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.