Please Help if You Can't

Lots of US consumers live well beyond their means.  So why not the same for a little Afghan boy who is dying from a blood disease and simply wants to live?  His family could never afford the cost of a bone marrow transplant, even if they were to save the rest of their lives.  And after a year, ACP's fundraising prowess has proven to be just about as flaccid. 

But like a voracious American consumer, Sediq's disease just won't wait for the piggy bank to fill.  We think the answer to his problem is simply that which makes America great:  MasterCard!  Next month, the kid gets his operation, whether we have the money or not.  And so far we only have about half of the $30,000 or so it will cost.  What better way to demonstrate how US financial ingenuity can come to the aid of a dying child whilst we promote our dearest institutions around the world [which actually happens to be sort of ACP's mission statement].

So here is a special all-American offer of sub-prime karma, derivative delight and bone marrow bailout:  If you genuinely cannot afford to help save Sediq, would you please do so and put it on your credit card right now, just like we are doing? 

At this point, we have a cash donor waiting to match any $5,000 contribution.  We have a bone marrow donor waiting in India.  We have donated tickets waiting for the family to get there.  And most of all, we have one very sick little boy who needs to be cured—now!   And in the end, who cares—God or Obama will bail us out, anyway. 

Click here for PayPal. 

Letters From Literacy.

Not to be outdone by the war, Afghan Child Project, too, has surged this year.

In Bamyan Province, we now support six woman's literacy/English clinics.  For each, we hired a local teacher, gave her a laptop computer, and provide the texts, whiteboards, notebooks, pens—everything but willing learners.  And for those, each village has marvelously risen to the occasion.  These dozens of rural women and girls have astounded us with their intelligence and desire to learn. 

We recently received a packet of letters from the girls, and some of their comments were surprising.  “It is very good that we can be like other women around the world.  Thanks American people,”  wrote one girl.  From another, “now we can watch TV understanding very well.  Please help us from the dark.  Thanks American women.”  And one thanked us that the girls “can have education like other women around the world [so] we can help our country and our people.”

Of course we had considered the job prospects and self-esteem girls could get from learning English,   but “coming out of darkness?”  However, when Afghan girls see how women elsewhere live and are treated, it probably is like coming out of the “dark.”  And these are the lucky ones who are allowed to go to school, learn English and even watch foreign television.  They have already witnessed the magnificence of our weaponry and the stunning wealth of our military and its inexplicable hold over US decision making.  Now we can only hope that these girls will learn more readily about the more peacenik aspects of the United States.

And while they glimpse the outside world, it is even more amazing to hear these Afghan girls talking about helping their “country and their people.”  Such aspirations beyond the house and kiddos were supposed to be just for men.  Is this the beginning of an Afghan insurgency we could all love?  And what will be next over here: bra-burning, mini-burqas, perhaps someday even, equality? 

Then again, once they start showing reruns of The Jerry Springer Show over here, these chicks may just want to dive for cover back under the nearest burqa.

Click here to view some of the letters we received from the girls.

Welcome to Will's Afghanistan Blog and the more-or-less News Page for the  Afghan Child Project
Click HERE to visit the main site at: http://www.afghanchildproject.org/

Tackling Woman's Literacy and Maternal Death

ACP's Board of Directors recently resolved that helping Afghan women and mothers was one of the best ways to help Afghan children.  So, we have stepped up our efforts to get school supplies to literacy clinics in some of the poorest villages of the Hindu Kush.  Jawad has been a saint delivering these supplies that I get from all of you and have flown out to Bamyan. He refuses to take any money for all the driving and time--and he is not rich.  He is just one of many generous Afghans who will do anything for their people and friends.  I'm glad to be his friend.

Now here is something really horrible--Afghanistan has the second highest maternal death rate in the world.  I'm told that 1,700 Afghan women die for every 100,000 births.  (The number is about 12/100,000 in the US)  Many die from simple bleeding that could be stopped with a little know-how.  Many NGOs here have set up midwife training programs and birthing clinics.  We want to help pay for women from the poorest villages attend these clinics (from one-two years long) and then go back and save lives in their villages.  We also want to buy supplies for these far-flung clinics and also some solar electric systems for when new Afghans make their advent in the middle of the night.  We want thousands of additional Afghan chldren to be able to know their mothers.  We jsut received a sizeable anonymous grant (way to go, anonymous!) for woman's projects and I am trying to learn all i can about this subject from OB-Gyns here in country.  Meanwhile, Becky is working on her Masters Degree in International Public Health and is also researching the issue.

If you have any ideas for other ways we could help in these projects, let us know.

Lots of Boxes--Thanks!

Since I got back to Afghanistan in late February, I have received dozens of boxes from generous folks back in the US.  The First Baptist Church in Girard, OH has sent two big shipments and they are now clothing a number of very poor children and keeping a woman's literacy clinic going in a village called Shibartu.

My old friends from Anchorage, AK, led by Marcus Reese, sent some wonderful stuff that is already helping Afghan Children.  And our new friend, Shelley George, a school teacher from NC, remembered the adults who care for children at the Samar Orphanage and sent them all coats!

Friends from bagram have also been sending stuff--Traeci Deveraux, John Michael and Mhairi Elliott and their friends.  Sorry if I missed anybody--send me a reminder taped to your next box!

And aren't websites great--almost every other day I get an e-mail or PayPal donation from somebody I don't even know (but wish I did).  I think we are going to do a lot of good here this year.  Thanks!

Afghan Child Project Honors Blackwater Aviation

Ever since I started working with children and orphanages over here, Blackwater Aviation (now Presidential Airways) has been wonderful to our project.  They have allowed me to store donations on their compound and hauled items on space-available flights with their customer's full consent.  We could never have delivered the many boxes we get without Blackwater/Presidential's help. 

I first came to Afghanistan as a pilot with Blackwater. They haul people and mail all over the country and even do low level airdrops from their Casa-212s. It was during these airdrops that we had the pleasure of being shot by Taliban small arms fire. We also flew to Bamyan a lot and that is how I found the orphanage there.
Last week, Meridith and I gave small plaques to Brian Jurkovic, the Base Manager (top Pic), and to Blackwater's mechanics, Pictured here are Jerry Burns and Gene Seamster, Josh and Sam. 

And as soon as we took the Pics, everybody went right back to their never ending work of operating a dozen airplanes here and I went out and stuffed another dozen+ boxes of children's clothing aboard a Blackwater flight heading for Bamyan. 

Again, my thanks to everyone at Blackwater/Presidential.  We cannot do this work without you.

Afghan Child Project Website now Linked

If you are arriving here from the Afghan Child Project website, Greetings!  This is basically Will's blog from Afghanistan, which also serves as the news section of the ACP.  Here you may also find less reverent, more political prose, however please do not hold any of this against the Afghan Child Project--that is really a good organization, thus better than Will, who is often not good.

To return to the Afghan child Project main website, click HERE.