Fwd: Friends of Afghanistan Afghan travelogue

--- pokerdoctor <no_reply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Well, I guess it's a travelogue if you walk from Herat to Kabul - in a straight line through the mountains - in the winter- in 2002 (soon after Tora Bora). Yikes.

The author went on to be a deputy governor in British-occupied Iraq. An amazing journey and an amazing book.

Rory Stewart
The Places in Between
Harcourt, 2006, $14.00 (paperback)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rory_Stewart

Bill Loughner
RPCV, 65-67

From: nancy cunningham
Date: Dec 10, 2006 4:08 PM
Subject: Re: Friends of Afghanistan Afghan travelogue
To: peacecorpsfriendsofafghanistan@yahoogroups.com

Time to revisit a travelogue from the 50's (or was it
60's?) called "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" by Eric
Newby. The golden years of Afghanistan, the
Afghanistan we knew.

Nancy Cunningham

Fwd: Friends of Afghanistan Fwd: Benefit for families in Afghanistan

From: JANE WILLARD
Date: Dec 6, 2006 2:58 PM
Subject: Friends of Afghanistan Fwd: Benefit for families in Afghanistan
To: peacecorpsfriendsofafghanistan@yahoogroups.com

For those of you in the Twin Cities area, this is an excellent program.

Jane
------ Original Message ------
Received: Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:27:46 AM CST
From: Marita Bujold
Subject: Benefit for families in Afghanistan

Dear friend,

I would like to invite you to attend the fourth annual Festival of Music for families in Afghanistan.

The beneficiary for this year's event will be a local organization called Fifty Lanterns. [ www.50lanterns.org] They have partnered with Habitat for Humanity in Afghanistan to provide sustainable light source for the homes and school and clinic which are being built for a Hazara community near Masar e Sharif. This community of refugees has returned to Afghanistan in the hope of building a life there after several years in the refugee camps in Pakistan.

The mission of Fifty Lanterns is to provide high powered solar lanterns to people in regions of the world which have been isolated and damaged by war. The first fifty lanterns were delivered by co-founder photo journalist Linda Cullen to widows in Afghanistan just over a year a ago.

I attended a presentation given by Linda Cullen last month. She showed photographs of her October visit to Masar e Sharif. She delivered 150 lanterns to the community. They people were immensely grateful. Other groups had expressed a desire to help them. But no one has followed through on their promises. It was exciting and gratifying to learn that this long suffering people are beginning to build a new life. They have few resources. Their income is dependent upon the wages of the men who work as day laborers in Masar e Sharif.

But this collaboration between Habitat and Fifty Lanterns has provided them with hope and very practical help. The lanterns provide a clean, safe source of light for 10 years.

You can help Fifty Lanterns to provide light and hope. Invite a friend for a memorable afternoon of music followed by a buffet of Central Asian food. Every dollar donated will be given to Fifty Lanterns. Reserve tickets today. [See below]

Thank you!

Marita Bujold

Jane M Willard RPCV Afghanistan '72-74 PARSA CRAFTS 612/961-3489 (cell) FAX 651/695-1661

Other great ideas for our support

from Jane Willard

Re: A MUST READ BOOK!
Thu Nov 30, 2006 8:55 am (PST)

waleikom salaam, Tony and Terry

I currently support Mohamed Kharoti's GreenVillageSchools in
Lashkar Gah, my old Peace Corps site. He is an Oregon doctor
from a nomadic family that was settled in Nadiali (I hope I got
that right Mohamed). www.greenvillageschools.org
<http://www.greenvillageschools.org> . His school is 50-50 girls
and boys, and he is hoping to expand to higher levels.

I also support PECA, Partnership for the Education of the
Children of Afghanistan, founded by Ghafar and Laila Lakanval who
are business people here in the Twin Cities.
www.afghanimodelschool.org <http://www.afghanimodelschool.org> .
They have built a school in Khost, where Ghafar is from. It is
the first school in Khost to teach girls. They are also heading
up an effort to form an alliance of all the Twin City Afghan
related NGOs which include PARSA crafts and 50 Lanterns.
Finally, they are working with several other groups in Wardak.

Finally, I also support the work of Aschiana, which serves street
children in Kabul. www.aschiana.com <http://www.aschiana.com>

Fwd: Friends of Afghanistan Digest Number 577

PeaceCorpsFriends of Afghanistan - RPCV and Friends of Afghanistan Community
Re: A MUST READ BOOK!
Thu Nov 30, 2006 8:06 am (PST)
Terry Jaan Salaam,

I wrote to Greg a few years ago when I was looking for school construction partners in Afghanistan. After repeated contact attempts with no response from Greg or anyone from his Central Asia Institute, I had to find other NGO counterparts in country to run our educational equity projects. He admits that the administrative and organizational aspects of his work are not his best assets. I will recontact him to see if there are any projects we can work on together, especially since he is working in some of the more remote provinces that many of us served in.

Regarding the specifics of school construction, cost per room is about $7,500 and rising. After contributing to the construction of five schools, I have been advised to support Afghan education in ways that do not put us in competition with the big multi-national construction companies who are subsidized by US, Japanese, European and UN grants.
My organization is currently supporting Khris Nedam's project in Wardak. We currently have two schools under construction with two more planned.

Personally, my next project will be 'Water for Oprah's Schools." Orpah just built four schools in Samangan my Peace Corps province through HTAC "Help the Afghan Children" run by Surya Sadeed out of Washington, DC. The schools are great but they are in desperate need of a dedicated supply of water. We have about $12K raised for this project and we want to recruit hundreds of other school districts to support Oprah's educational activities in Afghanistan.

I'll keep you and FoA updated as this project gains traction. Let's really try to get in touch with Greg. He has done great things for Afghanistan and he deserves our support.
If anyone has already contacted Greg please let Terry and me know how to best get in touch.

Peace, Tony

President, Friends of Afghanistan
Director, Schools and Futures, Inc.
Advisor, Western New York
Sister School Coalition
Peace Corps, Afghanistan 1972-75