She was treated as a slave in Yasin's house for two years. During this period, Samia faced repeated cruelty. Her in-laws used hot metal pieces to beat her daily, pulled her hair, and even kept her naked outside in freezing weather. After two years, she was released from that family by the government. The tradition of baad is practiced especially in rural districts and the tribal belt of Afghanistan. It is a punishment the family faces when a male member commits a serious crime. According to research by the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation, 38 percent of baad cases are a result of murder committed by the baad victim's family members. Usually, the elders of the tribe, tribal jirga, get together to peacefully settle the inter-family disputes by deciding that a girl from the perpetrator's family must marry somebody from the victim's family. In this way, the tribal jirga stop social conflicts by sacrificing the lives of Afghan women. The consequences of giving girls to baad with no attention to their age and desires are domestic violence, prostitution, suicides, and deaths of many women. Yakin Ertürk, special reporter of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on Violence against Women, stated that she visited an eight-year-old girl who was given away by her family. "The girl—and others like her that I have talked to who were not lucky enough to end up in a protective area—are abused physically as well as sexually. Not only the designated husband, but until the designated husband grows up, other males in the family may abuse her," Yakin stated. This inhumane practice has no legal or religious base. In fact, it's banned in the penal code, but still is practiced in certain areas. In most cases, no one reports to the government. People hear about such cases from the victim's relatives or friends. My mother informed me about this brutal practice. When I was a kid, she told me several stories of cases she or her friends knew about. However, I didn't bother thinking about it until I was friends with Mahnaz. Then I understood how hard it is to go through such tough situations in life and how necessary it is to abolish this practice. I believe in order to help alleviate this problem, we should educate women about their rights, baad practice, and its consequences. Most of the village women are not educated. They don't know about their rights. They live in harsh conditions, always controlled by men. They are raised with such practices; therefore, they view baad as a good practice. Furthermore, I believe the tribal jirgas should also be educated. Finally, although baad is criminalized by the Afghan government, the government is not efficient enough to control this practice. The government should send officials to the rural areas to end this practice. If the government becomes more effective and takes care of inter-family disputes, I don't think people would continue the inhumane practice of baad. By Sana A. Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Afshan Posted: 13 Jan 2010 08:28 AM PST
(Eds Note: This story is based on true events and people the writer knows.) "Afshan and I miss you a lot. When are you coming home, Ahmed?" asked my mother. She repeated this three times, but still, my father didn't reply. Mom started crying. "Please, Ahmed, we love you. Come back, if not for me, then for our daughter. Afshan is not yet 16 years old. It has been almost six years since you left us." Something painful rolled in my throat. I could hardly breathe. I put my hand on my mother and shook her. "Mom, wake up, it's just a dream. Father is not coming back. He is gone forever." She opened her eyes. "Shut up, Afshan. You can't talk like this about your dad. He has gone to work. He'll be here within a few minutes and in the morning we will go to the park, okay?" I put my arm on hers: "Mom, Dad isn't in this world anymore." "What are you talking about? I hate when you talk rubbish." "Mom, it's not rubbish," I shook her hard and started yelling: "Dad's dead…Dad's dead." She was quiet for a while, and then closed her eyes. "Afshan, what time is it?" "It's only 3 a.m. Go to sleep, Mom." After a while, Mom fell asleep. I rested my hand on her belly. It felt like a big rock sat on top of my heart. I needed to leave the room to breathe, so I went outside and stared at the sky, the moon and the stars. I loved my friend, the moon. Whenever I felt alone, I would go outside and talk to my friend. The moon knew my whole life story. Sometimes I felt as if moon were talking to me. That night, I closed my eyes and heard the moon asking me, "Did your mother dream the same thing tonight?" "Yes," I said. "Did any of your father's relatives contact you so far?" asked the moon. "No." I was quiet and the moon asked, "What are you thinking, my dear?" "About the dark days and nights," I said. I heard the moon telling me this is natural. Everyone has to leave this temporary place. This world is just for a while. It's not permanent. "Yes, everyone has to leave this world and I will be leaving this world too," I said. "But death should be of natural causes, not caused by another human being." "I still remember," I told the moon, "when I was nine years old and playing in Shakiba's home. Her 18-year-old brother Waleed came to tell me to leave. Shakiba and I were shocked. Shakiba asked him why he would tell me to go home, and he said, 'Afshan's father is dead and some people brought half his body to their home.'" I thought he was kidding. I kept playing with my doll. Then Shakiba's mother came in crying. Shakiba told her mother, "You know what Waleed is saying? He is so stupid; he told Afshan her father's half body is brought to her home. That's not funny, Waleed." I knew in my heart something had happened, but I thought, how can my father's body be in half? I laughed. It simply couldn't be true. Waleed's mother said: "I am sorry, Afshan darling. We wish it was false information but it's surely true." She took my hand and said: "Let's go" We all rushed towards my home. I could not walk as fast as everyone else. I was running and my mouth was getting drier and drier. My legs were not supporting me well. Finally we reached our home. Lots of men and women stood outside. The closer I got, the louder the crying became. When I entered my home, my mother ran towards me and hugged me tight. "Why did you take away my Ahmed? How can I live without him, Allah?" she screamed. I pushed her away. "My father is not dead; He is gone for work and will back soon." "I wish he was gone for work but he is gone forever," said my mother as she cried. It was only when I saw people carrying a coffin covered with a white cloth that I realized it was true. My father was gone from this world. I walked outside my home and heard Uncle Ali, my father's close friend, saying: "Ahmed was sitting at his shop and I was at my own when a fight started between the Taliban and the Marines. The Marines fired a rocket, which hit Ahmed's shop. It was hard to see because of smoke. The other shopkeepers and I rushed towards Ahmed's shop to help him get out of the store but we were too late. Ahmed was in two pieces. He was already dead." I yelled, "But why my dad?" Uncle Ali said, "This is life. Things like this happen day and night." It's been six years since then, but I remember that day as if it were yesterday. Forty days after my father's death, my mother took me to her mother's home and we stayed four days. When we came back to our home, my grandmother had packed our all luggage and the room was empty. My mother was shocked to see this and started crying. "Ahmed, your parents have also deserted us." I went to my grandmother and said, "Who packed our luggage?" She said, "I did, and how dare you talk to me eye to eye?" My grandmother slapped me so hard that I fell to the floor. My mother came running and helped me get up. She was crying loudly, begging my grandmother not to throw us out, but my grandmother said to my mother: "You are bad luck. That's why you could not have another child and now, because of you, my son is dead." We left the house with our luggage. We didn't know where to go, so my mom took a taxi to her parent's home. When we arrived at their door, my mother's older brother came outside and stopped my mother from bringing in her luggage. My mother said: "We will be living here now because Ahmed's mother kicked us out of their home." My uncle said: "This is not your home anymore. It's brought shame for us that you stayed with us here before." I wondered where my mother and I would live. "My daughter," my grandmother said, "you can move to our old home and stay there. We will help you financially, but you also need to work to support yourself, because you know your brothers don't have good jobs." My mother put her luggage again in the taxi. The taxi stopped by an old, rundown building. The house didn't have a door and the walls were half broken. The taxi driver helped us carry the luggage into the house. Mom and I cried as we entered. The first room I walked into was the kitchen. It was dark. The walls were covered with smoke from a fire. Next to the kitchen was a room with all walls standing where I supposed we would live the rest of our lives. My mother brought her luggage into this empty room and we spent the night with no food, no rugs, no pillow, no blanket, just the mud floor. The next day, I was still asleep when my mother had almost cleaned the kitchen. She woke me up. I hugged her tight and said: "I am so hungry, Mom; I wish Dad were here to bring me biscuits, the way he used to." Mom managed not to cry, because of me. Soon my grandmother came with some kitchen supplies and food. I rushed to get the food and started eating as if it were the first time I had eaten in my life. It was their leftover food from the previous night, beans with rice. "I love beans," I said. It took us more than a year to settle into our new home. We had one room and a kitchen, but no bathroom. To the right of our house was a very broken house that we used as our bathroom. My mother found a laundry job in one of the houses near her mother's home. I stayed alone at home while she went to do laundry. I didn't go to school because there was no school near our home. Besides, we couldn't afford it. Every year brought different challenges. My mother lost her job three times and we again went through the hard time of having no food to eat. She finally found a job cleaning houses. Sometimes I went with her to help and sometimes I stayed home to cook food so it would be ready when Mom returned. My father's side of the family never came to ask how we were. I was sure they didn't even know if we were alive. I hated them. I never heard from or saw my friend Shakiba after that day either. Sometimes I wished I had never gone to her home. Maybe none of this would have happened. As I sat outside, I suddenly heard the voice of mullah in the mosque giving azan, the dawn call to prayer. When I looked at the sky, the moon was gone! I returned to the room and fell asleep with my mother. Days and nights passed. Sometimes my mother still thought my father would return, but no one came. No one came. No one did. By Yagana Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Poems: To My Daughter / Pain Breath / Again in Front of You Posted: 12 Jan 2010 05:45 AM PST
To My Daughter Darling daughter! The box of my heart is Full of words for you The key is with you My child. My first pain was from my mother's tears I don't want your tears I want you to light my world Darling daughter. A daughter is a mother's shadow You are my shadow My sweet orange. The garden of my life stays spring With you Yes, with you I hug the world Oh, my orange. Pain Breath Again The stars are angry and I am alone again The night reflects the darkness I see in the mirror I see the same sad face of my face I see pain breath in the hut of my heart and still I am alive Stop, Life, stop your game Enough is enough Again in Front of You Again in front of you with a broken heart broken with a wounded heart wounded… with all my empty cells I breathe with you I live for you You are the diamond gift of God By Roya Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Peace Appears Posted: 11 Jan 2010 09:48 AM PST
There is a knocking on the door Then let the door open… Towards what? Towards peace But Peace said: "I want to appear When there is No war, no murder, No suicide attacker, no human trafficking, No violations against women, No famine, no corruption, And there will be security, Brotherhood, humanity, Education, knowledge, Freedom of speech." In where? In our country Then peace will spread its wings over the land But we must not let War or fire burn its wings And change its color to black Or let illiteracy blind its eyes Or let violence create a cancer And change its joyful face to a sorrowful frown Not let corruption and narcotics addict Peace Not let poverty break the waist of Peace Not let violations against women break its wing Not let censorship limit freedom of speech Not let our enemy destroy traces of ancient worlds Not let that irritant music of war, Suicide attackers, human traffickers, murderers Explosions, fires, violations Cover our country To dwell in peace We must become her best friend Yes, but who will do that? It will be knowledge and security Which lights all peoples' minds And delivers equality and shines Over the world like the sun. By FreshtaAfghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
http://awwproject.wordpress.com The Crime of Falling in Love Posted: 05 Jan 2010 10:29 AM PST
My mother works for the United Nation Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, (UNAMA). One day, in March 2006, she came home from Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar Province very upset about a case. I asked her what worried her. "Is it something again about a female?" "Yes, my dear," she said. In the hospital was a girl of 13, Shukriya, from Helmand Province, who had tried to commit suicide. "I don't know what will happen to her next, whether she will stay alive or not." Shukriya's mother was with her in the hospital. When my mother asked what had happened, Shukriya's mother said her daughter had been upset about her marriage a month earlier, but it had been necessary because "we were really poor and in debt… We had no choice." From the look in Shukriya's eyes, my mother thought there was more to the story. "Tell me the truth," she insisted. Finally, Shukriya told the story below: "Almost two years ago, I fell in love with my mother's cousin Zulmay Jaan, son of Aman-ullah. I didn't know how this all happened; I didn't even believe in love. But loved him then and I love him still. "Zulmay often used to visit me at my home. We barely used to talk. We mainly stared at one another. Taking his hand in mine was something impossible then. Having sexual relations was out of the question. I actually never thought of him touching me, but yes, I did dream every night of marrying him, and having our kids. "Whenever I was in the kitchen, he used make up an excuse to come and see me. One day, I was preparing tea in the kitchen when he came and said: 'Shukriya Jaan, can I have a glass of water, please?' I felt his voice right in my heart. I smiled at him and he at me. I gave him the glass of water and he stared at me for a whole minute. Then my mother entered the kitchen and asked him to leave because it was not appropriate for him to stay with me alone. My mother looked strangely at me. I knew she was angry because I stayed in the kitchen while Zulmay was there. I could feel the fear on my mother's face. I left the kitchen and took the teapot and cups into the other room. "My mother followed and said: 'Shukriya come to my room, now.' I went with her and she said: 'You are no longer allowed to see Zulmay or come to the room when he is sitting there.' "I was surprised. 'But why, Mother? Zulmay told me he loves me and wants to marry me. And that's good, because that is what I want, too.' "'No, my daughter, your dad will never let this happen,' she said. I didn't answer and left her room. "A week later, my dad accepted 400,000 Pakistani rupees (about $4,070 USD) to marry me to Mr. Aziz-ullah on the 19th of February 2006 without asking me. Aziz-ullah was more than 30 years old. He was already married and living with his first wife and three children. Two of his children were dead. "After my engagement, I never saw Zulmay. I used to think about him, and dream of him at night. During the daytime, I used to wait for him to come and see me, but he never did again. He knew there was no other option except for me to marry this other man. "After some months, I was married to Aziz-ullah. In my heart, I never accepted him as my husband. But I did used to sleep with him. I was very quiet. He always asked me why was I so quiet. I never told him the reason. "One day, I tried to commit suicide. I decided to eat needles and nails. I swallowed almost 18 different-sized needles and almost a dozen nails. Unfortunately, I am still alive, and yes, I will try killing myself again and again, because I don't want to live any more. I am tired." Finally, Shukriya's mother admitted this was the truth, and added that Shukriya's father's objection to Shukriya marrying Zulmay was not based on financial need. He didn't want his daughter to marry someone she loved because then everyone would gossip about it. In Afghanistan, falling in love can be a crime, and marrying for love is often forbidden. By Yagana Don't Leave Me Alone Posted: 05 Jan 2010 10:27 AM PST I was alone at night With my sorrows Holding mother's hand. It was silent all night, Except for the sound of my breath. But I could feel that my hand Was with someone "Don't leave me alone!" Full of tears I knocked on all doors I heard no answer. Finally, my heart cried and said, "Why are you restless?" I was afraid losing someone I looked around and saw only myself I wanted to do something but couldn't. Now, no one can help you… I knelt to God… "Don't leave me alone." In that sad moment No one held out a hand. I waited all the night, But morning didn't come Suddenly, in a real dark world I heard crying And saw people carrying A white cloth And I called out to my mother "Don't leave me alone." She took her hand from mine And said, "This way of life, we all Must one day leave…every season Must end. Nothing lives forever." By Shogofa Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
This is the final edited form of this storyit is the source for Masha Hamilton's Opinion piece published today in the LA Timeshttp://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hamilton3-2010jan03,0,1220088.story
awwproject http://awwproject.wordpress.com I Am For Sale, Who Will Buy Me? Posted: 02 Jan 2010 05:12 PM PST (Eds Note: This is only the second anonymous piece we have run on the blog. We encourage our participants to claim their own stories, but in this case, the writer felt she could only safely share this if she did so anonymously.) I used to think big. When I was six, I made my mom let me go to school, and I loved it. My father told me: "If you stay at the top of your class until the end of your studies, I will do two things for you. First, I will let you go abroad to continue your education. Secondly, I will buy you a car and let you drive." With the encouragement of my father, I was a superstar in my classes. He was my first English teacher and he always called me "my scholar daughter." During the Taliban's black government, my brothers could go to school, but I couldn't. My father bought me school supplies, though, and told me: "Be patient. One day you will finish your studies." He was right. I waited five years, but after that, I could go to school. When I was in ninth grade, I earned my first money from teaching English. It was only 200 Afs, but I was excited. I gave my salary to my father. He kissed me and laughed and told me, "Dear, keep your salary for yourself. I don't need it." I said, "Dad, it is for you." He smiled and told me, "It is just the cost of ink for your shoes," and he gave me another 1000 Afs. He was my supporter in all aspects. When I was sixteen years old, one of my neighbors came to our house and proposed that his son marry me. My father was angry and told him: "Do you know my daughter is sixteen? It is time for her to study. If the king comes and knocks at the door of my house and proposes that my daughter marry his son, I won't accept it. Please, leave my house and never come back again." I was in my last days of school when my father died. When I lost him, I lost my shadow, but he left me with his words and advice and books. After his death, our economic situation was bad. Mom's salary was the equivalent of $25, which was not enough. I began teaching classes in a private school. Half my salary was for my studies and half went for house expenses. During these years, I was the poorest student in my class. I spent days without breakfast or lunch, but I felt happy for my education. During the last four years, I received a number of marriage proposals but I rejected them all. Most wanted me to stop my studies and never work outside the home. After my father died, the responsibility for me fell to my brothers, who grew up under the Taliban government and were influenced by it. Now I live with three Talibs and I must obey what they say. I am not like a girl in the house, but a slave. When I was at third year at the university, the owner of our house demanded higher rent. My family decided they would leave Kabul and go to a province where housing was cheaper. But I didn't know how I would continue my studies in that case, so I gave up my transportation money to help pay for our rent, and I go to the university on foot. Still, at the beginning of this year, my brothers said: "It is time for you to marry." They arranged a marriage to my first cousin, my mom's brother's son, who lives in a province where most of the people are Talib. My cousin is about 40 years old and uneducated. His family has a business and a big house. Their women are required to wear burqas and are responsible for cooking, cleaning and caring for the animals. Most have eight or nine children. They can't go outside the house—even when they are sick, they aren't allowed to go to the doctor. My uncle's money gives him power despite the fact that he is uneducated. My family thinks I am tired of working so hard, and that my uncle's money will convince me to accept this golden bracelet. My uncle told my family he would pay them $20,000, and this money might possibly keep my family alive. At the same time, I am thinking about graduating, seeking my masters' degree and a PhD, getting a better job, making an independent life, standing on my own feet. I told my mom: "Please give me a chance. I don't like this man. I can't marry him. If you want to sell me, then I am ready to buy myself. I have a plan for my life. Please give me a chance, please, please." She didn't reply, but cried silently with me. I told her: "If my father were here, he would bring a revolution in this house." None of my close friends know what is happening with me. Once one of my classmates came to my house and she was carrying her notebook. I study in secret. When my family saw her notebook, they behaved badly toward her and told her not to come again. These days I am thinking of possible solutions: how to get another job, earn at least $1,000 a month in salary. Running away is not an option because girls who run away here are raped by men and spend years in jail, and I am not such a girl. I can't leave my mom because my brothers believe anything "wrong" I do is the fault of my mother, and they will kill her. My brothers think a girl who has a bank account or a mobile phone is a prostitute. I hide my phone and keep it on silent mode when I'm home. I have two months to find a solution. If I fail, I have to accept this marriage, and I will accept it because of my mom, but I can't live in such a situation. How can I live with such a man, or accept such failure? I think if this happens, I won't stay in this world; I will leave the world for those who can live in it, who can find a solution. What I write here are the wounded and torn pieces of my heart and the secrets an Afghan girl suffers. I am like a piece of cloth. I cost little. Who will buy me? By Anonymous Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
Issue No. 6 December 2009 Welcome!
As Afghanistan continued to make the news over the last month here in the U.S. and elsewhere, our women kept up their work, writing deeply, personally and movingly. One bravely wrote about a Taliban death threat hanging over her head; another produced both a poem and a news piece about a suicide bomber on a motorcycle who blew himself up in a crowded market. There were lighter pieces as well, including one about music and another about landai, an Afghan traditional snack of dried meat. A few of the essays and poems are highlighted below. Security concerns remain high and we are continuing to raise funds to supply each of our writers with inexpensive laptops. Consider a holiday gift of any amount in honor of a woman whose stories you love. But most importantly, please read this brave work, share it on Facebook or Twitter to draw in new readers, and add your comments in support of these women. Thank you, and the warmest of holidays, Masha Hamilton Being a Woman: My Only Sin Recently I received a death threat from Taliban. I was on my way to work when a neighbor called out to me: "You must return home because we found a letter from the Taliban threatening you, and you must quit your job right now." "I want to see that letter," I told him. By Anonymous Click here to read the full story. Which Election? When they announced that Karzai was the winner of the election, I laughed and laughed and asked myself, "Which election?" By Roya Click here to read the full story. My Hejab - Another Opinion When I came to Afghanistan, I saw all the women were trying not to wear scarves. They thought of it as a restriction. And when they saw me with a scarf, they asked me in a shocked tone, "Is your family that restrictive even though you came from abroad?" I told them I wear a scarf because I am a Muslim girl. By Aisha Click here to read the full story. The Sun Prepares Good Landai One autumn day when the air was filled With wood smoke, when the wind Puffed up the trees, we asked our mom "Could you prepare landai for the winter?" By Freshta Click here to read the full story. Women Walking Alone I am from long line of women who walked alone From a land that smells of the blood of innocent people... By Shogofa Click here to read the full story. A Word From Our Teachers Deborah Grabien is a Bay Area musician and an author of thirteen novels, most recently of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," published this year. When Masha Hamilton agreed to let me work with these amazing women, it never once occurred to me that I might find myself sitting at the computer, staring at the screen with a hard lump at the back of my throat and my eyes stinging, from the sheer power of what I was reading. A poignant little poem about preparing meat for the winter, and how the smell of turnips evokes warmth and security. An impassioned cry of love for music, and incomprehension that anyone could ban it. A father's regret at the loss of ancient stone idols, destroyed by the Taliban. A call to arms to the government of Afghanistan to serve its people, instead of itself. Every essay, every poem, every article has been a WHAMMO! moment: pure gut-clench. I've been hesitant to write about the experience of working with these women, because I feel as if I ought to be largely invisible. This is about a life that few of us will ever see or understand, about a world so far removed from our comfort and relative safety that it might as well be a different galaxy. And working with these women, this world, this distant galaxy, has been, not a job, but a privilege beyond words. Susan Ito is the editor of the anthology "A Ghost At Heart's Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption." Her writing has been featured in many anthologies including "Growing Up Asian American," "Making More Waves," and "CHOICE." She is creative nonfiction editor and columnist at http://www.literarymama.com. As my stint with the writers of the Afghan Women's Writing Project draws to a close, the news of president Obama's decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to that country fills me with emotion. It is not just a distant "policy decision" but something that will deeply affect these women whose lives opened up to me so poignantly this month. I wish I could have another month (and I hope the next teacher will prompt them in this direction) so that I could ask them their thoughts and feelings about this enormous decision. WIll some of them be relieved? Others terrified? What will this mean for them, their loved ones, their country? It was fascinating to read the diverse responses to their recent elections, and I know that their thoughts regarding this issue will be equally layered and complex. It has been such a privilege to read these words and to work with these women who shared the same desires that we do: to live and love our families. To write. To tell our stories. I hope that I will be with them again before too long. Contact AWWP: For more information on the Afghan Women's Writing Project please contact: The Afghan Women's Writing Project Masha Hamilton, Project Founder 686 Sterling Place Brooklyn, New York 11216 Phone: 917.821.6119 / Email: masha@mashahamilton.com Masha's Website/Blog: www.mashahamilton.com AWWP Blog: www.awwproject.wordpress.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Afghan Women's Writing Project was begun as a way to allow the voices of Afghan women - too often silenced - to enter the world directly, without any mediation. This project is possible only because of the outstanding American women authors and teachers who generously donate their time and energy. Additionally, the tireless contributions of webmaster extraordinaire Jeff Lyons, web designer Rose Daniels and our technical director Terry Dougherty have been crucial. Photography thanks and credit goes to Kathleen Rafiq and Heidi Levine. Our inspiring partners are SOLA and the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation; please visit their websites. , Donations: Online Donations for Afghan Women Writers: Many of our students and women writers, especially outside of Kabul, cannot get to an Internet cafe due to security considerations. A laptop at home and a jump drive would allow them to write their pieces, and then ask a male relative to send the work at an Internet cafe. A $20 donation will buy a flash drive and $500 in donations will buy a laptop for our women writers. No contribution is too small. Thank you for considering it. Your tax deductible credit card donation will be handled by The Goodrich Foundation's secure Paypal payment. Click This Link To Make A Donation! Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Trust In Education VILLAGE BY VILLAGE • VILLAGE TO VILLAGE
AN OVERVIEW, OCTOBER 2009 Trust in Education (TIE) is a grass roots, secular, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded by neighbors in Lafayette, California in May 2003.TIE first provided funding to build a secular school in the village of Lalander, Afghanistan that opened in March, 2005. There are approximately 150 children attending the school in Lalander. In addition, TIE now employs 29 teachers who collectively teach 849 children (602 girls and 247 boys). TIE’s core mission is to maintain and expand its support of education as much as resources allow, recognizing that each time we support a class or school it must be a multiple year commitment. This year’s fourth grader will be next year’s fifth and so on. TIE’s educational programs now include the following: 1. Home school classes for girls are taught inside villages. These classes are necessary due to threats made by the Taliban and the imbalance within the country between educating girls and boys. 2. The home school classes are so popular they have capacity problems. At the request of one village, TIE paid the material cost to build a classroom on private property, which was completed in June 2009. The additional classroom has made it possible for TIE to offer computer and adult education classes. We are working with the village to design an educational program for 2010. We are also open to providing the materials needed to build additional classrooms in other villages. 3. TIE learned from two Afghan school headmasters that their students did not receive enough math and science instruction. TIE agreed to pay the cost of providing after school math and science courses at both schools during 2009. 4. TIE has made it possible for the girl’s school in Tangi Saidan to offer classes from grades one through 12, enabling the girls in this village to transition into college. 5. For several years TIE has funded after school art and English classes. These subjects are in high demand and seldom offered in Afghan schools. 6. TIE paid the cost of installing playground equipment and building a soccer field in Lalander. That led to an after school soccer program financed by TIE. We learned that the playground equipment and soccer field made school more fun, thereby increasing enrollment and improving attendance. We have other playground and soccer field requests currently being considered. 7. TIE provides pencils, pens, paper, notebooks, and books in several classes where without its support there would be none. While education is the solution to almost every problem, it doesn’t solve the immediate needs for food, clothing and shelter. Afghanistan is the 5th poorest country in the world, suffering the effects of 30 years of war. TIE is very involved in addressing these needs. It subscribes wholeheartedly to the philosophy that it is better to “teach a man how to fish”. But, we also provide food and clothing (“fish”), because we can. TIE’s expenses in delivering and distributing these items are minimal. Our goal and theirs is for Afghan families to achieve self sufficiency. Toward that end TIE: 1. Instituted a micro credit loan program that finances entrepreneurs, both men and women. Men will, in all likelihood not be included in this program in the future because the vast majority of loans made to men have not been repaid. This is a phenomenon experienced by microcredit lenders everywhere, unfortunately. 2. Provided 22,481 fruit trees to over 250 farmers. 3. Served as the catalyst and coordinator for the construction of 10 potato cold storage sheds in two villages. Farmers who can keep their potatoes off the market during peak season and sell them when prices are higher (6 months later) will increase their income by an average of 49%. 4. Provided hundreds of farmers with fertilizer, and superior tomato, turnip, radish, and onion seeds, thereby doubling and tripling their yields. 5. Purchased and distributed 300 sheep to 60 farmers TIE learned early on, that if you want to know what “they” need, ask them. Our “wish list” process invites villagers to propose projects. The projects are then ranked based upon the nature of the impact, the number of people impacted, the priority the villagers place upon the competing projects, and cost. We fund as many impact projects as our resources allow, always bearing in mind that education is our primary mission. The “wish list” principles are followed in all of the projects and programs described above. As a consequence, TIE earned the status of partner, which is preferable to being perceived as only a provider. One outcome of the partnership relationship is that wish list proposals no longer include a cost for labor. The villagers provide the labor and TIE purchases the materials. In addition to what is described elsewhere, the following “wish list” projects are no longer wishes; 1. A $20,000 irrigation project now brings water to 150 acres of land that had been fallow for years. 2. Two irrigation ditches constructed in the spring of 2009 divert water to land that previously could not be farmed. The ditches will also prevent the spring run off in 2010 from flooding farmland owned by over 60 farmers. Their topsoil will no longer be washed away or covered with less fertile soil. 3. Three small bridges were built in Lalander, making it easier and in some cases possible for children to attend school. 4. An 18 meter ((58 foot) bridge, providing a river crossing, is currently under construction. When completed it will make commerce and life easier for over 1,000 villagers living in five villages Equally important to providing educational opportunities for Afghans, is informing Americans about Afghanistan. TIE serves as a link between our world and theirs. To that end TIE engages in the following activities; 1. TIE serves as an intermediary and catalyst in providing American families with an opportunity to directly sponsor a “street child” in Kabul. $20 a month enables “their child” to attend school. Sixty street children have been sponsored to date. More have been added each month since we began in July, 2009. 2. Over 50 speaking engagements have been held and will continue to be held whenever opportunities arise. These included presentations by Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and a Thousand Splendid Suns, Greg Mortensen, co-author of Three Cups of Tea, and Sarah Schayes, a former NPR reporter working in Kandahar. 3. Thousands of school children have participated in “Change for Change” drives. Regular reports are made to these children, explaining how “their” change is changing lives. In several schools, TIE has provided annual progress reports for the past five years. TIE hand delivers art work, letters and photos between Afghan and American children. We’ve become the messenger. 4. TIE has collected, shipped and distributed over 30,000 pounds of clothing, blankets, shoes, and school supplies donated by Americans. Our most recent “packing party for Afghanistan” was attended by over 100 volunteers. The “stuff redistribution program” is so popular it’s impossible to handle everything that people are willing to donate. 5. TIE has been called upon by other organizations including Stop Hunger Now, Medshare, Soles for Souls, and the United Nations refugee program, to assist them in distributing food, medical supplies, shoes, and clothing in Afghanistan. The contribution by Stop Hunger Now of fortified rice packages enables TIE to provide over 200,000 meals to Afghans living in refugee camps this winter (2009). Other humanitarian aid organizations are calling exploring the possibility of partnering with TIE. The list of projects and programs is not exhaustive. It provides an overview of the ways in which TIE has provided assistance. TIE focuses its aid in an area, rather than do one project in several. Over time we gain trust, build lasting relationships, and prove we share their resolve. Ending cyclical poverty requires a concerted, long term, and systematic commitment. Village to village and village by village was and continues to be our mantra. It’s six years later and we’re more convinced than ever of the value of going back. It’s the only way to bring about permanent change in the quality of life in Afghanistan and in the perception both worlds have about the other. Education is the key to success, there and here. P.O. Box 936 • Lafayette, CA 94549 • 925.299.2011 www.trustineducation.org Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Why America Must Stay the Course in Afghanistan Think Higher Feel Deeper Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel recently made a compelling presentation at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York, just south of Buffalo. During his day long presentation series Professor Wiesel spoke about morality and how it relates to personal experience, respect for the other, individual responsibility, the dilemma of indifference, all as ethical tests confronting the world and in particular challenging today’s youth. Asked to sum up his day long visit and offer a synopsis of his presentation to the hundreds of students and youth in attendance Dr. Wiesel said, “Whatever you do in life, think higher and feel deeper.” Disclosure As a point of prior disclosure and in explanation for the passion and conviction that I bring to this topic; I lived in Afghanistan from 1972 to 1975. Most of my time in country was spent in Samangan Province where I served as Science Adviser for the provincial school system courtesy of the US Peace Corps. I am a current officer of the Friends of Afghanistan the official National Peace Corps Association affiliate organization for Peace Corps Volunteers who served in this South Central Asian nation from the 1960s up to a few months prior to the Soviet invasion on Christmas Eve 1979. I also advise a coalition of student organizations which continue to support gender equity educational projects in Kabul and in the outlying provinces. The Third Goal The Third Goal of Peace Corps obligates volunteers, upon returning to the United States, to help Americans understand the people and cultures of our host countries. I am offering this timely reflection on the culture and people of my host nation Afghanistan, to fulfill my Third Goal obligations and give my fellow Americans a sense of the humanity and sacrifice that the Afghan people have made for more than a generation as they strive to retain their cultural uniqueness while struggling to integrate into the modern world. For me, both as an individual and as a representative of the Peace Corps Volunteers who served there, Dr Wiesel’s statement resonated with the sounds, sights and experiences of our collective time spent living and working with the long suffering, poorly understood and paradoxically almost forgotten people of this ancient land; and it offered me a challenge to “think higher and feel deeper.” about my Peace Corps host country as a moral imperative during this time of high profile and great nationwide need.
Hidden in Paradox From my personal perspective, his most poignant and challenging comment carried through time and space from Europe in the nineteen thirties and forties to an audience in Chautauqua, NY in 2009 was, “All war is immoral; but intervention can be a moral obligation.” As has so often been the case with formative issues throughout history, the highest truths are frequently hidden within a paradox. In the spirit of paradox the request that I make to my fellow Americans is that we consider Afghanistan with the deep mind and understand that there are always consequences both for actions that we take and for issues that we fail to address. Cause and effect consequences for acts of commission are generally obvious, objective and measurable. What is not always clear is that there are also consequences of omission. My contention is that in the present day we are experiencing the ripple effect for acts of policy omission that our government failed to make in Afghanistan after the fall of the Soviet Union. For Americans the central debate on Afghanistan should focus on whether our intervention there is a moral necessity and what the consequences of omission would be if we were to depart imprudently. Ironic Testimonial I am no fan of the prior US administration’s under resourced, undermanned, mismanaged, poorly prosecuted no bid, cost plus, for profit Western engagement in Afghanistan. In fact, one could argue, from the start, that the invasion of Afghanistan was not regarded as the top priority for American foreign policy even in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on the World trade Center and the Pentagon. Afghanistan may have simply served as a convenient segue for the ideologically driven Neo-Conservative rush to judgment that brought us into Iraq with what is generally regarded in hind sight as too few troops, poor intelligence regarding the nature of the Iraqi resistance and with no viable exit strategy available in the immediate aftermath of the invasion. Having returned to Afghanistan in 2003 and in 2006 to implement and explore opportunities for student sponsored humanitarian aid and school construction projects, I can report, in hopefully balanced fairness that on a number of levels progress has been made. Infrastructure repair has been addressed and the construction of both private and public projects has gone forward especially in Kabul where most charitable organizations are headquartered. I am also pleased to report that the most conspicuous progress has been made in education where, through International aid groups, student to student support through NGOs and a tenacious commitment from local Afghan communities, boys and girls have returned to school in unprecedented numbers and in many areas this is in defiance of Taliban edicts. Despite these documentable steps forward there has been and continues to be a growing sense of frustration among most Afghan citizens. Disillusionment with the pervasive corruption in the middle of an undesirable occupation by foreign armies reinforces the Afghan peoples’ long held cultural suspicion of Western policies, ideologies and ambitions. The public cynicism of the deteriorating security situation throughout Afghanistan, fueled by the rising Taliban insurgency, frustration and disappointment with the US Military, the International Security Assistance Force and the Afghan Government’s inability to create real security, end corruption and help promote the general welfare for the average citizen, is especially aggravated by the failure of the massive amount of Western investment to trickle down through the glass ceiling of widespread fraud to reach the people in any substantive way. These concerns perceived collectively have fostered an opportunity for other ideologies like the Taliban, the Mujahedin and Warlord groups, to appear to be reasonable alternatives to the current state of affairs even if their periods of authority are still remembered in the context of extremism, violence and oppression. Serious Work Former Vice President Dick Cheney has accused the Obama administration of dilatory behavior regarding its Afghanistan policy that he characterized as dithering, even as the President is currently reviewing suggestions from his military advisers and assessing the reliability of our Afghan governmental partners after their recent fraud plagued election. Cheney has been joined in his disapproval by a tenuous alliance with critics of the administration on the left who are also calling for a hasty judgment on Afghanistan. Since the Obama Administration is developing policy changes that will ultimately result in the successful conclusion of our active military commitment in South Asia, every truly patriotic American citizen dedicated to a positive outcome for our mission in Afghanistan should be supportive of the current Administration’s thoughtful and reflective deliberation on this exceptionally serious undertaking. Unlike the Cheney promoted rush to judgment that, without a well thought out exit strategy, hurried us into both of the conflicts that President Obama’s team is currently working to resolve, America may now have a real opportunity to form a well planned strategy for disengagement that leaves behind stable and viable states after years and decades of war. Caution Advised Critics should use caution to ensure that publicly stated disapproval of the efforts of the democratically elected representatives of the American people does no harm to our national interests as our legitimately selected officials face the difficult undertaking of resolving issues of war and peace. Careless political posturing in the guise of free speech is at best in poor taste and at worst can embolden our foes during a time of international hostilities. If Mr. Cheney were to carefully review the content of his own presentations while in office he would find that this is a very reasonable request. Talibs & Vacuums Most Americans don’t realize that the Taliban movement was constructed during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan by the ISI, the Pakistani Secret Police, through funding support by Saudi Arabia and our own CIA. The Taliban was designed, developed and trained in Pakistani camps and Madrasas to be an opposition force to counter the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. Today, it would quickly, and some say quite easily, move into the power vacuum that would be created if America and the West precipitously abandoned Afghanistan like it did in the late nineteen eighties. Regrettably, after the defeat of the Russian Army, policy advisers in Washington decided that the cost benefit analysis for continuing to support Afghanistan would not yield an appropriate return for the investment of American and Western effort. Our political leaders following advice from economic, political, military and other international and regional experts decided that the risk-reward ratio needed to protect the people of Afghanistan did not judiciously warrant the continued allocation of assets from the contributing coalition of stake holders: the United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia directly and other Western nations indirectly. The die of departure had been cast; and the stage was now set for the next phase in the history of South Central Asia and the world. Price of Abandonment We ultimately abandoned Afghanistan, dramatically reducing the massive foreign aid that was being sent to the “Freedom Fighter” groups through Pakistan during virtually the entire nineteen eighties. These flawed decisions of disengagement were made in the heady days following our Cold War victory over Soviet Communism which promised a halcyon period of peace and prosperity for the West. Success in our Cold War effort, which was ironically obtained through the catalytic sacrifice of the Afghan people, clearly shows that great powers can be formative agents of international change but even from a position of immense influence expected outcomes, can never be determined with complete assurance. As a result, we have been drawn through recent history in a series of cause and effect events, via the ensuing fall of the Soviet Empire, the rise of international terrorist organizations like Al’ Qaida by way of September 11, 2001, directly to decisions that we are destined to make today in our time. An unchecked and empowered Taliban presence in the region, acting as an independent force, separated from the control of its ISI creators, may well result in a nightmare scenario for the US and South Central Asia, to which we are now inextricably linked. What to Expect The following is what one could realistically predict to see happen in Afghanistan and in the region if American and Western troops were precipitously withdrawn without a well planned exit strategy: Governmental violence toward women would increase. Afghan Women would, once again, suffer gender discrimination on a scale that we can hardly grasp in the West. Educational and occupational opportunities for women would be severely restricted. And something as simple as walking unescorted in public would result in public beatings by the "Morality Police." The Hazara minority, both women and men, would suffer ethnic cleansing and renewed pogroms in the Hazarajat highlands of central Afghanistan their ancestral homelands. The size and scope of previous pogroms against the Hazara people fit the description of genocide. Shiites, Sufis and other minorities would suffer discrimination, oppression and even be subject to a Fatwa of death because their beliefs could be considered heretical by the Taliban courts. Centuries old treasures would be destroyed as anti-Islamic idols as was done with cultural relics in the Kabul Museum and with the Giant Buddhas of Bamyian Province. Afghanistan would again be plunged into Civil War with the threat of regional spillover into Pakistan and other South Asian nations most notably the Uzbek, Tajik and Turkoman nations of the former Soviet Union at greatest risk. A legitimate threat from Taliban paramilitary forces in Afghanistan aided by the remnant of the Al’ Qaida network, would threaten the Pakistani Government and the security of its nuclear arsenal, resulting in the very real threat of a non-national terrorist group acquiring nuclear weapons. The list above is what one could reasonably predict under Taliban rule. It is a simple restatement of what the Taliban did while in power coupled with an assessment of their current aspirations in Pakistan. One could judiciously predict that the best indicator of Taliban intention in a new position of power would be their past behavior while they were in control of the Afghan Government. While I fully support the controlled and orderly withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq that is currently underway, and in due course, the development of a reasonable exit strategy for Afghanistan, linking both policies in exit would be as foolish as joining them was at the start. I want to reemphasize that it was a rush to judgment that fostered the current, less than optimal conditions, in both Theaters of War and caution should be the standard that we employ for any strategic disengagement. Ethical Debt The problems in Afghanistan are much more layered, nuanced and complex. But finding a solution to these problems is essential if we are serious about establishing an enduring era of peace and stability in South Asia with whatever global implication that implies. Solving these problems will require a new, bold and perhaps unconventional pledge by the West. We may have to commit to a generation of cost effective nation building to stabilize this region and ultimately address American interests by helping to build a safe and secure Afghanistan that in its stability poses no threat to its citizens, its neighbors or the world. Americans may have forgotten that the people of Afghanistan fought the hot point for our Cold War victory over the Soviet Union. We should all soberly bear in mind that Afghan citizens accepted casualties in massive numbers in pursuit of this goal and when on February 15, 1989 Boris Gromov, the final departing Soviet officer walked across the Pul e Ayraton Bridge in Northern Afghanistan, the consequences of the final chapter of the Great Game, played out in the twentieth century, were ready to be fulfilled and the geopolitical dynamics had been set in place that would ultimately free the Captive Nations of Eastern Europe, bring down the Berlin Wall and as a result of the blood sacrifice of the people of Afghanistan, win the Cold War for America. Twelve years and one day after the invasion of Afghanistan the Soviet Union dissolved. America owes the Afghan people a moral debt. Open for discussion and deliberation is how one accurately assesses the worth of this kind of ethical obligation. What can be said, with the certainty of historical hindsight, is that abandoning the people of Afghanistan to a hypocritical, harsh, repressive and extremist Taliban theocratic-political agenda that justifies its hatred and violent behavior toward women and minorities as well as toward Americans, behind a thin veneer of literalist religious rhetoric, improper interpretation of scripture and faux public piety, will never serve the interests of Afghanistan. Nor, if history offers any kind of instruction, would a Taliban victory in Afghanistan be in the best interests of the United States of America. Anthony Agnello President, Friends of Afghanistan Returned Peace Corps Volunteers www.afghanconnections.org (716)-353-3067Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
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Seeta on Long Island My Home Province Night of Lovers Winter School Days in Kandahar Seeta on Long Island Posted: 24 Oct 2009 11:07 PM PDT In the cozy Long Island beach town where I live, everyone goes to an old-fashioned soft ice cream stand called Marvel. Not Carvel. It was still open for the season on a chilly evening in October when I arrived with a brand new customer, a confident, petite young woman who wore a red trench coat over blue jeans and a black head scarf. "She's never been here before," I told Anthony, the kindly, gray-haired owner. By "here," I meant America. As far as Anthony was concerned, "here" meant Marvel. "Never?" he asked, looking hurt. For Anthony – and many of us – Marvel is to Long Beach, Long Island, what Rick's was to Casablanca. "I am from Afghanistan," Seeta explained. "Oh," the owner replied, a big smile exploding across his face. "Well, that explains everything." Seeta smiled back. Anthony handed her a strawberry and pistachio swirl with "house sprinkles." And I contemplated the beautiful simplicity of this exchange. Back home, in addition to writing for the Afghan Women's Writing Project (AWWP), Seeta regularly risks her life to report and write in Dari and English – which she taught herself – for a local newspaper. Simplicity is not a word one would use in describing her work in that tightly-controlled Taliban province. As a journalist, her job is to ask questions. There are also many she is challenged to answer – and they are as misguided as they are complicated. Questions about why she works, not what she writes. Incessantly, she is asked why a woman would want to work. She is asked why a woman should be permitted to interview men. Since the late summer, through AWWP, I have been mentoring Seeta by reading her stories and offering reporting and writing suggestions. I have, I believe, learned more from her than she from me. In September, when the course I teach in feature writing at Hofstra University began, I invited her to join as guest from afar and to correspond with my students by email. We all thought this would be merely an online experience – and were nevertheless thrilled and intrigued. Then Seeta wrote that she had been awarded a fellowship to spend three weeks in the United States as a participant in the U.S. State Department's Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists. She was also the only participant from Afghanistan and the youngest one as well. When the program concluded, Seeta was able to spend a few days at my home, travel to the Bronx for a meeting with Galen D. Kirkland, Commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights and, best of all, to meet my students – in person. That meeting was beautifully documented by Joye Brown, a columnist for Newsday. And Seeta, in the months and years to come will, I am certain, tell her own version of her experiences here. What I'd like to mention, though, is how nervous I was about how Seeta would be received on Long Island, a place that has its own tribal divisions, many of them based on ethnicity, race and religion, Here, too – although the risks are nothing in comparison to Afghanistan – boundaries can be difficult to decipher. Rush Limbaugh may be on the radio in one house, Bill Maher on the television next door. Recently, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report that described Suffolk County, the eastern of Long Island's two counties, as a place with a pronounced – and sometimes officially sanctioned – atmosphere of hate, suspicion and prejudice specifically aimed at Latino residents.. What, I wondered, would put someone at more risk in this suburb, a Spanish accent or a head scarf? During Ramadan a Muslim woman, in a scarf like Seeta's, was taunted on a Long Island street in what was clearly identified as a hate crime. But like most places, including Afghanistan, the deities are sometimes with us and good does triumph. Days after that Muslim woman was accosted, a rabbi, a Catholic priest and an iman – I know this sounds like a bad joke but I promise it is anything but that – all met at a mosque to discuss the concept of fasting in their different religions. The reaction on my Long Island to Seeta was also heartening. A woman who was only a casual acquaintance of mine – until now – helped Seeta make an international call to her own mother in the Afghan provinces. A quintessential "white guy hockey coach" welcomed her to her first ice rink with open arms and enthusiasm. And the day before she was due to depart, an Orthodox Jewish woman physician gave Seeta a check-up on very short notice and without a bill, with the doctor's most senior nurse offering sensitive encouragement. At Marvel, Seeta – who does not have a large appetite – finished her ice cream and declared it "very good." Anthony, the owner, warmly wished her a safe trip home and said he hoped she would return. I do too. Her next step will be to look for a scholarship to an American undergraduate program in journalism – and then return to Afghanistan to use her skills to write more about her country. By then I hope we can figure out how to get ice cream that is made in Long Island on a plane to Kabul – and that with the help of reporters like Seeta we can figure out so many other things as well. By Barbara Fischkin (AWWP Instructor) My Home Province Posted: 24 Oct 2009 10:59 PM PDT The last time I went to Dashte Abdaan was two years ago. After my sister's engagement party, we went to Dashte Abdaan straight from the wedding hall. It is a desert located between Kunduz and Imam Sahib. It is fruitless; no one uses it for farming. It was evening. The sun was sitting down when we got there. The end of the sky had the mixture of orange and reddish colors. The tulip flowers were everywhere like the whole desert wore a red cloth. I stood on a bed of tulips. The wind was blowing very slowly and softly. I loved standing there and just breathing. I loved looking at the sunset as the sun was saying goodbye to everyone. The smell of the tulips was pleasant. I could see the cars that were going back to the city. The desert was getting empty of people, but I really didn't want to leave. It was the first time that I felt this way. I could see hundreds of kites flying in the sky; they had different signs, colors, and faces and more on them. Some of the kites were fighting with each other until one cuts the opponent's kite free. The kids were running to get the azadi ("freed" kites.) They all had smiles in their faces. It is a place that people can come with their families and freely have fun because the desert is big and even though some factories have been built there in recent years, there is always a space which has fewer people or even no one else, and there is a lot to do. Some people even spend the night there. During spring, most guests who come to Kunduz go to the desert. One of the best ideas is to hold a wedding there. Kunduz, along with some other northern provinces, is famous for holding the buzkashi event. It is one of the traditional, national sports of Afghanistan. It is played by others like Turkmens and Uzbeks, but their version is a little bit different. Buzkashi is played on special occasions only, like Eid, New Year, and some weddings. Once during Eid, I remember watching a buzkashi match from the roof of one of my friend's house, which was very close to the buzkashi ring. The area was like a stadium. Two sides of the ring were surrounded by hills. On the both sides, people stood or sat, and there was a special place for the high position people, though I didn't like this idea. All the horse riders wore "chapan" (coats of intricate design) and thick hats. The horse riders are called "chapandaz." It is a very difficult sport and some riders begin learning and practicing when they are children. Someone brought the body of a goat with its head cut off. The announcer read out the names of the horses, the riders and the owners. People were cheering the horses and riders. They often called the horse by its color, like "ghqra" (black) or "ghezel" (red) and so on. The announcer said the prizes for the winners would be a chapan and some money. The game is played like this: the horse riders all want to get the goat, which weighs about 65 pounds or more. They lean down to the ground while they are riding their horses, and then they have to grab the goat and throw it into a circle or over a line. Sometimes they use a calf instead of a goat because it weighs more, but the traditional way of playing is to use a goat. In fact, the name of the game, literally translated, means "goat killing" or "goat grabbing." The buzkashi horses are treated and fed differently from other horses, and given lots of exercise. They are very valued and some people will even trade their best cars to get such a horse. By Fatima Night of Lovers Posted: 24 Oct 2009 10:53 PM PDT I would like to be a sparrow flying round the tree in the yard of your house watching you sitting on the wooden chair, drinking coffee, reading poems in front of the mirror, lighting candles to brighten the dark night of lovers. By Roya Winter School Days in Kandahar Posted: 24 Oct 2009 10:51 PM PDT The arrival of winter reminds me of those rainy days when I was going to school Sleepless from the cold nights and the tup-tup sound of raindrops leaking from the roof Cold air through the broken windows waking me up from my warm bed Each morning my mother making me hot tea and naan (bread) with her kind, soft hands Walking in my burqa through the long, narrow streets of our neighborhood Holding my blowing burqa tightly to cover my school uniform from unwanted views Folding it around myself to warm up my cold hands and red running nose Bundling up my white pants and burqa to jump over puddles across a broken bridge Cheering in my heart like an Olympic champion for succeeding in crossing the broken bridge My burqa flying in the wind like small birds learning to fly in the sky Slipping and getting my school uniform and shoes muddy before reaching the bus station Pleased to arrive at school, like a lost bird returning to the nest after a long voyage Being punished by the school's monitors for being late and wearing a messy uniform Those freezing classrooms with hollow windows and doors giving me flu and fever Finding raindrops on each page of my books, like the shabnam (dew drops) Spring brings to leaves and flowers The cracked benches like rocks freezing in the mountain Snuggling with my friends and classmates to warm each other against the cold Praying for sunshine to melt our frozen muscles The arrival of winter giving us a lesson on how to be strong against hardship The end of winter giving us a blossom of hope for Spring By Sofia Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
WEEK IN REVIEW | October 18, 2009
Remembering Afghanistan's Golden Age By ELISABETH BUMILLER From the 1930s to the 1970s, Afghanistan had a semblance of a national government and Kabul was known as "the Paris of Central Asia." Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
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A Year Posted: 22 Oct 2009 09:30 AM PDT I remember January, with sky the color of my childhood toys I remember February, with its green clothes, and scent of spring. I remember March, my first trip to the river and the smile of the fish. I remember April, that Sunday you broke your promise and broke me. I remember May, the garden of apple trees, oh… hiding under trees. I remember June, hot days and cold ice cream, taking breaks under Mulberry trees. I remember July, the sad days I passed in a cage of pain. I remember August, you opened doors of hopes. I remember September, losing Dad, a disaster. I remember October's long nights, I was so alone I even lost my shadow I remember November's Fridays, hoping to see you on Saturday. I remember December's coldest days. By Roya Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
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Afghanistan, a Dream Posted: 18 Oct 2009 02:38 PM PDT http://awwproject.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/afghanistan-a-dream/ I was standing in front of the window in the small, dark living room, folding my arms against my chest, looking out at the drops of rain falling like the tears of a mother for her dead child, like a gift from the hell, like a curse from the devil. The dark, gloomy sky had a rhythm of pain, a rhythm of loneliness. The land was like a woman in black, shouting from the unbearable pain. It was October 21, 2008. Taliban insurgents had pulled thirty Afghan men off a bus in southern Afghanistan and beheaded them after accusing them of being soldiers traveling in civilian clothes. The thirty were actually men going to west to Iran to find work. This was not only the end of thirty lives and their dreams, but the end for families and friends they had left behind waiting for them. I wanted to step back and leave the suffering, but the portrait inside my heart was no different from that of the view. I finally pulled myself away and closed my eyes, trying to see deep inside and imagine a dream picture of Afghanistan. I saw a land, warm from the sunshine, little girls and boys flying white kites in an open green field, dozens of women wearing green, blue and red scarves and sitting under the shadows of a pine tree, giggling while their noses shined from the reflection of sunshine, a group of men chuckling together. I saw a young man in white holding a little girl's hand with a pencil, teaching her how to write. I looked to the right side and there was a masjid (mosque) in the color of light emerald. I looked closer and found a woman wearing green head scarf reading to a younger girl from the pages of holy Quran. I saw the same land in the winter with snow falling down from the sky like pearls, covering the land like a piece of white silk. It was pure like a gift from Heaven, like a blessing from Allah. I heard something, looked up, and it was the Snow Partridge sitting on the dry branches of olive tree covered with pure white snow, singing sola, sola and sola (peace, peace and peace.) By Meena /////////////////////////////////////////// My Sisters Golden Hair Posted: 18 Oct 2009 02:37 PM PDT http://awwproject.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/my-sister%e2%80%99s-golden-hair/ (Eds Note: This story has been written from a brother's point of view, but is based on real events.) We had a kind and lovely family. We were not so rich in money, but rich in love and kindness, in happiness and sympathy, more like friends than family members. My father was an engineer, I was one of three brothers and we had two sisters. We were living in Mazar in a small house with one room, a bathroom, a kitchen and a yard. My father worked in a construction company. He was working hard and his target was to bring us up with education. I was in fourth class when there was a change in the government. Everyone was afraid—what would happen? Then they announced on the radio that girls could not go to school; only boys could go. My youngest sister Malia was eight and in second class and my other sister Noria was nine and in third class. We were sad because they couldn't go to school. But after a week, I told my father I was going to school even though I was sorry my sisters could not. My father said he was thinking about my sisters—what should they do? I told him I was sad too. "But still, tomorrow I am going to school; I can't wait, I can't wait." My father was thinking; he didn't reply. It was 2:00 p.m. and I was tired. I went to the room and lay on the mattress and after a few minutes I fell asleep. I don't remember exactly how long I slept, but my Mom woke me up. She was worried and told me, "Ahmed, your father went to the barber." The barbers shop was at the beginning of our street and the barber was my fathers friend, so I told my mother, "It doesnt matter, he always goes there." "Yes, yes, I know, but this time your father took Noria and Malia to the barber!" I was surprised. Lots of questions were in my mind. When my father returned, he told Mom: "Life is so dangerous, so hard. Taliban were in the barbers shop, warning him he couldnt cut people's hair and beards. If he does, they will put him in jail." My two sisters were silent. They wore veils. My father asked my mom to bring him the scissors. She did and Dad called Noria first, "Come, my golden-hair angel." Noria and Malia both had long hair and my dad loved their hair, especially Noria's hair. Now, Noria sat in front of my father. My father had the scissors. His hands were shaking. He combed her hair and then he started cutting it. He cut her hair like a boy's, like mine, very short and straight. I was shocked. I thought, "Dad is mad, or something is wrong with his mind," but I didnt say anything. Mom and I just stood watching. Then Dad called Malia and cut her hair too. They both looked very ugly, very poor. Then my dad told Mom, "Bring all of Ahmed's old clothes." Mom looked like she was going to cry for her daughters' hair. She opened an old box, but it only held some of my sister's old clothes, not mine. Our next-door neighbor had a son my age, so Mom borrowed his old clothes for my sisters. Then my father told me, "Come stand next to your sisters." I stood and Mom and Dad were looking at us. The next day my dad didnt go to his work. He took me and my sisters to school. My sisters looked like simple school boys. My father told me to try to watch out for them. We were happy like this, going to school every day, for six months, but after a while I began to get very afraid. One day my sister Noria didn't go to school. She stayed home because Mom was very sick. Malia went to school with me, but unluckily the teacher was absent that day, and boys were fighting in the class. One boy threw an eraser at the window and broke the glass, and it fell and hurt my Malias leg. Blood came from her leg. She cried and said that she wanted me, her brother, to come from another class but no one cared. The principal took Malia to the clinic and while checking her, the doctor told the principal she was a girl. "How is that possible?" asked the principal and he ordered the doctor to stop treating my sister. After school that day, I waited for Malia but when she didn't come from her class, I felt worried. I went home and told my mother. She cried. We thought someone kidnapped Malia. After Dad came from work, the principal arrived holding Malia by the arm, and accompanied by four Talib police. Her face was white and she was crying silently. Her clothes were bloody. The principal didn't say anything. My father told them, "Welcome." The Talib commander hit my father, and then all the men started to hit my father in front of our eyes. They hit him with big wooden sticks and cables and wires. One Talib hit Dad's nose and broke it, and blood was coming from his nose and mouth. I tried to rescue my father but I couldn't; I was very small. Before they left, the Talib warned my dad: "If you do anything bad again, we will put you in jail or kill you." Dad was in the hospital for two months. During that time I went to school alone and worked with a tailor. Noria and Malia stayed home. When Dad got out of the hospital, he told us he wanted to quit his job and begin working as a teacher. Yes, he wanted to teach us at home, and he invited all the neighbors to come and study. Half of the room we were living in became a classroom. Dad painted part of a wall black and it was our blackboard. Girls came to our house from morning until evening. Dad taught all school subjects. He never seemed to get tired. One day the family of one of my dad's student's was moving from our street. She came to say goodbye to my father and promised she would try to visit in the future. Dad was talking to her until prayer time. A Talib carrying a cable was in the street to call people to come to prayer, and he saw the student come out of our house. She said to my father, "Goodbye, teacher," and the Talib heard it. He pushed at the door. Dad thought it was his student returning so he opened the door and there stood the Talib. He didn't hit my father with the cable. He just told him, "Come with me." I saw my father with them in the car and then the car drove away. Mom was at home, and we all were crying. Neighbors came and told us, "He will be back, be patient." We waited until evening. It was dark. Mom went to my uncle's house to tell him what had happened. My uncle began investigating with his sons to try to find my father. The next day, he went to all the Talib police stations but no one had information about Dad. We checked all the jails and prisons, but he was not there. I kept asking myself: "What did they do with Dad? Did they kill him? If so, where is his body? If not, then where is he?" What was his sin? It was that he was teaching girls. He quit his job because he didn't want his daughters to be illiterate. His second sin was that it was prayer time, and he prayed at home. He prayed for Allah, not for the Taliban. Days and nights passed with no word from Dad. We had money problems and other worries, but still at nights, I taught Malia and Noria. I wrote on the blackboard of our wall. I thought of myself as my father. After the Taliban regime, we were hopeful that Dad would be back, but he never returned. Malia graduated from school last year and attended faculty of journalism in Mazar. Noria is still in the 12th class. She wants to be an engineer. Her golden brown hair has grown back, and it reminds me of how much my father loved it. By Roya --Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Conference on Afghan and Iranian Diaspora in the Bay AreaThis October, please join the Afghan Coalition and our colleagues for
the Global Knowledge Conference: Afghan and Iranian Diaspora Cultures and Communities in the Bay Area. The event will take place Thursday-Saturday, October 22 – 24. Location: Biella Room, Library & Music Building 1055 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd., Hayward, CA 94542 $35 through Oct. 15 $50 at the door (space permitting) Campus parking $7 per day The Conference Agenda I. Thursday, Oct. 22, 5-7 p.m., Biella Room, University Library Reception, art exhibition, and short documentary and discussion II. Friday, Oct. 23, 3-8:30 p.m. Music Building 1055 Plenary, "Framing the Afghan and Iranian Diasporas," will feature Farid Younos, CSUEB lecturer and radio and TV commentator, a welcome by CSUEB President Mohammad Qayoumi, keynote address by Alam Payind, director of the Ohio State University Middle East Studies Center, poetry and dance, and a buffet of Afghan foods. III. Saturday, Oct. 24, 8:15-6:30 p.m., Music Building 1055 Plenary: "1979 – 30 Years Hence" will feature Fatemeh Keshavarz, author of "Jasmine and Stars: Reading More Than 'Lolita' in Tehran," sessions on "Community Research in the Local Afghan Diaspora" and "Social Activism in Iranian Diaspora," Personal and Immigration Narratives, roundtable discussion on "New Directions in Afghan and Iranian Scholarship," and a Closing Plenary, plus a buffet of Iranian foods, and both Afghan and Iranian sweets. Conference Details Afghan Coalition Executive Director Rona Popal will be presenting along with Parvin Ahmadi, assistant superintendent of the Fremont Unified School District; Nushi Safinya, director of Studies for International and Multilingual Students at St. Mary's College; and Vida Samiian, dean of the CSU Fresno College of Arts and Humanities. The conference will lead off with a reception, art exhibition, short documentary and discussion from 5-7 p.m. Oct. 22 in the Biella Room of the University Library. Yuko Kurahashi of the School of Theatre and Dance at Kent State University will present her short documentary on the making of "Beyond the Mirror," a theatrical performance by the Bond Street Theatre of New York and the Emile Theatre of Kabul, and a discussion will follow. The conference opening plenary at 3 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Music Building 1055 will bring together Farid Younos and Nushi Safinya on "Framing the Afghan and Iranian Diasporas," with Diedre Badejo, dean of the CSUEB College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, moderating. Najia Karim will set the stage for dinner and a short Iranian dance performance by reading Afghan poetry. Later, CSUEB President Mohammad Qayoumi will introduce Payind's keynote address. The conference will resume on Oct. 24 with the plenary, "1979 – 30 Years Hence," with two parallel sessions on "Community Research in the Local Afghan Diaspora" and "Social Activism in Iranian Diaspora." Sessions will highlight personal immigration narratives by Abubakr Asadulla, M.D., of the CSUEB Student Health Center, Sahar Haghighat, a CSUEB graduate student. The sessions will be followed by a roundtable discussion on "New Directions in Afghan and Iranian Scholarship" and a closing plenary. The conference is co-sponsored by the Afghan Coalition; the California State University; Fresno College of Arts and Humanities; Zale Video and Film; CSUEB Associated Students Inc.; Balkh Bakery & Deli; and Nushi Safinya, Director, Studies for International and Multilingual Students, St. Mary's College. To register, send your name, address, phone number, e-mail address and a check for $35 per person, payable to CSUEB CLASS, to: Global Knowledge Conference CLASS, MB1501, CSUEB, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd., Hayward, CA 94542. Conference information and updates are at: http://class.csueastbay.edu/Global_Knowledge.php CSUEB welcomes persons with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodation upon request. Please notify event sponsor a minimum of two weeks in advance at 510-885-3183 if accommodation is needed. Tags: Afghan Coalition, Afghan Diaspora, Bay Area Diaspora Communities, Global Knowledge Conference, Iranian Diaspora, Rona Popal Posted in Afghan, Afghan American culture, Afghan art and culture, community event, education program, immigration Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
Welcome!
This month we remember Rosemary Stasek, 46, a personal friend, a friend of AWWP, an amazing supporter of Afghan women and former mayor of Mountain View, CA, who died in Kabul on Thursday, Sept 24. Rosemary was remarkable, the loss is large and those of us who knew her will not soon stop missing her. She employed one of our writers, Roya, who has written about her in a moving tribute called Be Proud, America. In other strong work in recent weeks, we have a first-hand report from a woman who helped at the Election Day polls, an essay about a bereaved family on Eid, another about returning home, one about a Wedding Day arrest, a poem about a teacher's stern response to a chalk fight. These are just some of the gems to be found on the blog. Your comments on these pieces mean a lot to these women. Thank you for continuing to reach out in support of their work and for contributing to our efforts to supply our writers with laptops and establish a women's-only Internet café in Kabul. Please take a moment to read some of the latest blog entries. Be in touch with any questions. Thank you. Masha Hamilton A Special Eid I went to sit next to him and asked him what was he doing there? That little boy looked at me for a moment and then said: "Mom says that our Daddy went to the sky to meet Allah-Pak. Now I am searching among the stars for him. I want him to come back, so that I can ask him for my Eidi." By Safia Click here to read the full story. Chalk She takes out a long iron ruler that smells like a cold wind She hits us all twice on our palms She gives a long speech on proper Afghan Muslim ladies She ends the speech, declaring us un-Islamic and un-Afghan By Meena Click here to read the full poem. Wedding or Jail They told the elderly father of the groom: "We want you to go with us until we find your son." The groom was hiding in the mosque next to their house, but when he heard about his father, he came out and apologized to the Taliban. They didn't accept the apology. They took my cousin and his father. By Roya Click here to read the full story. Coming Home It couldn't have been more different from the way I was raised in Pakistan. There, we ate with spoons and forks, but Afghans used their hands. There, we washed clothes with a machine; here they washed by hand. Afghans cooked dishes over an open flame rather than using a stove. The floors here were made of mud but were clean as glass. Even though I felt culture shock, this day was the most precious moment of my life, as I arrived in my true home. By Yagana Click here to read the full story. A Calculated Risk I knew I was taking a big risk... but it was also risky for my family. If the Taliban discovered that I was going to America, they would harm my family. There was also the possibility that I would not be accepted in Afghan society when I returned from America. I was afraid people would reject me when I got home. By Marzia Click here to read the full story. A Word From Our Teachers Violeta Garcia-Mendoza writes both poetry and prose in the Spanish and the American literary tradition. Over the last few years, her work has appeared in more than 30 literary venues. I came into my first week of teaching this group with a sense of duty and excitement of what I could give back to other writers. I ended my last week of teaching moved by the honor of having been entrusted with their words. Sometimes the best critique you can give a work has to do with word choice, and style, and imagery; other times you can say all that, too, but what matters more is to say "I will not be able to forget this." These women are writers who will break your heart with the stories of what they've seen and endured; but they will also make you soar with their hopefulness. Either way, their work will change you, unfailingly move you. Lu Vickers is the author of "Breathing Underwater," a novel; and "Weeki Wachee";"City of Mermaids."She has been awarded three individual artists fellowships from the state of Florida. Her new book, "Cypress Gardens: America's Tropical Wonderland," will be out in 2010. When I was in the fifth grade or so in a small school in North Florida, I was told to choose a country to study for a special project. I chose Afghanistan. I vaguely remember flipping through the "World Book Encyclopedia," looking for information about the country: population, elevation, holidays; the sort of non-information that appeases some teachers. I vaguely remember drawing a map with a blue pencil, dotting in the capital of Kabul with a speck of red; I vaguely remember pasting images of men riding horses onto a page. I'm sure my mother helped me. She always did, as if she were reliving her own school years: she would draw birds and flowers with colored pencils; she'd order brochures and cut out images of alligators and palm trees. I joked that she got good grades. When I signed on to help with the writers' project-despite reading about our ongoing war and keeping up with the news that has filtered out, despite watching films like Siddiq Barmak's Osama and the more recent Afghan Star-the name "Afghanistan" still called up the pale blue outline of a child's map. The young women I have had the privilege of working with have filled in the map. One wrote a poem recalling an autumn day when her family slaughtered a sheep to make landi; another young woman wrote a touching sketch of man unable to buy new clothes for his son at Eid; another wrote a poem about a scene that erupted when the Dari teacher was late: the young women had a chalk fight that made them feel free "like fishes swimming deep in the ocean." I admire these young women's fearlessness, not just for educating themselves, but for their willingness to write in a language not their own, to express not just fears, but joys universal to us all. As Fattema wrote: "The smell of fresh grass made me think of you." Contact AWWP: For more information on the Afghan Women's Writing Project please contact: The Afghan Women's Writing Project Masha Hamilton, Project Founder 686 Sterling Place Brooklyn, New York 11216 Phone: 917.821.6119 / Email: masha@mashahamilton.com Masha's Website/Blog: www.mashahamilton.com AWWP Blog: www.awwproject.wordpress.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Afghan Women's Writing Project was begun as a way to allow the voices of Afghan women - too often silenced - to enter the world directly, without any mediation. This project is possible only because of the outstanding American women authors and teachers who generously donate their time and energy. Additionally, the tireless contributions of webmaster extraordinaire Jeff Lyons, web designer Rose Daniels and our technical director Terry Dougherty have been crucial. Photography thanks and credit goes to Kathleen Rafiq and Heidi Levine. Our inspiring partners are SOLA and the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation; please visit their websites. , Donations: Online Donations for Afghan Women Writers: Many of our students and women writers, especially outside of Kabul, cannot get to an Internet cafe due to security considerations. A laptop at home and a jump drive would allow them to write their pieces, and then ask a male relative to send the work at an Internet cafe. A $20 donation will buy a flash drive and $500 in donations will buy a laptop for our women writers. No contribution is too small. Thank you for considering it. Your tax deductible credit card donation will be handled by The Goodrich Foundation's secure Paypal payment. Click This Link To Make A Donation! Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
Sharing the bad news that one of our AWWP supporters in Afghanistan, Rosemary Stasek, (employer of our writer Roya and a big supporter of women in Afghanistan) died yesterday in Kabul.
There is a news article about her death here: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13417205 There is a June 2008 MSNBC piece on her work here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25413632#25413632 She will be missed. Masha Hamilton www.mashahamilton.com 31 Hours Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAYogDeD3ik Read "Be Proud, America" below, to learn more about Rosemary Stasek from one of the Afghan Women Writers who knew Rosemary as a friend and mentor. Terry Dougherty awwproject Be Proud, America Bloom! My Election Day Be Proud, America Posted: 27 Sep 2009 12:32 PM PDT (Editor Note: Rosemary Stasek, AWWP friend and former mayor of Mountain View, California, died on Thursday September 24, 2009, in Afghanistan.) It was a Wednesday in June when I had my interview with Rosemary. She accepted me as program assistant for her organization, "A Little Help." I was glad and I was afraid. But she was not like a boss to me. She was like a teacher. The first days, everything was new. She gave me some letters to print. I tried and I tried, but the printer was angry; it was not printing, I went to Rosemary and told her, "Please, come check the printer." She came and checked, and plugged the cable on the printer and smiled at me. One day she gave me a list of supplies she had to buy for a hospital, and sent me to get price quotes. When I left the office, I found I understood all the words but one. I studied the word and then went to the furniture store and ordered some chairs. When I got back to the office, Rosemary asked me, "Where did you go?" I replied that I was at the furniture store. Again she looked at me and smiled and printed out a paper with a picture and showed me: the word I didn't understand was "crutches." When I looked at the paper, I laughed, and she laughed too, but she didn't make fun of me. Her office with its green lawn and roses was also her house, but it was my home too. I felt calm there. She was not like a foreigner. She was a family member. She stayed in Afghanistan almost six years and Afghanistan was her home. Her other assistant, Karima, and I were both studying at the university. On exam days she didn't like us to work very much at the office. She encouraged us to study and try hard. Rosemary did a lot for women. Take a few minutes and visit her site www.stasek.com . She was working days and nights, helping Afghan women not only in the capital, but all the provinces of our country. In Bamyan, Ghor, Mazar, Kabul, Parwan, and many, many other provinces, there are hearts who love Rosemary. She remains in a lot of memories in my heart and soul. I remember the time we visited a blind school. The blind teacher and students were playing music and she started to dance. Everyone was blind so only I could see her, but she danced and we both had tears in our eyes, oh oh oh. But life is unfaithful sometimes. The woman we knew was sick in the last three months. Most of the time she looked tired, but didn't express it in her face. She had her cute smile. But you could read from her face that Rosemary tolerated pain. Once or twice I asked her, and she told me: "I am not feeling well, but don't worry. I will be okay soon." She was sick all of Ramazan but in the beginning she gave lots of prayer rugs and holy Qurans for Muslims. The last time we went to the girl's prison, she carried a lot of stuff that was very heavy. I told her I could carry it, but she wouldn't let me. The other day we went to tax office together. I had all the work done there. She thanked me and congratulated me. I told her, "Don't thank me. It was all your work, Rosemary." But she smiled and told me, "No, Roya, it was you doing all the work." She drove us home. On the way, I told her, "Rosemary, this time when you go to States, I will take a driving course." She laughed and told me, "You missed your chance; why didn't you go when I was in Africa last month?" I repeated, "This time when you go, I will go to a driving course." When we reached the office, Marne, Rosmary's kind husband, arrived from his office. Rose greeted him very friendly: "My dear husband, how are you?" She laughed and her laugh was an ocean of love. One day before Eid, she gave all the office staff Eid gifts. She gave me new clothes. On first day of Eid, I sent her a message of Eid greetings. On third day of Eid, I called her. Although she was sick, she didn't tell me on phone. I missed her, so on fourth of Eid, even though it was holiday, I went to the office to visit her. She was in her living room. I was checking my writings on AWWP when Rosemary tried to walk to her office, but she was having trouble walking. She used the walls to help her. I followed her into her office and wanted to hug her, but she was very sick, very, very sick. She couldn't talk and could hardly breathe. She pointed and invited me to sit. I sat down and told her, "Rosemary, you will be okay soon. Take it easy." She smiled, and I asked, "What can I do for you?" She said, "Roya, I know what my sickness is. You can't do anything for me. Go to your office and make yourself some tea." I went to my office but I was worried because of Rosemary; what was happening to her? She left the office and sat on the chair in her lawn. Tequella, her lovely dog, was barking, but she was just sitting. She couldn't breathe, but she was brave. She called me and asked me to add credit to her mobile phone. I did it and she asked me to make her a salad, but then she felt worse and didn't ask about it. Marne came from his office and sat with her. I looked from the window. They were like two birds fallen in love. After a while, he returned to his office. It was 5:00, time for me to leave. Again I sat with Rosemary and I didn't want to talk. I just wanted to look at her and be with her. She looked at me and she felt I was very sad. I asked her, "What should I bring you tomorrow?" She said, "Bring me apricots." I asked, "What about peaches?" She said, "That's okay, peaches are also soft. Try to find good ones." When I said goodbye to her, she said, "Roya, don't leave me alone. Stay a few minutes until Marne comes from his office, or tell Fatha the driver to stay here." I stayed with her longer. Then she told me, "Go, it will be late for you." I told Fatha to stay and I left the office. When I was on the street getting a taxi, I saw Marne arriving, and I was happy. On the way home, I was thinking about Rosemary. The next day was Thursday. We had lunch guests. I was worried because I had to get to the office, but the guests were late. So I texted Rosemary that I would come to the office late, but she didn't reply. It was the first time she didn't reply to me. I thought she was disappointed in me. I didn't want to accept that she was sick and couldn't reply to my message. On the way to the office, I tried to buy apricots. There were none, but I bought some peaches. I was in a hurry, hurry, hurry. Fatha was at the office. I asked him, "How is Rosemary? Where is she?" He told me Rosemary was very sick and Marne had taken her to the hospital. I put the peaches on the nice plates Rosemary had in her kitchen. I was hopeful that when she came, she would eat the peaches and I would bring her more. I called Marne. He told me they were at ISAF hospital. I told him, "I want to come," but he said it was not possible for me to enter because it is a military hospital. At 5:00, I went home. That night the sky was dark and the moon was lost. At 10:00 p.m., I messaged Marne and asked about Rosemary's health. He wrote back that she was very ill. I think I only slept two hours that night. Early Friday, I was washing my clothes and then I checked my phone and there was a missed call from Marne. When I called him back, I didn't greet him. I just asked, "How is Rosemary?" His voice held the pain I felt. He told me with deep sorrow that Rosemary died the night before. I couldn't hear that news. I hung up and started to cry. I was alone and needed someone to share my grief. It is very hard when you are alone, and you lose someone who you love. I called Mr. Ted, my dear teacher, director of SOLA. He thought I had a family problem. When I told him, he was shocked. Then I called Kathleen Rafiq, Rosemary's best friend. She tried to console me. I called Karima; she was shocked too. I went to her house and we talked about Rosemary and her kindness. One day and one night, nonstop, I cried, it was not only tears coming from my eyes, but blood was with them. On Saturday morning I didn't go to the university; I went to Rose's house. When I opened the door, I saw a sad picture I can't forget: that tiny house and office was like a garden without a tree. Everything looked sad and worried; walls cried. Marne was sitting alone on the chair on the lawn. When I saw him, I couldn't control myself. We cried. Even Rosemary's dog Tequella cried; trust me, there were tears in her eyes. Later I went into the kitchen. The peaches I had bought for Rosemary were still on the plate. Her office door was open a bit, her handbag on the chair, her writings on the board of her office. I put some rose petals on her desk on her office, and some petals on her empty chair. I asked Life: why is it like this? We can find everything in our life, but when someone leaves this world, we can't find them back. She passed her last breath with us Afghans. I tell American people, if all of the women are like Rosemary, be proud. She was an example of love, kindness and hard work. We learned a lot from her. As I left at the end of the day, I knew I would never again tell the taxi driver, "2 Qalay Fathallah." I won't say, "Rosemary, see you tomorrow." She won't tell me, "Bye, Roya. Have fun!" I left the office at 5:00, walking empty streets, crying and saying "Goodbye, Rosemary. Goodbye, Rosemary." By Roya Bloom! Posted: 27 Sep 2009 10:40 AM PDT I think green about you I bloom, like anemone, carnation I feel as a champion To think about you is to think about new poem Thinking about you… Dreaming the world With splendid beauty The happy days and nights Days of anticipation Waiting for you is sweet And At night looking out of the window See you on the face of moon And… The first kiss Oh ! Thinking about you is To drink fresh air in In the peak of mountains! By Roya My Election Day Posted: 27 Sep 2009 10:39 AM PDT A week before the election, because of security concerns, the people of Afghanistan faced hundreds of problems, like not being able to attend school or do their routine work. Suicide attacks took a lot of victims, and people hardly wanted to leave their homes. As the election neared, the situation got worse, with the suicide attacks and blackmails attempts from anti- governmental people and Taliban. My province, Kunduz, which used to be very famous for being one of the safest provinces, is now one of the most unsecure provinces. People would recite their Ashhad, words of passing away*, every day. No one was sure if they would return home by day's end, nor did people trust each other, because no one could recognize good people from bad. Both were living in the same clothes. I was in Kabul far from my family, in my uncle's house with my sister. There, I saw how much they were involved with the election. Seeing their courage and confidence, I drew courage from them. I told my uncle's wife that on Election Day, I wanted go with her to help, and I was pushy about it. I got trained for 15 minutes about where, how and what would happen. I was afraid, but I felt really strong about my country and I couldn't stop myself. When my sister saw me, she was willing to come with us, too. On Election Day, streets were empty and silent. You would see only twenty people in a mile. We woke up at 4:45am, got ready to go, and I was in my section at 6:00am. Election workers had fear but didn't want to show it to others to keep everyone strong and make them feel nothing would happen. I was distributing voting papers to people and giving instruction about how to vote. We waited for a long time. At about 8:00 am a group of women arrived. We were very happy to see them and we welcomed them. By the end of the day, we had 208 votes from one women's section, which was over our expectation. They were very supportive of their favorite candidates. The voting process finished at 4:00 p.m as it should have, and then we had to start counting the presidential candidates' votes. I thought the process of voting was very straightforward and clear. Still people think that the process did not go how the government says; I heard them doubting an honest process. My sister and I stayed there until 8:30 p.m. As the day got darker, we worked faster. Our section was the first to finish counting out of nine sections. Our boss praised my work. I got home very tired, with zero energy. Even so, I went to volunteer for the second day, to count the provincial candidates' votes. After finishing our own section, I went to two other sections and helped them. It made me proud. I knew that any minute anything could happen, but I really wanted to participate. I did it spite of the risk. Now people are waiting for the result and everyone is guessing that it will be a big deal to know their president. The violence has not stopped yet. We still have the situation that we had a month before election. Now Afghans are praying and hoping for everything go alright, at least from this point after. Ashhad: Muslims read "there is no God but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet" when they die, or they are about to die. If they read that they die as Muslim. And the words in quote are the Ashahad. By Fatima Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
Welcome to our e-newsletter Vol. 68 August 2009
President Obama Sends Best Wishes for Afghanistan's Independence Celebrations: President Barack Obama sends congratulatory wishes to President Hamid Karzai, as well as to the people of Afghanistan, on the celebration of the nation's 90th Independence Day. President Obama called the day "significant." MORE President Karzai Marks Afghanistan's Independence Day with Poetry: President Karzai hosted well known poets and intellectuals at the Presidential Palace to mark the country's Independence Day.The president said he was happy to be among such a creative group of individuals and pay witness to their efforts as their efforts as they help to secure Afghanistan's unity and liberty. MORE Foreign Minister Spanta Meets with American Congressional Delegation: Afghanistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta welcomed an American Congressional Delegation in late August. Discussions included the late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Afghan's presidential elections. MORE Afghans Mark the Nation's Independence Day at the Embassy: Afghans celebrated the 90th anniversary of the country's independence this month. The following day, they lined up to defy terrorist intimidation by voting in the nation's second ever democratic elections. Ambassador Jawad remarked that the presidential race is an indicator of the democratic system's maturity. MORE Ambassador Jawad Attends the White House Iftar Dinner: President Obama hosted a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan and highlighting the contributions of American Muslims. Ambassador Jawad was among the honored guests to break the fast with a "feast." MORE Afghanistan's Economy Blooms : Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh Province in northern Afghanistan, is an eight-hour drive from Kabul and a different cultural region, dominated by Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmen and Hazaras. Amiri Park occupies one-sixth of a "new town" of 648 acres planned to accommodate 30,000 people. It's an Afghan version of a gated community, though anyone well off enough to own a car or hire a taxi to get here can use the park without charge. MORE Ground Breaking for Aynak Copper Project: Aynak Copper Project was inaugurated in a glorious ceremony in Aynak area of Logar Province. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Mines Dip. Eng. Mohammad Ibrahim Adel, the head of MCC Shen Heting, Representative of Chinese Embassy in Kabul, Tajik Ambassador to Afghanistan, elders and representatives of Logar Province and journalists of media. MORE Afghan Chief of Army Air Corps Recieve Legion of Merit Medal: Chief of the Afghan National Army Air Corps, Major General Mohammad Dawran, visited Washington DC and held meetings with the senior leadership of the United States Air Force from July 12-18, 2009. General Dawran extended his personal gratitude to General Schwartz for the assistance the U.S. Air Force had so far provided to help redevelop Afghanistan's air corps and discussed the status of developing the Afghan National Army Air Corps. MORE American Senator Reports Positive Election Process: U.S. Senator Bob Corker a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spent several hours in the western part of Afghanistan observing the election process and saw lots of people waiting in line to vote but no sign of security problems or voting irregularities at the polling places he visited in Afghanistan. MORE Ambassador Jawad Remembers a Friend: With the death of American political icon, Senator Ted Kennedy, Ambassador Jawad takes a moment to reflect on the passing of a great man. Senator Kennedy's political insight and experience helped shape American policies in Afghanistan. Ambassador Jawad recalls time spent together, as well as a man who never turned away from trying to make the world a better place. MORE Afghanistan's Election Day Turns into a Sophisticated Stump: Excitement for Afghanistan's fresh new democracy was evident with the number of political candidates tossing their hats into the ring this year. But no where else was the advancement of liberty and freedom more evident than among the sophistication of the candidates' campaigns. Helicopters took candidates from event to event, while some even risked gunfire to make the campaigns all that they were. MORE Washington Congressional Report: Members of Congress spend their summer recess traveling to Afghanistan, before returning home to share their impressions. One member, Senator Bob Corker, is the sole American Congressional witness to national elections. MORE Despite Challenges Afghanistan rises to the Occasion: Ambassador Jawad took to the American radio airways, via, National Public Radio earlier this month. He discussed the dynamic headway made throughout Afghanistan as candidates took to the political stump, and triumphed over challenges to make this year's Election Day an outstanding success. MORE Planning and Preparation, the Key to a Successful Election: In anticipation of Afghanistan's Election Day, a lot of thought and planning was needed to secure locations all over the country. Coalition forces created a specialized "tiered" system for securing the polls, and put the effort into effect days before August 20th, 2009. MORE Securing Afghanistan in a Regional Context : Political Counselor M. Ashraf Haidari gave a lecture on "Afghanistan and Central Asia" to the Central Asia Advanced Area Studies at the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Institute on August 6, 2009, in Arlington, Virginia. Speaking to a group of American diplomats soon to be posted to U.S. diplomatic missions in South and Central Asia, Haidari discussed Afghanistan's stabilization and reconstruction efforts in a regional context. MORE The Work of Midwives Blossoms in Afghanistan: The first year the Midwifery school in Bamyan opened, not a single application was turned in. Now, just a few short years later, the school has an overflowing number of students. Today the graduates of the school are helping to blaze a healthy new trail for women and babies. MORE She Witnessed Afghan History : Anita McBride, former chief of staff to former first lady Mrs. Laura Bush, was on the ground to witness history in the making for Afghanistan's second national Election Day. Through her eyes, she shares the story of the Afghan people, their fight for democracy and the hope to vote freely. Her moving story will remind you why so many people are inspired to help Afghanistan advance into a new era of stability and success. MORE Afghanistan's Poppy Cultivation Falls by More than 20% : In the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2009 released the amount of land under poppy cultivation has fallen by 22 per cent to 123,000 hectares since last year. The report said the decline was due to a combination of lower opium prices, aggressive interdiction by Nato forces and pilot projects backed by the UK to encourage farmers to grow wheat instead. MORE Presidential Election and Future of Afghanistan: Political Counselor M. Ashraf Haidari interviewed with the International Affairs Forum, a publication of the Center for International Relations, to discuss Afghanistan's recent presidential and provincial council elections. In addition to highlighting security and logistical concerns voting , the counselor discussed widespread popular support for democratic governance in Afghanistan, as well as building institutional capacity in the post-election Government to deliver basic services to the Afghan people. MORE In Other News:Afghan celebraties, Civil Societies , UNAMA Join together to launch the 2009 peace in Afghanistan Campaign (UNAMA),AYNAK COPPER Mine predicted to create 8,000 direct jobs once landmines are cleared Afghanistan - (UNAMA),Teacher can we leave now? no (New York Times) ,Afghan Mountaineers make history(BBC) Afghan midwives step up to save lives (CNN) In War and Isolation, A Fighter for Afghan women (New York Times). MORE Embassy in the News: This month Ambassador Said T. Jawad was interviewed by National Public Radio; The Wall Street Journal; The Washington Times; Ariana International Television and Pasjwak news agency. He spoke directly with FOX News's Martha McCallum and Jennifer Griffin, as well as with Indira Lakashaman of Bloomberg TV. Live to Kabul, the Ambassador contributed to reports from Washington, DC with Sky News's Jeremy Thomas and the BBC's Lyse Doucet. Ambassador Jawad also entertained discussions with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Senator Corker, Senator McCain and Senator Richard Lugar, among others. Political Counselor M. Ashraf Haidari interviewed with CNN International, VOA Persian and Urdu Services, Alhurra (Arab TV Networks), Center for International Relations, and the RAND Corporation . To read these and other articles and op-eds, please click Embassy in the news. Embassy Events: On the eve of Afghanistan Election Day, hundreds from Washinton DC's Afghan community packed the embassy to celebrate Independence Day. Great food, music and losts of political discussions were all included on the menu of the day.To read about embassy events, please click on Embassy Events . www.embassyofafghanistan.org Questions and comments can be directed to newsletter@embassyofafghanistan.org To unsubscribe click here. -- Terry Dougherty 260-438-0791Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
Issue No. 2 July 2009 Welcome!
If you haven't perused the blog written by Afghan women writers lately, take a look now - you don't want to miss the essay from Freshta about the time a gun-toting Taliban member confronted her on the street as she was heading to a secret, forbidden school. Or the one from Fattema about a woman who twice attempted suicide before finally escaping from her Afghan husband and their home in Iran. Or Zaralasht's story of fleeing the start of war. Other compelling essays and poems are highlighted below, with more on the site; encouraged and mentored by our teachers, these brave women are doing breathtaking work. At the same time, our efforts continue to supply them with laptops and jump drives so they can keep writing even as conditions grow more restrictive, particularly in the south. Just a few days left to plop down ten dollars, tax deductible, for a ticket for the literary raffle being run by author Cari Luna, (whose short fiction, btw, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize last year.) Great prizes for those who love words and music! See the list here. http://fromutopia.com/?page_id=3531. You can also help by forwarding this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested. And if you are a creative writing teacher and would like to volunteer to teach online in a three- or four-week block, please let us know. The Afghan Women's Writing Project was begun as a way to allow the voices of Afghan women - too often silenced - to enter the world directly, without any mediation. This project is possible only because of the outstanding American women authors and teachers who generously donate their time and energy. Additionally, the tireless contributions of webmaster extraordinaire Jeff Lyons and web designers Terry Dougherty and Rose Daniels have been crucial. Notice our new banner; many thanks to humanitarian, photographer and former TV journalist Kathleen Rafiq for shooting this photograph in Kabul. We hope to have a coordinator in Afghanistan soon. And our inspiring partners are SOLA in Afghanistan and the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation based in Vermont; please visit thei Be in touch with any questions. Thank you. Masha Hamilton Narrow Escape My heart was shaking. My clothes were moist with sweat, which fell from my body like rain. Suddenly one of them jumped from the car with his gun and appeared in front of me. "Where you are going?" By Freshta Click here to read the full story. Hope Helps Me Move On Sara's story: "After a long journey, we arrived in Iran. My step-brother took me to my husband's house. When I first saw him, I couldn't believe my eyes. My husband was Afghan but he had an Iranian wife with four children. His oldest child was twenty years old, older than me." By Fattema Click here to read the full story. My Eyes - A Poem I accept pain for those eyes. I accept tears for those eyes. I love poetry for those eyes. They are God's book of poems. By Roya Click here to read the full poem. From Idyllic Life to War Our parents carried us in their arms and ran barefoot from our home. We were not the only family running away without knowing where we were going. The street was filled with people just like us who were trying to flee the fighting and killing....Our parents tried to not let us see the dead people who were lying along our path. By Zaralasht Click here to read the full story. Mother's Day in Farah Ballal, a six-year-old boy, gives his mother flowers at a provincial ceremony this Mother's Day. But on the same day, a young midwife is fatally shot on her way to work, and the government blames the Taliban. By Seeta Click here to read the full story. A Word From Our Teachers Louisa Ermelino is the author of three novels that celebrate the power of women. She is also Reviews Director at PW Magazine and Chief of Reporters at InStyle Magazine. She's worked at Time and People magazines and for the television show Top Cops. This has been a sheer delight. I was anxious as to how I would be able to encourage and help these women with their writing but soon realized that the act of just making contact was already moving forward. Every message from them was so endearing and sincere and intelligent that I was completely bowled over. And they were so open to my comments and truly used them to improve the work. Three weeks is not such a long time, I have realized, but giving the women two themes worked well. I asked them to work with one or both of two ideas: "Narrow Escapes" and "Taking Chances" which are very broad and could go anywhere and they took them up and ran! It was a fun way to start off. As with any good teaching experience, I learned as much as I taught and will always feel a connection to these women and all women struggling to improve their lot...sisters all. Many thanks to everyone involved. Connie May Fowler is the author of five acclaimed novels, as well as a memoirist and screenwriter. She performed The Vagina Monologues alongside Jane Fonda and Rosie Perez, raising over $100,000 for charities in 2003. Her lauded work has been translated into 15 languages. Since beginning my work with the Afghan Women's Writing Project, I have struggled with various manifestations of disconnection. As I read the emails, essays, and poems penned by these wonderful and brave women, news feeds from Afghanistan flash across my computer screen. The offensive in Helmand is the first step in what has become America's second Afghan war . . . A 24-year-old Illinois soldier was killed by a roadside bomb Sunday fighting the war in Afghanistan . . . The line between life and death has become dangerously thin in Afghanistan's bloody war zone. I get these feeds because I requested them; I had to search them out. Unless you have a loved one deployed there, the situation in Afghanistan is not a part of the American consciousness. It's not a Twitter trending topic. I rarely see the subject roll by in my Facebook live feed (but tons about Michael Jackson). Lately, TV pundits have been spending their time yukking it up over a quitter named Sarah Palin; they've reduced Afghanistan to a sidebar. Then I read the women's words. And I am struck with the complexity of their lives, at how disconnected Americans are from the realities of our fellow humans on whose soil we wage-rightly or wrongly-war. In their words, I spy a gentleness of spirit that I do not believe I would possess if I walked in their shoes. I spy courage and determination; hope and sadness; wisdom and fear; and perhaps most important, a wily insistence on maintaining-against huge odds-a relevant voice in their society. Americans, by and large, tend to think of Afghan women as victims who need to be saved by the West. When I read their words, I know that they are survivors whose circumstances must change and that they will be and must be the ones who define that change. These are women who have lived through unspeakable trauma yet they-in ways great and small, in moments hidden and revealed-insist on soaring. Read their words and you will spy, as I do, a beautiful thing: ascension amid the rubble. Contact AWWP: For more information on the Afghan Women's Writing Project please contact: The Afghan Women's Writing Project Masha Hamilton, Project Founder 686 Sterling Place Brooklyn, New York 11216 Phone: 917.821.6119 / Email: masha@mashahamilton.com Masha's Website/Blog: www.mashahamilton.com AWWP Blog: www.awwproject.wordpress.com , Donations: Online Donations for Afghan Women Writers: Many of our students and women writers, especially outside of Kabul, cannot get to an Internet cafe due to security considerations. A laptop at home and a jump drive would allow them to write their pieces, and then ask a male relative to send the work at an Internet cafe. A $20 donation will buy a flash drive and $500 in donations will buy a laptop for our women writers. No contribution is too small. Thank you for considering it. Your credit card donation will be handled by Friends of Afghanistan's secure Paypal payment. Or you can mail a check made out to Friends of Afghanistan: Terry Dougherty , 15021 Prairie Park Cv, Hoagland, IN 46745. Write SOLA or Afghan Women Writers on the check. We will send your tax deductible donation to the Peter M. Goodrich Foundation for the purpose you indicate. To stay informed about the latest news, events, and other developments with the Afghan Women's Writing Project, please CLICK below and join our mailing list. We appreciate your support. In This Issue Narrow Escape Hope Helps Me Move On My Eyes - A Poem From Idyllic Life to War Mother's Day in Farah Sponsors & Friends: Please visit our sponsors as a way to thank them for their wonderful support: Forward email This email was sent to terry.dougherty@gmail.com by masha@mashahamilton.com. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by The Afghan Women's Writing Project | 686 Sterling Place | Brooklyn | NY | 11216 Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
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Hope Always Helps Me Move On Narrow Escape From Idyllic Life To War Hope Always Helps Me Move On Posted: 09 Jul 2009 11:04 PM PDT Once, I was an interpreter for a lady who was making a story on women's lives in Afghanistan. We went to the Herat Shelter for Women. There, I heard different stories. One is the story of a young Hazara (an ethnic group in Afghanistan) living at the shelter. "I am happy that I am here with my son, and hope for a much better future for both of us," said Sara, a twenty-year old woman with eyes full of happiness and hope. "I don't remember that much of my childhood. I know my mother was pregnant with me when I lost my father. My father was a general and he died in war. After that, my mother remarried because she could not afford living alone and providing for herself. She gave me to a family, and from that time I was living with them and knowing them as my parents. My late father had another wife too, and I had two step brothers who I hadn't seen. "My house was in a city outside Bamiyan. It was a muddy house. We just had two rooms. My family was very poor and they couldn't provide the things I needed. I was around 13 years old when one of my step-brothers found me. He was living in Kabul. He came to my city and wanted to take me but my parents wouldn't let him. So he bought me from them. He gave them money and they let me go. I didn't know whether to feel happy or sad. But I was a little happy because he was my brother somehow and now I had a real family with me. "I lived with my step-brother's family for almost two years. My step-brother's family was poor too. They couldn't even afford their daily needs and my step-brother was deeply in debt. I was around 15; it was a dark and rainy day, early in the evening, when my brother came home half wet. It was raining very hard like somebody was pouring water from the sky. I made some tea for him. He started talking to me in a very nice way like he hadn't before. I realized he wanted tell something very important that related to me. He was telling me that one day every girl has to marry and go after their own fate. He told me I had to get married. I was surprised because I was still very young to be married. But my step-brother told me I didn't have any other option. I went to the other room and tears started to come down from my eyes like a river. I was crying so hard that I was shaking. I wished that my parents were with me so I could put my head on my mother's lap and she would caress me. She would tell me nice and hopeful things. She wouldn't let me get married at this early age. I cried and cried until I went to sleep. "A few days later, I realized he had sold me to a married man who was living in Iran with his family. I tried to think positively. I still had hope. I told myself maybe this time I would have a good life; maybe I am going to taste the happiness that I haven't tasted in my fifteen years. After a long journey, we arrived in Iran, my step-brother and I. He took me to my husband's house. When I first saw him, I couldn't believe my eyes. My husband was much older than me. He was Afghan but he had an Iranian wife with four children. His oldest child was twenty years old, older than me. "I had thought I might have a happy life but that didn't happen. My husband always told me: 'Your brother took a big amount of money from me, but you didn't bring anything with you from Afghanistan.' (There's a tradition that when a girl marries, she brings some trousseau to her husband's house.) His rival wife didn't treat me good either. I was like a servant at their house. My husband would beat me sometimes, and when I argued with him, he beat me more. "I couldn't tolerate more, so I went to the home of another step-brother who lived in Iran. I stayed there a few days. One day when nobody was home, I opened the gas. I didn't want to live anymore. I was fed up with this awful living, all this violence, beating, crying, shouting, arguing and nobody there to care about you and love you. "But my step-brother came home early and found me unconscious on the floor. He took me to the hospital and I survived. He took me back to my husband's house. My husband's behavior was even worse than before. He was beating me more with different things like his belt, a broom… "Again I tried to commit suicide. I threw myself from the second floor of my step-brother's house, but again I survived with lots of injuries. But this time, when they took me to the hospital, I found out that I was pregnant. Oh, I couldn't believe it. My step-brother took me to his house. I was at his house until I got better. When I was well enough to walk, I left my brother's house with no clear destination. I was walking along the side of street paying no attention to my surroundings, very lonely, tired and disappointed with my life. Suddenly, I heard a crash and I was unconscious. When I awakened, I found myself at some stranger's house. There was sitting a middle-aged lady with a scarf on her head and a tray of rice before her which she was cleaning. I tried to sit up. She came and helped me. She asked: 'Why did you want to commit suicide?' I told her my story and she said she would help me. I told her that I would never go back to either my husband's house or my step-brother's. "She took me to the police station and told them I am an Afghan who wants to go back to her country. So they deported me to Afghanistan. I didn't have any close relatives to live with. There was my step-brother, but I didn't want to see or live with him. From the border, they sent me to a women's shelter. "It's been more than three years that I am here. I delivered my baby a few months after my return. Now he's almost two years old. Whenever I see his round, cute, innocent face, I think what is going to happen to him in the future… "When I came here, I didn't know how to read and write, but in here I took literacy classes. When I was illiterate I thought I had no identity, but now that I am literate I am happy and more hopeful. Now I am living my life for my son, Mujtaba, with a hope for a better future for him. "My husband called me a few times and asked me to go return to him. But I didn't want to. I told him about our son and asked him to come and take him but he didn't. He said 'I have my children here and I don't need any more children.' I told him that because I thought my son would have a brighter future with his father, since I am not able to provide the things that my son needs, and that way my son might be able to experience having a real family. "I told him to divorce me but he resisted and told me: 'I won't divorce you till your hair turns white like your teeth.' So I applied for absent-divorce. The process is long, but hopefully at the end, it will be the way I want it to be. In absent-divorce, the officials call for the husband and if he doesn't come for three years to the police or to court, then they announce the divorce. Now my case is in Supreme Court. I am going to get my freedom papers, my divorce papers, pretty soon." It was her story. It brought tears to my eyes, although it is usual to hear such sad stories in Afghanistan. She thanked the staff of the shelter for all the good things they taught her and for being such a nice family to her. She doesn't know what she wants from the future. She says, "Whatever God has ahead for me, I would go with that." By Fattema Narrow Escape Posted: 09 Jul 2009 11:03 PM PDT It was the 4th year of the Taliban government, and sometimes when I was alone on the way to my school, I wore a burqa because I was tall for my age. I was studying school subjects in a secret school that was far away from our house (one hour walking). I and my young sister, who is in college in the US, would both cover our books in cotton, the same way we cover our Holy Quran so that the Taliban wouldn't know that we were studying. They would think that we were trying to learn only the Holy Quran. We decided that if we were asked by the Taliban, we would tell them: "We are studying the Holy Quran." I told my younger sister, who wore boys' clothes, about this, and she nodded. I was afraid maybe my young sister, who was so much younger, would tell them the real fact, but she was so smart, keeping the secret forever. One day while I was walking toward the secret school alone, groups of Taliban were inside a Dixon car, which is like an open Toyota. They followed me because they suspected I was going to study school subjects. They drove their car slowly and just followed me. They wanted to know where I was going every day and to find the secret school. (During the Taliban regime groups of school teachers started to teach secretly without Taliban permission.) I didn't look at them and went to another street, hid myself among the trees growing in front of the houses, planning to show them that I was entering the house, but by chance they lost me. They searched for a while but couldn't find me. I was also waiting; my eyes followed their car until it disappeared. When I was convinced they were gone, I decided to go to school, but I was very afraid. Even now, when I hear such a car voice, it reminds me of that day and scares me. The next day, they changed their method. They didn't follow me, but when I was leaving the school to go home again alone, they were standing in my way. Thank God that they couldn't see my secret school. Otherwise they would have beaten my teachers and sent them to jail. But I was lucky. They didn't see me when I entered my secret school. As I entered the street, I saw them standing near the shop. I was about to escape from them, but one saw me and again started to follow me. When they reached me, they called: "Stop walking!" But I continued walking as if I didn't hear them. My heart was shaking and my clothes were moist with sweat which came from my body like rain. I felt eventually they would arrest me and beat me with the whip. I breathed faster and faster, recited my secret Holy Quran verses from the second Sapara, the Ayato-l- Koorsai Verses, and requested help from Allah: "Save me from them, especially if our neighbors or relatives will know that the Taliban has carried me off or beaten me … what will happen to my family?" It is shameful in our culture when the police or Taliban arrest women. Before knowing the facts, there will be backbiting: "Allah only knows what happened to her that the Taliban arrested her. Maybe she did something." Our people would whisper like this. I was worried about this and told myself that if this happens to me, then I don't need an education. I was immersed in my worries when suddenly again they called to me: "Stop! Hey girl! I am talking to you!" Again I ignored them and continued walking. I saw them from the corner of my eye. They were about to reach me. Some said "let her go," but others said, "no, look, she didn't respond to us as if she didn't know. Go and stop her and tell her do not come alone next time." As I heard, my legs couldn't continue walking. I was about to fall down on the ground. Suddenly one of them, who had a big white Turban and a long beard with a mustache and black long eyebrows and sorma on his eyes ( a kind of dark make-up which Islamic people use to line inside their eyes,) jumped from the car with his gun and appeared in front of me. "Where you are going?" I was afraid and didn't have the ability to speak, as though my mouth was suctioned closed. I told him I was going to learn the Holy Quran. "She said she is learning the Holy Quran," he told the others. "Tell her that next time we shouldn't see her alone. Otherwise she knows what will happen," said a person who was sitting inside the car wearing a dark Turban. And then they left the place. "Thank you, God," I said, "that you accept my prayer." I started walking fast towards my house. As I reached home, I threw off the burqa and found myself next to my grandmother who was sitting under the shadow of the trees in our yard with a flower in her hand. She smelled the flower and she put the flower on the ground and looked towards me. "Welcome. What is up, my dear daughter?" she said kindly. I started crying and while I was crying, my mother came. "What is wrong with you?" asked my mom. My grandmother put my head on her bosom, caressed me and told me, "Don't cry, my dear daughter," then told my mother that the Taliban had stopped me and told me that I shouldn't walk alone. I told my mom, "I am not going to the school." "Look, my dear daughter," my mother told me. "Our country has had lots of war and those women who are educated suffered a lot, so now if you want to be a literate woman like your mom and other Afghan women, then you should struggle a lot and not take care over these small issues. Instead, try to learn knowledge. Otherwise you will be like a blind person who can never see." For a few days, I stopped going to the school because I was in shock and my goal was that the Taliban would forget me. Then I started going to the school. But I couldn't forget that day when I was afraid. By Freshta From Idyllic Life To War Posted: 09 Jul 2009 11:00 PM PDT Here is what life was really like for me. I was my parent's second child and though they had two daughters instead of sons, they loved me and my sister very much and were happy with what Allah gave to them. At that time, we had a private manufacturing company with more than 200 staff. We owned houses, a car, and were financially stable. My parents worked hard to provide the best of life for us. Though we were children, we had our own bank accounts that our parents put money into for our future needs. They were good parents and we wanted for little. We wore the most beautiful clothes and played with the finest toys. Most afternoons, my mother received a call from my dad telling her to be ready because he was taking us out for dinner. On holidays, my father planned picnics and invited our relatives. Sometimes we went to our factory for our picnics because my father built a very nice recreational area there. It had a big swimming pool, a beautiful flower garden, and lots of trees. Life was marvelous; abundant moments were passing—one by one—without us fully realizing their worth. But those wonderful days were short-lived. They started when my sister and I were too young to fully appreciate them and were finished exactly when we need them the most. When I was five, I loved to play with the neighborhood boys, but still I can clearly remember the words of my kind mom who warned, "Take care; don't go so far from house. There is a group of people who are kidnapping children. Don't eat anything from the hands of people whom you do not know because it may be poisoned. Don't pick up any pens, dolls, or other nice things on street because it might be a bomb or connected to a bomb. Don't go anywhere else. Just play in front of the house so I can see you." I will never forget the moment the war was started. We were playing in front of our home. When we heard the voice of bullets, we were so happy. We shouted and jumped, not know it was war and that it was dangerous. My mom ran to me and yelled, "Come fast. Let's go home. Don't stay here!" I said to my friends, "Let's go to my house and watch the bullets from window together." And that's what we did, not realizing that we were enjoying the start of our dark coming days. The bullets came with greater frequency, along with other sounds of danger and violence. We grew afraid, and our laughter and shouting stopped. My sister said, "This is all because of me. When the bullets started, I prayed for Allah to not let them be finished. But now I am very much afraid of them." Throughout the night, bullets flew. Throughout the night, we did not sleep. Our house was situated between two rival factions of mujahedeen. We were caught in the crossfire, so we were unable to leave the house even though it was too dangerous to remain. Finally, we had no choice. Our parents carried us in their arms and ran barefoot from our home. We were not the only family running away without knowing where we were going. The street was filled with people just like us who were trying to flee the fighting and killing. I saw terrible things. On the street corner, an injured man lay bleeding. He was still alive but medical aid could not reach him. Our parents tried to not let us see the dead people who were lying all along our path. I still clearly remember each moment of that awful time. After hours of walking, my father finally found a car with a driver who was willing to take us away from the fighting. While my father and he spoke, many people jumped into the car—all of them with children and women. The driver was a good person: he took everyone to t heir requested locales. He dropped us at my grandparent's house. We stayed about one week, but my grandmother and grandfather were unable to safely live there any longer because I had four young aunts who also lived there. Any second, we feared mujahedeen would knock on the door and take away my aunts. No one was capable of preventing it. So my family, my grandfather's family, and my married aunt decided to leave Afghanistan and go to Iran or Pakistan in order to safe our lives. Along with our wonderful country, we left all of our happiness. We left our beautiful house that my parents had built out of hope and our factory that my grandfather—after years of hard work—had built into a successful business. But at that time, we could only think out how to find a safe place for our family. My idyllic childhood died in the face of war and migration to neighboring countries. Everyday my parents were faced new challenges: our schooling, our shelter, living expenses, on and on. For a time, war and relocation stole from me even the ability to look back and appreciate the happy childhood I'd once had. By Zaralasht Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. Dear friend, Urge your senator to co-sponsor The Afghan Women Empowerment Act. Young women and girls account for one-eighth of the world's population. And even though many are the primary caregivers and breadwinners in their household — most still do not enjoy even basic human rights. This situation is especially acute in Afghanistan, where despite efforts by the U.S. government, the United Nations, and others to improve the lives of women and girls, many still lack access to basic health care and schools. Many face violence and intimidation, daily. And Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. You can ensure these basic rights for the women of Afghanistan by asking your senator to support The Afghan Women Empowerment Act introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). If passed, The Afghan Women Empowerment Act will strengthen and empower women and girls in Afghanistan by providing critical resources to organizations that promote adult literacy education, technical and vocational training and health care services. It also provides assistance to especially vulnerable populations, including widows and orphans. Ask your senator to support The Afghan Women Empowerment Act now. This bill is critical as the maternal death rate for Afghan women is tragically high — with one mother dying for every 56 births — because it provides equipment, medical supplies and other assistance to health care facilities to reduce maternal and infant mortality. The bill also funds programs to protect women and girls against sexual and physical abuse, abduction, trafficking, exploitation, and includes emergency shelters for women and girls who face danger from violence. We urge you to support Sen. Boxer's work to empower and protect women in Afghanistan. It is time for serious action, now. Thank you for taking action for the women of Afghanistan. Sincerely, Kathy Calvin Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer United Nations Foundation Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
You might be interested in Kiva - a funding organization for Microfinance operations all over the world - including as of last week, the USA. Kiva provides funding for small ergo "micro" loans to startup businesses. In Afghanistan their funds are utilized by an organization managed by Oxfam. Visit http://www.kiva.org for more information. Also, check out LinkedIn - another social network - this one used by business professionals.
Linkedin GroupsJune 22, 2009 KIVA Activity: 1 discussion | 3 news articles | 1 Job Discussions (1) Free webinar for any Non Profit Organization.Learn how to create a continuous revenue stream through Shop To Fundraise. http://shoptofundraise.org/en/video.php 0 comments » Started by Jayson More, Vice President of Shop To Fundraise Latest News "Save The World" Photo Challenge 2 comments » NEED magazine | June 10, 2009 Do you have a great image depicting "saving the world?" Submit it to NEED, the humanitarian magazine*. Your image will be shared on the blog of our new campaign; "screw the man - save the world." Top images will be selected to be displayed on the NE... YouTube - Kiva.org - Adapting Business Practices to Address Social Issues vid 1 0 comments » YouTube | June 10, 2009 Kiva.org founder, Jessica Flannery discusses her journey to the founding of Kiva.org at the 2008 Global Corporate Citizenship Conference at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Maria Shriver partners with Kiva and supports US Loans 3 comments » Women's Conference | June 10, 2009 "Some days you just wake up with a feeling. There’s no explaining it, you just know that this day will be different. Not sure how, but different. In March of 2008, I had one of those days...." Find the best talent on LinkedIn Reach over 40 million top professionals Be alerted to good matches automatically Receive on average 30 applicants Get Started » LinkedIn values your privacy. At no time has LinkedIn made your email address available to any other LinkedIn user without your permission. © 2009, LinkedIn Corporation.Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Happy Father's Day!
This is an example of the writing of the Afghan women and their interaction with the instructors of the Afghan Women's Writing Project. For more of their writing visit: http://awwproject.wordpress.com Friends of Afghanistan is supporting this project by providing computers and a women's only internet cafe at the SOLA Women's Dormitory. Visit http://www.sola-afghanistan.org If you would like to make a contribution toward the computers needed for this project. To all you dads out there, ask yourself - what if your daughter were born in Afghanistan? What would you want to do for her? If only this world had more fathers like Meena's dad! I look forward to meeting Meena at Lake Norman NC next weekend. She leaves Kabul with 32 war injured children being flown to Charlotte NC for medical treatment this summer. I plan to encourage this young woman in her courageous work. She is the first recipient of a scholarship arranged by Ted Achilles and the good people who support SOLA - She will be studying in the US beginning a 4 year college program in NY. Again, may you all take such pride in your father as that shown by this young woman. May all you dads deserve such praise! Terry Dougherty ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Janis Newman Date: Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 1:29 PM Subject: {Writing 101} Some writing from Meena To: AWWP Writing 101 Hello writers, On Father's Day here in America, I am sending out a beautiful essay written by Meena about her father. My comments are at the end. What I want to say about my father… What I want to say about my father is that he is my comfort in times of pain, my courage in times of defeat and my hope in times of despair. Fathers are those precious gifts of God, whose finger we hold and learn how to walk. Someone whose arms give us a sense of security and whose smiles give us hope.In a country where girls are forced into marriages, denied education and are surrounded by harsh religious and cultural taboos, I have always found my father standing not only behind me but also beside me. When a girl entrance the world of ladyship, this brings along sexual harassment, social barriers, home imprisonment, denial of education and many other denials to basic human rights for many of my Afghan sisters. Most certainly I was no exception but fortunate enough to have my father in my fight against the them. After retuning from the United States, I took a part time job with a British journalist working on a documentary as well as a news piece about the American elections. The experience taught me on how hard it is for an Afghan woman to go out and work. During an interview in Khair Khana being surrounded by a crowd of men with the two journalist and i in the middle. The crowd started paying me cheeky comments for i as an Afghan women, working out doors with foreign journalists. I looked around and it was something I was always afraid of. Being surrounded by men and not being able to defeat my self. I listened to all the comments and continued translating the interview contents for the journalist. That night when I went home, I directly went to the big room in the right corner of the hall, where my father was watching the News. After saying Salaam I sat beside him. He looked at me saying "What is wrong child?" I had no words to express myself. I was angry but what for? For being a girl, for being an Afghan girl, for being insulted or for what. Turning my face to my father I started saying " Padar Jaan, It was a horrible day today. The men insulted us as much as they could possibly do. I hated it so much" My father looked my in the eye saying "In Afghanistan, It is the world of men and it takes strong women to make it the equal world of men and women". He said nothing more and acted as nothing had happened. All of a sudden I no longer had any anger inside but it was replaced by courage and passion longing for change. I continued my job, paying minimum attention to what people said or thought. That is who my father is and that is his importance in my life. They say there is a woman behind every successful man; I would say there is also a man behind every successful woman. For me that man is my father My comments: I love everything about this essay! It is beautifully written! I love the way Meena describes her father as always standing beside her. I love how she describes what her father means to her in the first line. I especially love the scene Meena gives us of coming to her father after the men have insulted her. This is an excellent scene. One very good thing Meena does in it is let us know exactly how she is feeling. The idea that she is angry, but for what, is very real, and very powerful. Although nothing like this has ever happened to me, Meena makes me understand exactly how it would feel. I also love the dialogue that Meena uses here. Her father's quote about Afghanistan being a world of men and how it will take strong women to change it is particularly powerful and good. This line makes us understand completely who Meena's father is, and why she loves him. Because it is Father's Day, I am going to send this essay out to many of my friends here in America. It's a lovely and meaningful tribute to all fathers. Thank you for writing it. Warmly, Janis Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
PAY DAY
Monday I started my morning reading an email from Qudsia which included photos of the first pay day for street children sponsored by TIE supporters. They made my day! I thought they might brighten yours. Pictured below are a few of the children (we are sponsoring 40). Notice that the money ($20) is being paid to the children, not their guardians. Even if they don't hold the funds beyond the gate, they will experience the sense of having earned it. So far there are no drop outs. Qudsia (pictured below) has been hired by TIE to serve as an intermediary between sponsors, sponsored children, their families, Aschiana and TIE. We will lighten Aschiana's reporting burden, monitor progress and assist when and however we can. We've also offered to provide micro-credit loans to families with sponsored children. Aschiana has experience in funding small businesses and will assist us in finding credit worthy families and enterprises. The search has begun. Finally, if you have 3 minutes and 59 seconds for another uplifting experience, click here. This bit of culture was provided by my "cuz", Ralph, in Boise, Idaho (culture in Boise?). I'll see if they can share this with children in Afghanistan. That day will come, by the way. I am working with Carol Ruth Silver and the One Laptop Per Child organization in Kabul on a pilot project that would provide 50 laptops to some of our classes. Another Inshallah project in an Inshallah world. Thank You! Budd To learn more about Trust In Education go to www.trustineducation.org To view more photos go to www.flickr.com To see video's click here Forward to a Friend Trust In Education PO Box 936 Lafayette, California 94549 Forward email This email was forwarded to terry@afghanconnections.org, by Terry Dougherty. Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
On the Verge of a Bold, New Peace Corps: Keep on Pressing You have volunteered, written letters, and made phone calls for nearly two years in support of a bold new Peace Corps. Now we are on the verge of creating it, but with the all-important markup in the House of Representatives scheduled for 9 AM on June 17th, we implore you if you are a constituent of these fourteen members of Congress on the critical subcommittee, to apply as much pressure as you can between now and June 17th, to vote for the $450 million appropriation to the Peace Corps in FY 2010.
This is our moment. Take Action Click on the links for the Representatives' websites for their contact details. Fax in the sample letter below to both the DC office and a district office. Start a phone chain. Contact the local papers. Let's make it happen! Democrats Nita M. Lowey (NY) (Chair) Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (IL) Adam Schiff (CA) Steve Israel (NY) Ben Chandler (KY) Steven R. Rothman (NJ) Barbara Lee (CA) Betty McCollum (MN) David R. Obey (WI), Ex Officio Republicans Kay Granger (TX) (Ranking Member) Mark Steven Kirk (IL) Ander Crenshaw (FL) Dennis R. Rehberg (MT) Jerry Lewis (CA), Ex Officio Dear [Name of Representative], I am writing to you from ______ to request you, in your role as a member of the House State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriations subcommitteee, to support $450 million in the FY 2010 budget for the Peace Corps at the June 17 mark-up in the House of Representatives. This amount would allow the Peace Corps to grow and innovate at a time when the US needs soft power initiatives like Peace Corps to help restore US standing in the world. A Bill in the House of Representatives which would authorize this amount, HR 1066, the Peace Corps Expansion Act 2009, has garnered 128 co-sponsors as of this date as a demonstration of the broad support for this goal. The Peace Corps is neglected and underfunded. In 2009, we will send fewer than 3,500 volunteers to the Peace Corps - less than half the number in 1966. Over twenty-five nations without Peace Corps missions including Indonesia, Vietnam, and Sierra Leone have requested new programs, but due to insufficient funds, Peace Corps cannot respond. In 2008 alone, over 13,000 people applied to become volunteers, a 16% increase over 2007. The number of minority applicants and applicants over the age of 50 also rose by double digits in the last year. The desire for Americans to serve internationally is matched by a long list of countries that want volunteers. This is an appropriate time to grow and revitalize Peace Corps. The Peace Corps had a profound impact on my life and US community. I served in _______________. I hope you share my view that the Peace Corps is a vital component of our public diplomacy toolbox. Since 1961, nearly 200,000 Peace Corps volunteers have provided meaningful, small-scale development assistance, reversing stereotypes about Americans and returning stateside to enrich communities domestically with new language and other skills. Peace Corps continues to be one of America's finest expressions of friendship and solidarity across the globe. The administration is working diligently to reinvigorate our foreign policy and burnish America's image. To do this, we must maximize every element of soft power. Investing in Peace Corps would help to reestablish our credibility and moral standing abroad, while exposing people to the core American values of peace, progress, tolerance and prosperity. It is for these reasons I urge you to support a $450 million Peace Corps appropriation. I hope you will be there for us with the full funding for the Peace Corps. Sincerely, NAME PEACE CORPS YEARS (IF RPCV) ADDRESS PHONE, EMAIL TITLE(S) If you have any trouble viewing this email or have images disabled, please click here to view this email in your browser. If you wish to be taken off this email list, please let us know by unsubscribing here. MorePeaceCorps Campaign. Copyright © 2008. National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Yahoo! Mail Lottery YAHOO LOTTERY RESULTS 2009 YAHOO INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY CONGRATULATIONS! Yahoo International Lottery Organization Bangkok Branch Office Address: 3 Rajdamnern Avenue Bangkok 10200 Thailand Yahoo! Mail announces you as one of the 17 lucky winners in the ongoing 12 Years Yahoo lottery Award of the New Year Held on 1st of April 2009. All 17 winning email addresses were randomly selected from a batch of 50,000,000 international emails each from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually, consequently, you have been approved for a total pay out of ONE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS ( $1, 000. 000.00 USD) This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational base. Further more your details (e-mail address) falls within our Bangkok representative office in Bangkok Thailand, as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of ( $1, 000.000.00USD) will be released to you from this regional branch office in Bangkok Thailand. Your fund is now deposited with our Bank/Security Company in Bangkok Thailand and Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award from public notice until your claim has been processed, and your winning Cheque will be send to you or remitted to your account, as this is part of our security protocol, to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking of advantage of this program by participants, as has happened in the past. HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE These are your confidential identification numbers. Ticket number.....................7805-12233077-09 Serial number.......................67100-1 Lucky number...................177-030-111-09 Ref number...................N.EGS/3662367005/15 To begin your lottery claims, Please contact our Yahoo Lottery Co-ordinator with your winning informations as follows. NAME: MR. KANE IVA. Email: mr.kaneiva11@yahoo.com.hk Tel: +(66)875022479. You are to send the completed verification form below to the co-ordinator whose email address is given above so that you will be advised on what to do to get your prize money. Congratulations once more!! 1. Full name: 2. Home Address: 3. contact Teleph number: 4. Private Telephone: 5. Occupation: 6. Age: 7. Sex: 8. Nationality: 9. Email: Country of Origin: Country of Residence/work: Awarded Date: Last Date Of Claim: Remember, all prize money must be claimed not later than 30th of June 2009. Any claim not made by this date will be returned to HIS MAJESTYS DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY. And also be informed that 10% of your lottery winning belongs to (THE PROMOTIONS COMPANY). Because they are the company that bought your ticket and played the lottery in your name. Note also that this 10% will be remitted after you have received your winnings prize, because the money will insured in your name by the bank in charge of your winning prize. NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and Lucky numbers in all correspondences with us, Furthermore, should there be any change of address, please do inform our Co-ordinator as soon as possible. Yahoo lottery is a free service that does not require you to be a Yahoo Registered user. An original copy of your lucky winning Certificate will be sent to you by Administrative Remittance Operation Issuing Bank Bangkok Thailand that is in charge of your payment and note that no cent is deductible from your winning prize, as it have already be order, even the bank have no right to do so. CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Once again from all members of our staff and thank you for being a part of our International Promotions program. We wish you continued good fortunes. Yours Sincerely, Dr. Raymond Hisashi Vice President Yahoo! Lotto Org. Mrs. Tina Akira President Yahoo! Lotto Org Yahoo! News - Lottery Yahoo!7 Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan.
Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Cultivating Afghanistan: Indiana farmer/soldiers share their expertise An Indiana National Guard team that is training Afghans in effective farming techniques prepared for its tour of duty with instruction in the language and culture of Afghanistan at Indiana University. Stories about the Indiana 1-19th Agribusiness Development Team are being shared with home-state audiences, thanks to IU public radio station WFIU. A writer who is embedded with the team is producing features for a WFIU series titled "Cultivating Afghanistan." Photo courtesy of ADT/WFIU First Lt. Melissa Gutzweiler of the Indiana 1-19th Agribusiness Development Team, on the flight from Bagram Air Field to Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province The 64-person team, which deployed to Afghanistan's Khost Province about three months ago, includes agricultural experts and Indiana National Guard soldiers whose job it is to protect them. Indiana is one of seven states sending agribusiness development teams to Afghanistan. "Agriculture sustains about 60 to 70 percent of the population of the country, so we won't have true security until the economic state is better repaired," Army Maj. Shawn Gardner, operations and training officer for the 1-19th, said in a story posted on the National Guard Bureau Web site. The guardsmen and women, including 16 Indiana National Guard members who are experts in livestock and crop farming, forestry and veterinary medicine, are working with and advising Afghan farmers in an effort to improve productivity and efficiency and provide alternatives to growing poppies for the opium trade. After a brief course at Purdue University in issues of Afghan agriculture, the agriculture experts on the Indiana team underwent a 15-day intensive training regimen last December at IU Bloomington, learning the rudiments of the Pashto language spoken in Khost and basic cultural competencies. The training was provided by IU's Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region (CeLCAR), a federal Title VI Foreign Language Resource Center dedicated to promoting the teaching and learning of the languages and cultures of the key strategic region. Indiana National Guard personnel who are supporting the agricultural experts had five days of training. CeLCAR will provide training for a second group of Indiana Agribusiness Development Team in August. "They were wonderful," said Dave Baer, assistant director of CeLCAR. "The ones from Indiana, especially, were responsive and really valued the language and cultural training." While a majority of Afghanistan's population depends on agriculture for its livelihood, practices are usually at a subsistence level. Only 12 percent of the country's land is arable, and just 6 percent is being used for farming. The Afghan economy has been battered by more than two decades of war. The Indiana Agribusiness Development Team may have the tools and knowledge to help, but to be successful, its members need to communicate with Afghans in a way that is effective and culturally sensitive. The CeLCAR training provided basics of the Pashto alphabet, greetings, common sentences and the most important vocabulary words. It also got the team up to speed on issues that can trip up interactions between Westerners and Afghan Muslims, including gestures and gender issues. "The biggest issue for success over there is whether the U.S. personnel can think of the Afghans as peers and not as second-class citizens. That's a huge issue," said Baer, who credited Col. Brian Copes, the 1-19th commander, with setting a positive example for respecting the Afghan people. Meanwhile, reports on the team are being reported and produced for WFIU by Doug Wissing, a Bloomington-based freelance journalist who was accepted to live and work as an embedded reporter with the Indiana 1-19th. Wissing traveled to Afghanistan just over a week ago. So far, he has filed three stories: on the family team member Bob Cline, a Heltonville, Ind., cattle farmer; his own training and orientation at CeLCAR; and the arduous trip to Khost province near the Pakistan border. WFIU Station Manager Christina Kuzmych said Wissing will produce about 15 stories during his current stay in Afghanistan, and additional stories in a second embedded tour with the 1-19th later this year. The stories can be heard online at http://www.newsmatters.org/cultivating-afghanistan/. Sponsors of the "Cultivating Afghanistan" story project, in addition to CeLCAR, include IU's Office of the Vice President for International Affairs and the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center. More about the Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region can be seen at http://www.indiana.edu/~celcar/. 530 E. Kirkwood Ave.
Suite 201 Bloomington, IN 47408-4003 Email: iuinfo@indiana.edu Web: http://newsinfo.iu.edu Alternative Versions Print Version Web Version Copyright © 2008 The Trustees of Indiana University | Copyright Complaints Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
facebook Terry Dougherty has:
234 friends 4 photos 0 notes 39 wall posts 22 groupsCheck out my photos on Facebook Hi terrydough.1234@blogger.com, I set up a Facebook profile where I can post my pictures, videos and events and I want to add you as a friend so you can see it. First, you need to join Facebook! Once you join, you can also create your own profile.Thanks, TerryTo sign up for Facebook, follow the link below:http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=57106636&k=Z6D4ZWPXV66CUCLAY1WXUVT&r terrydough.1234@blogger.com was invited to join Facebook by Terry Dougherty. If you do not wish to receive this type of email from Facebook in the future, please click here to unsubscribe.Facebook's offices are located at 1601 S. California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304. Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
PACKING PARTY ROCKS
Sunday's packing party was a huge success! Somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 - 100 people came and filled over 400 boxes (5 to six tons), with blankets, jackets, sweaters, school supplies, shoes, sweatshirts, household goods, and the most important gift for children, toys. Everyone was working so hard and moving so fast it was impossible to count how many came. Jackie Fitzpatrick delivered 100 boxes of donations from Holy Cross Elementary school, located in Santa Cruz. Sarah Casey, owner of the Handlebar toy store in Lafayette, brought a full van load of donations. She volunteered to designate her store as a drop off point, thereby lightening the burden on our porch. Abraham Mendoza, a news photographer from Channel 7, showed up unexpectedly, which resulted in two stories being broadcast that evening. The grass in grass roots continues to grow. Thank you Channel 7. The "top gun" award goes to Deborah Hungerford, who wielded the fastest and most accurate tape gun. I have taped a few thousand boxes in my lifetime. I wouldn't dare try to keep up with Deborah, without a respirator and doctor standing by. I should have known it would be won by a woman. It's been downhill ever since women acquired the right to vote in 1920. The Infamous Porch A thing of beauty in the eye of some beholders Due to an equipment failure and miscommunication, Randy and I loaded what was in our garage and on our porch into a 24ft truck, for three hours Friday night. We then unloaded the truck at midnight with the assistance of Zachary and Adib Sahar, Brad Zenoni, and Tim Johansen. They came to the rescue when called at 10:30 pm. Several on the way out asked, "when is the next packing party?" Not until I and a few of the core group can walk erect again. The house reeks of Ben Gay. This event proved once again that people will make the time. It's very reassuring! Thank you! Join our list To learn more about Trust In Education go to www.trustineducation.org To view more photos go to www.flickr.com To see video's click here Forward to a Friend Trust In Education PO Box 936 Lafayette, California 94549 Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information.
Date: Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 10:15 PM
Subject: An Opportunity to Help President Obama Help the Peace Corps Dear Terrence, On June 18th, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D, NY) and her sub-committee will mark-up the Foreign Operations Appropriation Bill for FY 2010. This is a critical opportunity to help the Peace Corps acquire the resources needed to be a better and bolder 21st century organization. In President Obama's FY 2010 budget, he asked for $374 million for the Peace Corps, far below the level required to meet his campaign pledge of doubling the Peace Corps by the time of the 50th Anniversary. Since historically the Congress appropriates less money than the President requests, we have a huge challenge before us. By working together, two weeks ago we bucked this trend and the House Foreign Relations Committee's bill authorized $450 million for the Peace Corps in FY 2010. We now need your help in asking Congresswoman Lowey and her subcommittee to do the same. Visit our blog for information on how to contact her and her subcommittee. Urge them to provide $450 million so that we can help the President achieve his often-stated Peace Corps goal. On our blog you'll also find a link to a compelling open letter to Congresswoman Lowey from Nepal RPCV Larry Leamer. And while you are online, sign up for our new social networking website, www.peacecorpsconnect.org. If you become the 12,000th member, we will profile you and your Peace Corps connection in our next e-newsletter. With thanks for your ongoing interest in the Peace Corps, Kevin F. F. Quigley Thailand, 1976-79 President, National Peace Corps Association Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
Issue No. 1 June 2009 Welcome!
The Afghan Women's Writing Project was begun as a way to allow the voices of Afghan women -- too often silenced -- to enter the world. During my two visits to Afghanistan, I've been inspired by the grace, courage and determination of many women I've met: child brides, women imprisoned for fleeing abusive husbands, war widows surviving against numerous odds. As the Taliban regains power, particularly in the south of the country, these women's freedoms are again threatened. I hope you will take a moment to read these compelling blog entries, only a few of which are below. Please join our mailing list and spread the world. If you are a creative writing teacher and would like to volunteer to teach online in a three-week block, please be in touch. This project would not be possible without the outstanding American women authors and teachers who generously donate their time to mentor women writing in Afghanistan. Additionally, the tireless contributions of webmaster extraordinaire Jeff Lyons and web designers Terry Dougherty and Rose Daniels have been crucial. Our inspiring partners are SOLA in Afghanistan and the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation based in Vermont; please visit their websites. And be in touch with any questions. Thank you. Masha Hamilton www.mashahamilton.com One of My Worst Memories We start running away too. Then I saw the Taliban's car. Their car was moving slowly. Two of them jumped out and began beating a girl. She was around my age. They were beating her because she didn't have a burqa. I had heard of, but had not seen, such as event before. I started crying. I was not able to run. My mother hid me in her burqa. She was afraid too. By Zarlasht Click here to read the full story. A Memory From the Pages of Life Since Pakistan had closed its borders, we, like many others, went through the mountains and through the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). While climbing the mountains, I paused and looked down. A lot of women, men and children were climbing also, and some had donkeys and other animals with them. There were also people smuggling cars illegally to Pakistan. No matter what, business never stops -- that is true, is it not? By Meena Click here to read the full story. Women Are Moving Forward in Farah "The opportunity did not exist for me and my sister to go to school and become educated," says Malali, a member of a new women's organization founded in conservative Farah Province. "We married when we were very young. We have no information about anything. Our first workshop was about elections." By Seeta Click here to read the full story. A Word From Our Teachers Caroline Leavitt is the author of eight acclaimed novels. Her ninth, Breathe, is forthcoming in 2010. In 2004, she was named one of the UCLA Writing Program's Outstanding Instructors of the year. I tend to have at least 16 projects going at once, and almost no free time, but when Masha mentioned she was starting a program about teaching writing to Afghan women, how could I not want to do this? The women, she explained, sometimes had to have male relatives take their work to the Internet cafes. They sometimes might not want their names mentioned or details kept private. I kept wondering: what could I possibly teach these women? When I first saw the topics they were writing about-being married at 14, deciding not to marry but to continue to teach, I began to realize that my assignments (simple descriptions, character studies) had to be much more focused. It astonished me when women apologized for their grammar or their writing. (Yes, the grammar needed work, but these women would go over and over it until they got it right. They asked a million questions.) One woman wrote me privately to ask that I not post her work because she was afraid the others might laugh at her work. The women all apologized for being late with assignments. Dumbfounded, I assured all of them that there was nothing to apologize for, that I felt it was an act of bravery every time they wrote a single word, and it was my honor to teach them. Recently, I posted to one of the women, "I wish we could all meet at a café for coffee and pie." I meant it. The stories these women have to tell are remarkable, but even more remarkable, are the women themselves. Kerry Cohen is the author of a young adult novel who received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon and an MA in counseling psychology from Pacific University. It's been too easy to feel disconnected from what's happening in the Middle East, and this is especially true regarding women. Our lives are so different here, and of course news and literature from Americans only gets to certain truths, not at all the whole truths, and pretty much never the truths that come straight from Afghan women. This is why I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of this project. What I've found thus far is that these women are simply trying to live their lives - just like anywhere else - but the difference is that many have been witness to violence and suppression we can't imagine here in America. I'm so proud of these amazing women for sharing their sometimes shocking, sometimes ordinary stories. Contact AWWP: For more information on the Afghan Women's Writing Project please contact: The Afghan Women's Writing Project Masha Hamilton, Project Founder 686 Sterling Place Brooklyn, New York 11216 Phone: 917.821.6119 / Email: masha@mashahamilton.com Masha's Website/Blog: www.mashahamilton.com AWWP Blog: www.awwproject.wordpress.com , Donations: Online Donations for Afghan Women Writers: Many of our students and women writers, especially outside of Kabul, cannot get to an Internet cafe due to security considerations. A laptop at home and a jump drive would allow them to write their pieces, and then ask a male relative to send the work at an Internet cafe. A $20 donation will buy a flash drive and $500 in donations will buy a laptop for our women writers. No contribution is too small. Thank you for considering it. Your credit card donation will be handled by Friends of Afghanistan's secure Paypal payment. Or you can mail a check made out to Friends of Afghanistan: Terry Dougherty , 15021 Prairie Park Cv, Hoagland, IN 46745. Write SOLA or Afghan Women Writers on the check. We will send your tax deductible donation to the Peter M. Goodrich Foundation for the purpose you indicate. To stay informed about the latest news, events, and other developments with the Afghan Women's Writing Project, please CLICK below and join our mailing list. We appreciate your support. In This Issue One of My Worst Memories A Memory From the Pages of Life Women Are Moving Forward in Farah Sponsors & Friends: Please visit our sponsors as a way to thank them for their wonderful support: Forward email This email was sent to terry.dougherty@gmail.com by masha@mashahamilton.com. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by The Afghan Women's Writing Project | 686 Sterling Place | Brooklyn | NY | 11216 Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
Afghan Connections Online Newsletter A Friends of Afghanistan publication May 31, 2009 Publisher's Message Dear Friend of Afghanistan A lot has been happening behind the scenes with Friends of Afghanistan already this year. Since we renewed our official NPCA group status in March, we have established the Friends of Afghanistan group as the largest Country of Service group on the new NPCA sponsored social network. If you have not yet joined that free service from NPCA, you should do so - you are missing out on a great opportunity to network with other returned Peace Corps Volunteers. After you join Peace Corps Connect, be sure to take the next step and JOIN the Friends of Afghanistan group discussion page You will find many ways to participate in the activities of our group on this page. You can post links to your own photo albums or start a discussion of your favorite project. I know that many of you have objected to the idea of joining a "social network" such as Facebook or Myspace. Peace Corps Connect is different from these others. You will find ways to reconnect with old friends and may even find a project that you want to participate in or support. I didn't join any of the social networks for several years. Now that I have been working with the new NPCA network for several months, I can recommend it to you without reservation. YOU WILL FIND SOMETHING TO INTEREST YOU on this site. I guarantee it! Please take a minute and update your name and address record for our mailing list. http://afghanconnections.org/foa/signupform.htm Read on to learn about several other new initiatives of Friends of Afghanistan. -- Terry Dougherty The Afghan Women's Writing Project Masha Hamilton, an accomplished author and professor, has started an initiative to work with Afghan Women writers to prepare their stories for publication in English. This work has been done via an online classroom sponsored by SOLA: School of Leadership, Afghanistan and Friends of Afghanistan. Masha has started two classes of six women each at this point. She plans to start a third class later this summer. She has a list of about 50 published authors who have signed up to work with the Afghan women. The online class is taught by one of these authors for a 4 week period and then is passed on to the next teacher. The student's essays are published to the Afghan Women's Writing Project blog by the teachers. The online classroom was developed by Friends of Afghanistan's web master, Terry Dougherty, in cooperation with SOLA: School of Leadership, Afghanistan. Be sure to check out the Afghan Women's Writing Project blog. Afghan Connections Blog Think of a blog as a kind of new fangled news feed. In case you haven't visited it, here is the link to ours: http://afghanconnections. blogspot.com Please send any stories or items of interest to our community to terry@afghanconnections.org I will be happy to post them to the blog. You will find connections to the blog and all our other online resources on our web site at: http://afghanconnections.org We need helpers to work with our membership list and publications design. Contact us if you are interested in helping out in any capacity. Write to terry@afghanconnections.org The Buzz Other NOTEWORTHY ACTIONS of Friends of Afghanistan so far this year include: Friends of Afghanistan has purchased four computers and wireless network equipment to be delivered to SOLA: School of Leadership, Afghanistan this summer. This will provide for a Women's Internet Cafe in the SOLA women's dormitory. $2,000 worth of equipment will be hand carried to Afghanistan in June and July. Our partnership with the Ochard Park New York "Schools and Futures" initiative for Afghan Schools has helped fund the development of the SOLA women's dormitory that is currently housing several girls and will soon become the center for SOLA's women's initiatives and internet cafe. Partnerships with the Peter M. Goodrich Foundation, SOLA and SOLACE for the Children will lead to Friends of Afghanistan helping to expand a program that brings war injured Afghan children to the United States for free medical care. The first 38 of these children are scheduled to arrive in Charlotte, NC in June. Several of us plan to sponsor children in our cities next year. Watch for more news on this in the next edition of Afghan Connections, Online Newsletter. Friends of Afghanistan Executive Committee Tony Agnello, President; Nancy Cunningham, Vice President; Terry Dougherty, FoA Publisher; Winkie Campbell-Notar, Managing Editor, Afghan Connections. Be Sure to check the links below to forward this message and to update your address information in our records. Freinds of Afghanistan Home Page Blog Message Archive Past Issues of Afghan Connections This message was sent from Friends of Afghanistan to terry.dougherty@gmail.com. It was sent from: Friends of Afghanistan, Friends of Afghanistan 15021 Prairie Park Cove, Hoagland, IN 46745. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing by To update/change your account click here View this message in the iContact Community: View message Comment on this message Receive as RSS Share this message with others: del.icio.us Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
This exchange student program has placed Afghan high school students in the USA every year since 2004. I was asked to accompany the first class of students on their return to Kabul in the summer of 2005. That trip also served as my introduction to Ted Achilles, then the director of the Kabul office of American Councils for International Education.
see http://www.americancouncils.org/programs.php?program_id=ODM=for a description of this program. This program was started after the American forces got control of Afghanistan in 2002 as an extension of other central Asian exchange programs managed by Randy Biggers, RPCV Afghanistan and Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State. 2004-2005 was the first year of the program. That year one of the 40 students did not return to Afghanistan because she received a letter from home that her life would be in danger if she returned to Afghanistan. While I was in Kabul, an officer from the US Embassy asked me to accompany him as he visited her former home in Micreon. That student has since gained permanent residency in the United States and is attending college. In each succeeding year of the YES Afghanistan program, more students left the program - most of them finding their way to Canada where they are still living. The Canadian government grants them asylum at the border and the US government puts them on a "do not return" list because they have broken the terms of their J1 Visa. Check the link below for a recent Fort Wayne, Indiana newspaper article about the YES Afghanistan program: Not my choice of headlines - but an honest interview... He had to save YES | The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind •If you are interested in hosting an Afghan student, call Terry Dougherty at 639-7379 or e-mail terry@afghanconnections.org. Here are some pictures from my trip to Kabul in the summer of 2005 Trip to Afghanistan Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
If you have any trouble viewing this email or have images disabled,
please click here to view this email in your browser. Not a Moment to Waste: Foreign Operations Appropriations Mark-Up Thursday, June 11 Last week, we took a big first step towards a bold new Peace Corps. Congressman Howard Berman, showing tremendous political courage, tossed out the Administration's request for a 10% increase ($34 million) for the Peace Corps and substituted a 35% increase ($120 million) for 2010. This is the authorization level in Congressman Sam Farr's (Colombia 64-66) Bill which now has 120 co-sponsors. Our strategy is working. If your representative is not a co-sponsor of Mr. Farr's Bill, please go to our website and use our sample letter to contact your representative to sign on as a co-sponsor. Every new House co-sponsor is a signal of growing support. Now comes the hard part: winning the appropriations struggle. On Thursday, June 11, the House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up its budget for 2010. The appropriations subcommittee, true to its name, decides on the amount of money in the bill. This subcommittee is chaired by Congresswoman Nita Lowey (NY-18) and without her support we will struggle to keep the $450 million appropriation recommended by the House Foreign Relations Committee. If you are a constituent of Chairwoman Lowey's, please take action. In the past, it is in the Appropriations Committee where recommendations for increased funding are whittled down. This is where authorization bills, such as Mr. Farr's get taken out, and lower amounts of money are substituted. However, this year is different. First, Mr. Berman is a senior member and his endorsement of Mr. Farr's request is powerful. Second, in the past, there has been no way to mobilize the grassroots base of RPCVs. Now we have thousands of supporters around the nation who care about this issue and are educated on the process. We have two weeks before the vote. If you are a constituent of any of these 14 members of Congress that sit on the subcommittee, please try to visit them in their district office or at least call and urge your representative to become a co-sponsor. Here is a copy of the sample letter to use with the 14 House subcommittee appropriators: Dear Representative , I am writing to you from ______ to request you, in your role as a member of the Foreign Operations appropriations subcommittee, to support $450 million in the FY 2010 budget for the Peace Corps. A bill introduced by Congressman Sam Farr (Colombia 64-66), the Peace Corps Expansion Act 2009 also authorizes this funding increase and now has 120 co-sponsors. Moreover, the Foreign Affairs Committee led by Representative Howard Berman recently authorized this robust increase in HR 2410. We need your leadership in providing major resources to build a bold new Peace Corps for a new century at a time when 25 countries including Indonesia and Sierra Leone have made requests for new Peace Corps programs. Peace Corps currently enters into service 3,600 volunteers per year, making it half the size it was in 1966. It is a valuable but small entity compared to President Kennedy's original vision of 100,000 Americans serving in the huts and villages of the world. Peace Corps can rejuvenate itself by entering boldly into countries where person-to person contact is important in our own hemisphere; Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti and Bolivia. There are also many opportunities for Americans to volunteer to serve in communities where the Islamic faith pre-dominates. Examples include, expanding the Morocco program; newly enter Libya, Algeria, Lebanon and Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the non-conflicted parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan even India. All of these would bring a new face of America to young people in the Islamic world and America would gain new understanding of areas and communities critical to the United States and world peace. The Peace Corps had a profound impact on my life and US community. I served in _______________. I hope you share my view that the Peace Corps is a vital component of our public diplomacy toolbox. Since 1961, nearly 200,000 Peace Corps volunteers have provided meaningful, small-scale development assistance, reversing stereotypes about Americans and returning stateside to enrich communities domestically with new language and other skills. Peace Corps continues to be one of America's finest expressions of friendship and solidarity across the globe. The Obama-Biden Administration is working diligently to reinvigorate our foreign policy and burnish America's image. To do this, we must maximize every element of soft power. Investing in Peace Corps in the manner outlined in HR 1066 and the White House transition report would help to reestablish our credibility and moral standing abroad, while exposing people to the core American values of peace, progress, tolerance and prosperity. To meet the President's stated goal of 16,000 volunteers in the Peace Corps we need your leadership at the June 11 mark-up of the Foreign Operations Bill. I appreciate the support you have provided to the Peace Corps in the past and welcome your full support in the subcommittee this year. Sincerely, NAME PEACE CORPS YEARS (IF RPCV) ADDRESS PHONE, EMAIL TITLES The All-Important House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Democrats Nita M. Lowey (NY) (Chair) Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (IL) Adam Schiff (CA) Steve Israel (NY) Ben Chandler (KY) Steven R. Rothman (NJ) Barbara Lee (CA) Betty McCollum (MN) David R. Obey (WI), Ex Officio Republicans Kay Granger (TX) (Ranking Member) Mark Steven Kirk (IL) Ander Crenshaw (FL) Dennis R. Rehberg (MT) Jerry Lewis (CA), Ex Officio If you have any trouble viewing this email or have images disabled, please click here to view this email in your browser. If you wish to be taken off this email list, please let us know by unsubscribing here. MorePeaceCorps Campaign. Copyright © 2008. National Peace Corps Association (NPCA). Afghan Connections is a publication of Friends of Afghanistan. Visit http://afghanconnections.org for more information. 
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