Fwd: Finally all the albums are on the picasa site, here is short information for those interested

From: Anna Hacker <anna.hacker@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 7:49 AM
Subject: Finally all the albums are on the picasa site, here is short information for those interested
To: Terry Dougherty

Dear Terry,

I have finally gotten all the albums in place...I had difficulty on the last one of the construction.

Attached are all items that will give too much information about the Kuchi Anna and her solo Kabul mission. Two items about the Afghan Women's Educational Center, and their achievements along with my bio and news article from Tucson paper last September. There are some inaccuracies in article but minor considering all Bonnie did include.

So far all of my efforts have been at my own expense...flights, purchases to resell, etc. But with all my savings being changed by economic downturn, plus no more consulting it is getting more difficult.

I would love to hear from anyone regarding the project...we are going to have a Center but will we have all the funding...it is an interesting question. Maybe there are some ex volunteers out there that might want to help. Please include my email address, and mention I have a home in Tucson, Az...and maybe I will heard from Bernie Sands, and some other volunteers I met in the 1970's. With my travel and involvement the last few years I have not kept up with friendships or such in the way I should.

I appreciate your efforts in keeping me posted and one day I will get the chat connection but right now just able to manage what I can via internet.

In the last Connections there was note re embroidery..this is one of my fund raisers, I buy in Kabul and then resell to raise funds. There is a book put out by the British Museum, Sheila Paine author, entitled Afghanistan Embroidery. She also did a travelogue entitle Afghan Amulet. Both are very interesting. Sheila is authority on embroidery from around the world, and one other book is The History of Embroidery. I use 2 different sites to find books, half.com and books@alibris , lots cheaper and they have been able to provide me with many books re Afghanistan..even an update Michaud book, Afghanistan, The Land that Was (new title).

Off to other emails.

Regards,

Anna

--
Anna

anna.hacker@gmail.com

UAE mobile 050 415 1624

Achievements of the Last 3 Years of AWEC Worker Children Centers

During the past three years the direct beneficiaries

of the two Centers were a total of 3,500 worker children.

650 children were introduced to government schools and are now

continuing their education.

Of the 650 children, 247 of them are girls, 403 of them are boys. A further breakdown shows 67 from the Kuchi tribe, and 12 from the Jugi tribe. The Kuchi tribe and Jugi tribe are the lowest two groups of Afghan society.

80 children have graduated from vocational training courses, and are no longer working in the market. They have their own private workshops and can provide for their family.

Success stories from the last 3 years:

1. Khurma, from the Kuchi tribe, has been introduced to school and is now in grade 9. She also was trained in tailoring for 6 months, and is supporting her family by sewing clothes. Before she used to collect plastic and cans from the street.

When the Center wanted to introduce her to formal schooling, her

father and mother and brothers did not agree as they felt it was

shameful for an adult girl to go to school. After several visits the

family was convinced to send her to school and they are now very

happy with her success.

2. Mehr Bebe is 16 years old, and she has been introduced to formal

school. She is now in 7^th grade. She was trained in tailoring for six

months, and now she is supporting her family by sewing clothes.

Before she used to work cleaning houses. She is very happy and

wants to become a doctor in the future.

3. Nasrullah, from the Jugi tribe, has been introduced to government school and is now in class 8. At the same he is teaching the younger children in his camp, and is get paid for his teaching by the elders of the camp. Nasrullah is the only person having secondary education in the whole camp, and people call Head Master. The rest of the camp is illiterate.

Sana Gul, from the Kuchi tribe, has been introduced to government school and is now in class 9. The Kuchis live in tents and in the winters when they travel to warmer places, he is teaching the younger children. He is receiving Afs 2,000 for his teaching. He is also attending English language and computer classes. Whenever Sana Gul faces a problem, he returns to the center to request help in solving his problem. Sana Gul wants to become a doctor in the future.

Anna Hacker

Anna Hacker, a semi-retired international educator, taught in Afghanistan at the International School of Kabul, from 1970 to 1974. Those years provided her with memories of proud individuals with open door hospitality for everyone. The majestic beauty of the mountains surrounding Kabul and Afghan’s rugged countryside plus her Afghan friends memories has always traveled with her as she moved around internationally since 1974.

Anna managed to keep contact with her Afghan families, and after 9/11 she decided to help and give back to a cause in her golden years. Her decision has been to work on behalf of the Afghan Women’s Educational Center, an Afghan NGO that works with widows and worker street children. She has personally visited Kabul at least 10 times; all her travel and efforts are at her own expense. Having spent time with the Center children, the widows, and the staff she recognizes their great needs, especially as international funds for NGO’s has become more limited.

Through her work with schools in the Middle East, where she now lives, she has worked with schools raising student awareness and community service in regards to Afghanistan. Through community service she has mentored fund raising activities for AWEC.

Anna’s vision has been to raise enough funds to build a Model AWEC Center, so AWEC can continue its outstanding programs for widows and worker children. They have been renting their substandard facilities, and rent continues to spiral out of control. The architectural concept plan for a Model AWEC Center was donated by a US architect, the actual building will be handled and cost controlled by an Afghan businessman who Anna taught as a young boy. The biggest project handicap was acquiring land. In October the Ministry of Education provided land at an existing girl’s high school. The AWEC Center will be walled and separate from the school. The construction has begun.

Anna does not apply any funds collected to her travel or efforts on behalf of AWEC. All donations go directly to the AWEC Building Fund or the donor-designated projects. Anna wants students, individuals, schools, and organizations to experience the personal side of giving as she shares her photos, worker children artwork, and their stories.

Donations contributed from Damascus to Cairo to Doha to Dubai to Tucson to Baltimore to Long Island to Washington, DC to Vancouver exemplify “THERE IS A WAY FROM HEART TO HEART” (Afghan proverb) and “A RIVER IS MADE DROP BY DROP” (Afghan proverb).

The building phrase of the Model AWEC Center hopefully will be completed by December 1, 2008. The interior might extend beyond this date depending on the Building Fund.