Children in Afghanistan

Please Help if You Can't

2010-09-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-09-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-03-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-03-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-01T10:50:00.000-08:00

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.

2009 In Review

2009-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

We measure our year in two ways: First, through the faces of the needy Afghan children whose lives we have had the privilege to touch. Second, though harder to gauge, by the amount of joy we have brought to our donors through facilitating their giving to these wonderful children.

Throughout the year, we continued to distribute your many boxes of donated items to needy children and orphanages. New this year, however, we also began collecting cash donations for lifesaving medical operations, renewable energy systems, blankets, bedding, mattresses, toys, and school supplies for war-scarred children living in orphanages, refugee camps, and even caves.

And this year, through your generosity, we have grown to the point where it seemed time to form a 501(c)(3) corporation so that your future donations will be tax-deductible. We are also in the process of creating a new website, and should soon be able to accept your PayPal and credit card donations.

What has not changed this year is that 100% of your donations reach the children. We are all volunteers and we ourselves pay the entire costs of running this organization.

Looking ahead, we will continue to help you win young hearts and minds in Afghanistan, either through our projects or in any other way you specify. And finally, our current, pressing need is to raise $25,000 within the next 6 months to send a young Afghan child to India for a lifesaving bone marrow transplant (see story, below).

Thank you all for your generosity this past year. We hope it has brought you as much joy as it has brought to Afghan children.

Note: We will soon be distributing our "Year In Review/Year Ahead" DVD of pictures to all of our friends. If you would like a copy, send us an e-mail with your mailing address.

--Will

Our 2009 Team of Volunteers

2009-12-31T10:39:00.000-08:00

Forming a 501(c)(3) Tax-Deductible Organization, Etc!

2009-12-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

It is time 2 go tax-deductible. Of course, real charity couldn't care less about tax deductions. But this way you can now give needy children the additional tax savings, rather than have your government spend it on war.
We are now in the process of forming a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with the express purpose of charitable giving for children in Afghanland and perhaps other dysfunctional places around the world. The whole process could take several months, however donations made in the interim should still be tax-deductible once IRS approval is received.
So look for new names, logo, a Board of Directors and eventually an interactive website. Also PayPal and credit card donation options. But do not worry--your donations WILL NOT be paying for any of these niceties. We will pay for it all ourselves, and as always, 100% of what you give will go directly to the children.

Mozart's Memorial Fund to Help Poor People Living in Caves

2009-12-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

On November 21, Mozart, "a little person in a doggie suit," died peacefully. He was a few days away from his 15th birthday. All his life, he was a best friend, an inspiration and role-model for selfless giving. He brought joy to most everyone he met, particularly children.

Mozart was born in Alaska. His mother, Lady Zoe, was a yellow lab from Birchwood. His father, Darby, a chocolate lab, lived at a remote lodge on the Talaschlitna River and was widely-known for his penchant for treeing black bears. Mozart loved riding in the Super Cub and his favorite places on Earth were the barrier islands of Prince William Sound.

At one point in his life, Mozart attended some classes at law school, however he proved smarter than most of his fellow law students and prefered chewing on sticks. He also lived for a while in Nicaragua, where he took a daily dip in a swimming pool that had belonged to the Somozas. He was an avid hunter, but in later life preferred braised boeuf.

He delighted many people with his parlor tricks. His German Shepherd impersonation (in which he did a "Heil Hitler" salute with his forearm) was a particular showstopper. He also could scrunch his face into an uncanny Sharpei imitation. In his final years, he spent a good deal of time impersonating government workers.

About the time of Mozart's death, Jawad Wafa, a good friend of mine from Bamyan, Afghainstan, asked me if I could help out some extremely poor families with children living in caves. Due to any number of reasons in this disaster-ridden country, they are having a rough winter and are badly in need of coal and blankets. Jawad sent me these pictures of some of these people and their caves.

In keeping with Mozart's way of loving and encouraging everyone, I am going to help each family buy coal and good, warm blankets. Jawad says they need around 70 blankets. I estimate the whole project will cost around $2,000.

If you were inspired by Mozart, or simply want to help the cave dwellers get through the winter, I invite you to send me a donation (money and/or blankets) to help bring some Mozartean joy and warmth to these poor children and their parents.

--Will

Helping Sediq get a Lifesaving Bone Marrow Transplant in India

2009-12-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

I am a materialist. When I buy myself a present, it makes me happy. But when I buy you a present, it makes two people happy. Thus I am always happy to help your gifts--large and small--get to those who really need them. Thanks to your generosity these past two years, I have had the pleasure of helping dozens of folks in the US leverage their giving to several hundred people in Afghanistan.

And now I have gotten into by far my largest and most ambitious gift-brokering project ever. In short: We need to come up with $25,000 in 6 months to send a little Afghan boy to India for a life-saving bone marrow transplant.

Last summer I met Aimal Khaurin. Aimal was traveling in the Hindu Kush working on the much-discussed presidential elections here. He has a very cute 2 year old son named Sediq, who at age 3 months, was diagnosed with Thalassemia Major. Sediq has been kept alive by approximately 30 blood transfusions at roughly three-week intervals ever since. One is not normally expected to survive with this condition in Afghanistan.

But Sediq's father and I have been researching treatment options in India. It turns out that with a bone marrow transplant, Sediq has a 4 out of 5 chance of living a normal life, or at least just plain living. And Sediq has two older brothers, Usman and Omar, who are eager to serve as marrow donors to help their brother they dearly love.

When I was in India for my own surgery in August, I found the Thalassemia Society India. We learned of the work being done to treat children at Vellore Christian Hospital in southern India. Surprisingly, the total cost for a BMT procedure at Vellore only runs between 18,000-25,000 US$.

This is, of course, a huge sum of money to me, especially as I see all the opportunities for life-changing gift-giving in Afghanistan and want to reach out to as many people as possible. Nonetheless, I believe it was not accidental that I met Sediq's father. The more I have thought about this project the more I am committed to raising this money. 2 Years is said to be the optimal age for the BMT, so we need to act fast.

Any act of kindness to a living creature, no matter how small, returns multiples of rewards. Whether you have a spare sack of $25,000 dollars in the attic, or want to give just $1, you can give a gift that will potentially save a life. And you can be assured that every dollar will go to Sediq's treatment. As soon as I raise the money for the BMT, I will personally pay for the whole family to go to India and live there for 3 months for the procedure. Please help if you can.

BTW: As of mid-December, we will have a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, so you can give tax-deductible gifts.

--W.

60 New Mattresses for Bamyan Orphans

2009-10-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks to your generosity, we just purchased 70 new mattresses in Kabul for the orphans in Bamyan who currently sleep on rough wool blankets. And thanks to my pilot friends here at Blackwater Aviation, these mattresses are being flown in as I can get them on planes. It is amazing how much room one can still find on a "full" flight, if it is for a good cause. We will soon post Pics of gleefully soporific children and the orphanage's new solar electric system. For now, here is Meredith and I on the Bagram flight line getting ready to load mattresses on a flight to Bamyan.

UPDATE 12/6/09: All of the mattresses have been delivered. Note that the children are wearing warm winter clothes,which some of you will probably recognize as from your own children. There is no central heat in the orphanage and it is pretty cold in Bamyan. They have about 6 inches of snow on the ground there right now. But at least the children have, what is for most of them, their first mattresses ever. The blankets were donated by folks in New Zealand.

A Visit to the Samar Orphanage

2009-10-25T04:02:00.000-07:00

Nine-year-old Ajmal Khan lives high in central Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains. He plays in the shadow of cliffs from which were hewn the magnificent Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban. He loves books, school, kite flying and potatoes. He lives with fifty-seven other children, not far from mass graves that may hold the remains of their parents.

But Ajmal and the other children at the Samar Orphanage do not focus on what the world has taken from them. Instead, Ajmal sprints to be the first to greet a surprise visitor from the US. Soon, an undulating knot of children warmly envelop the visitor. Handshakes become hugs; greetings become English demonstrations; everyone is soon a friend.

The Director is eager to meet me in his office and discuss the orphanage's acute needs. But the votes of fifty-eight enthusiastic children are that it is more important I first see what they have, rather than what they lack. Of course, the children win.

Each room houses eight children in steel bunk beds. Like children everywhere, they are pack rats. Their oddball possessions fill the corners of their bunks. Barney the Dinosaur is missing his purple tail. Not from a land mine, I am assured. Hello Kitty dons a headscarf as part of a light Moslem makeover. And they obviously love picture books in any language. They seem to love anything in any language, collecting everything from stones to discarded hardware to any sundry ephemera. Just children.

I meet some of the six adults who act as "parents" to the children. They are among the few saints on Earth who really know the meaning of a ten-to-one child/parent ratio. They tell me their secret is for the children to learn to help one another at an early age. Something is working, as the Samar Orphanage seems more like a family with fifty-eight brothers and sisters than an institution.

Now it is time for lunch. The children line up in Dickensian fashion, each with a tin bowl. They await a serving of food cooked over an open wood fire. Some of the older children (they range in age from four to sixteen) help with the cooking and serving. Today's lunch: white rice and fried potatoes-a child's, if not a dietitian's, dream. The Valley is deservedly famous for its fine potatoes.

After lunch we tour the outside. While the Bamyan Valley is mostly full of lush potato fields that are currently in bloom, the orphanage seems to have been located in its most sun-baked, desert-like reaches. It lies at the mouth of Dragon Valley, so named because of a serpent-like rock outcrop. The rock dragon was once alive, it is said, requiring a human sacrifice per day for its dietary needs. Then Mohammed's son-in-law swept in from Mecca, turned the dragon to stone and thereby eased the area's forced conversion to Islam.. Unfortunately, it did little to green up the area immediately surrounding the orphanage, which is hot and dusty in the summer. And at 8,500' elevation in the Hindu Kush, presumably cold and snowy in the winter.

The buildings housing the orphanage were built by NGOs like the Shuhada Organization and look clean and new. But the orphanage is pretty much on its own to fund operations, particularly things beyond bare necessities. For instance, they have a donated generator in the yard, but are generally without power, as there is no money for fuel. Instead, the Director shows me pictures of a small solar electric system he hopes to install. Then the children can at least have electric lights in the evening for their studies.

It takes little time to realize just how well-studied these children are. Some of them actually brief me on the Valley's history. I'm told it lies on the ancient Silk Road and predates Alexander the Great, so there is plenty of history to talk about. "But is anyone still afraid of the dragon"? I ask. "He only eats potatoes now," I am told to intense laughter. Finally, I have found another vegetarian in Afghanistan.

The children attend school right next to the orphanage, girls included. Here they mix with children from nearby families and apparently excel at their studies. One Samar alumnus now attends university in Kabul on a merit scholarship.

Ajmal thinks he may someday become a doctor. Here, he can look to his Provincial Governor as a role model. She is an epidemiologist, as well as Afghanistan's first and only woman governor. Such advances are possible here because the people of this region practice a relatively moderate and tolerant form of Islam.

Yet one thing these people have never tolerated is the Taliban. Isolated and independent, they were among the last holdouts. When they finally fell, the Taliban slaughtered thousands. Their legacy is orphans and the rubble of shattered antiquities. The Taliban have no friends here.

But that is the past. The Samar Orphanage is the future. Fifty-eight reasons why this perpetually war-torn nation can hope for better. And after already losing so much to extremism, these children could become the most promising weapons we have in the so-called "war on terror." For while terrorists are arguably a mixture of ignorance, despair and hatred, these children's unique lives appear to have made them miraculously opposite concoctions.

For centuries, the people of this region have been renowned for their hospitality to strangers and loyalty to friends. Based upon my visit, it appears nothing has changed. Whoever befriends these children is likely to have loyal allies here for many years to come. Not to mention having helped some extraordinary children.

Fall Fundraising Half Way--Still Need Computers

2009-09-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

First of all, the counter in the upper right corner is not what we have raised for orphans in Afghanistan--we are up around $5,000. And thanks to the generosity of two donors alone, we have already raised the money for the new solar electric system and new mattresses, among other items.

Meredith has all of the new bedsheet sets for 70 beds. We are now raising money for the pillows and blankets and learning supplies. Overall, we have about half of the money we are targeting for our projects at the orphanage this fall.

What we really need now are your used but OK computers. We have dozens of intelligent and promising young Afghans in high school who have never had a computer of their own. If you have one you could send or know someone who does, please shoot me an e-mail. wfs99501@yahoo.com

--W.

Greetings

2009-08-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

The words and pictures on this page are intended to thank you for your generosity in the past and to keep you updated on what we are currently doing to help the orphans in Bamyan. Your donations of clothing, shoes, school supplies and money over the past two years have delighted the children of the orphanage and impressed many Afghans.

There is no official organization here. No tax write-offs. But through a set of unique circumstances, including the help of Blackwater Aviation and the wonderful New Zealand troops based in Bamyan, I have been able to get 100% of your donations to the children, with no bribes, overhead, middlemen or rake-offs at all. If there are any costs in getting your donations to the children, I will pay for them myself.

After two years, I am attempting to expand our help to the orphanage. This does not mean that I am undertaking any sort of recurring commitments, just that in addition to the items sent from the US, I will also help the orphanage obtain specific items which make more sense to purchase in country (e.g., mattresses, pillows, solar panels). Thus, in addition to the generous donations of items mailed from the US, I am now also attempting to raise money for specific needs at the orphanage. Look for the list of these needs elsewhere on this page, and please help out if you can. And maybe pass this idea on to others who may be interested. I am always happy to correspond with anyone.

W.
wfs99501@yahoo.com

Kiwis Deliver Your Donated Items

2009-08-28T23:07:00.000-07:00

Will,

I took the clothes etc you sent to this Orphanage and they were very grateful for them and asked me to thank you for your kindness. The children loved us visiting and just crowded around us trying out their English on us.

The Headmaster of the Ayenda Foundation Day School for disadvantaged Children thanked me for the HA stationery and pens you have sent to us.

Sincerely,

Murray

Note: Since I started gathering donations for the orphanages, the New Zealand peacekeeping troops based in the area have been wonderfully generous with their time in housing and delivering the items. --W.

Orphanage Seeks a Solar Electric System

2009-08-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Though situated high in the mountains, the Bamyan Valley has two things in abundance: potatoes and sunny weather. The valley does not, however, have any central electric utility. Thus the orphanage is usually without power as it hasn't money to operate its generator.

But hopefully they will soon have a small solar electric system that will allow the children light in the evenings. I received the following message and photographs from the Director:

Dear Mr.Sherman:
We are thankful of you for your visiting Samar Orphanage in Bamyan Province.Secondly we Appreciate your nice feelings upon the Orphanage and the Childs.
Please find the attached files which are includid two Pictures of Solar and the bill from where we have [previously bought a system] from kabul for one of our Clinics. For three months we are using that and yet we have received a positive result from it.

Thanks alot dear Mr.Sherman

Best reguards,
Eng,Ghulam Hussian "Matin"
Head of Shuhada Organization
Bamyan Provincial Office

These pics are of the system in use at a Shuhada Organization-funded health clinic in Bamyan and it is apparently working wonderfully. I have the receipt for this systyem. It cost $1500 in Kabul and would probably total $1700 when delivered and installed at the orphanage.

I am so enthusiastic about providing the children with lights at night as well as promoting renewable energy, that right on the spot I promised the Director I would deliver this system before winter.

If anyone is interested in providing the money for this system, I will personally see that it is installed and in working order before I even cash your check. I guarantee you will never receive greater satisfaction from any other donation.

--Will

Thanks to all of you who sent badly-needed school supplies

2009-08-27T23:27:00.000-07:00

Terrorist organizations generally rely on ignorance for recruiting. If a person cannot read or write it is much easier to sell them on extremist ideologies and even, say, to convince them to blow themselves up for the organization's causes. Therefore we should all be thankful that schools are now operating throughout Afghanistan, and that Girls also attend, long the Taliban's bête noire.

However, school supplies have been in particularly short supply in the Bamyan Valley this summer and fall. When the usual NGOs were not able to provide, I was contacted and asked if I could find any. Of course, my friends responded with incredible generosity. All together, we sent around 15 boxes of school supplies to the orphanage and several charity schools in the Valley. The Oneonta, NY First Presbyterian Church, led by Mrs. Patten, send wonderful supplies, following on the heels of a huge shipment of winter clothing last year. And Chuck Lopez's family and church in Virginia sent a large shipment with shipping from the States courtesy of Avenge, Inc. Thank you all for these badly-needed supplies.

W.

How Can Orphans Be "Our Best Weapons Against Terror"?

2009-08-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

Long-term history teaches that war in Afghanistan will not be fast or easy. Recent history teaches that there will be no lasting success in Afghanistan without rebuilding the nation. When the Soviets left, the world turned its back on Afghanistan, allowing it to fall to the Taliban and become a global haven for terrorists. In 2002, having routed the Taliban, we again largely ignored nation building, allowing the current Taliban comeback. So far this year, over 220 US soldiers have died in Afghanistan, more than in the first 4 years of the war combined. (http://icasualties.org/oef/)

We are thus left with two interdependent goals in Afghanistan: Rebuild the nation, and keep it from again becoming a terror haven.

Nation building is essentially about winning (and keeping) the hearts and minds of Afghan people. These orphans are among many needy people and worthy causes in Afghanistan and I never want to take aid away from anyone else. But these kids may provide one of the best returns on your donation for a number of reasons:

●. Many have already lost their parents to extremism, war or some other avoidable pestilence-- if anyone longs for a changed Afghanistan, they do;

●. These children, girls and boys alike, are receiving a reasonably good education;

●. They are being brought up in a relatively tolerant and non-fundamentalist part of Afghanistan;

●. Due to the relative stability of their region, donations will not find their way into the hands of the Taliban, as in some other parts of the nation.

●. Children are the future leaders of Afghanistan.
●.100% of what you give goes directly to the children--we pay any expenses ourselves.

Two years ago, I just thought it would be cool to fly presents out to these orphans so that when they thought of the US, they would think of hope and friendship. Now I think that we may actually need these orphans more than they need us.
--W.