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.