I think Its a nice idea to help with school suply , here in the Netherlands there is such a project helping poor kids

with school suply this project is for Russian kids and African kids we call it the shoe box project every one who is a member

can order a shoe box and fill it with important school suply and with other small things like soap colgate and shampoo , but the first

important thing that goes in the box is school suply .

Maybe is this something to think about ?

I am Diantha and I am new up here , I want to spaonser a child in Afghanistan the only thing is that I am

in the Netherlands and I need to have a credit card and I do not have that I have a normal bankin acount and

I can do Internet banking so my question is if I can sponser a child with my normal banking acount ?

Greetings Diantha

Rose

I'm not sure where to begin with this, but here goes.  i'm obviously sponsoring a child, but i feel i could be doing much more to help empower/inspire/strengthen the people of afghanistan.  i know there are numerous non profit organizations out there, so i'm not necessarily looking to start another one, rather, help one already existing.  i would love to help children or women, since those two groups seem to be at the most disadvantage (based on research i have done).  ideally, i was hoping to gather school supplies and ship them over to orphanages . . . is this a legitimate idea?  i really need some advice on how i can do something more.  i've had this urge/passion/desire for the last 5 years, so whether or not someone helps guide me doesn't matter -- i will do something, but how i go about it will depend on what kind of advice/support i can attain.  i would love to tell more about my passion, but i've done this so many times already with little or no responses. but i will be more than happy to oblige upon request.  please, i will very grateful for any direction.  thank you all!

I'm so glad you've joined us here. Thanks for sharing a little of the history of your involvement as a sponsor.

As most of the children I know live in the Kabul orphanages, I really like hearing about Gul Mina in Jalalabad. If you'd like to share a photo of her sometime, you can post it in these discussion forums or send it to me and I'll feature it in the "children we sponsor" widget on the front page of the site.

Thanks for your generous offer with Mif2Go. I don't have a need to take you up on that, but maybe some of the other sponsors will.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you better.

- Rose

In December 2007, I received an email from RAWA about the orphanages.  I signed up as a sponsor the same day, for a 13-year-old girl named Gul Mina.  Then I wrote about that to my personal list, about 40 people, with this comment:

>>Hi.  Normally I look askance at appeals from organized charities, but
>>I've met these women, and they do what they say.  I just signed up for
>>sponsorship of one of the children myself; it was $56/month, less than
>>we spend for a dinner out (and way less than a bookstore visit), to
>>cover all her needs...  She's 13, and wants to become a gynecologist,
>>to help the other women in her village and reduce the grim childbirth
>>mortality there.  All this, in a country that "we" continue to bomb
>>daily, to remove the Taliban that "we" installed in the first place.  
>>
>>Highly recommended.

Gul Mina is doing well at Naseema Orphanage in Jalalabad; I hear from her almost every month. Despite the challenging circumstances under which they live, she and the other children in her orphanage seem to be happy, enthusiastic, and hopeful about the future.  I'm impressed by their courage.

I develop software for technical writers, mainly a FrameMaker plugin called Mif2Go; I'll be happy to give a free lifetime license to anyone here who can use it.  If you use Frame, go to <http://www.omsys.com> for a description of what it does.

I'm delighted that Rose has created this site, and look forward to working with others here to help the children, RAWA, and the people of Afghanistan.

Rose

At the end of 2008, I was looking for opportunities to do more for the people of Afghanistan.  After much research I was torn as to what would have the most impact. So as I always tend to do I looked for “a sign” to help me decide.   On Christmas morning I awoke to an e-mail from the orphanage with a picture of the children holding a sign wishing me happy holidays.  I had my sign and I became the sponsor of the Sitara Orphanage the next day.

I believe that the empowerment of women and the education of future generations are the two most important areas to focus on in order to make the world a better place.  My individual impact on the world will never make history but perhaps through my sponsorships I will change the life of that one individual that will change the world.  In return the staff and children of AFCECO bring indescribable joy and inspiration to my life.   I think I am the lucky one.

Hello to all my friends, and to friends of the orphanages. Here's my story.  First, I read a book and became interested in RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan). I was pretty much blown away by all that organization had done and is still doing, in Afghanistan and in the refugee camps in Pakistan.  At the time, orphanages in both countries were RAWA-sponsored, and I started my sponsorship activities at that time, several years ago now.  

Once I started and learned more about the orphanages and established wonderful relationships with the children and those responsible for running the orphanages, now under the auspices of AFCECO and Charity Help International .... well, I just couldn't stop.  I now sponsor 10 children in the Kabul orphanages, 9 girls and one little boy.  Seven of these are currently at the Mehan Orphanage and three at Sitara. As time passes, these very deep friendships grow finer, deeper, more special in my life.

Two years ago, I had the idea of building a library for the use of all the children.  As it happens, the schools in Afghanistan generally have no library at all, and I'm not sure there's anything like the public library systems that are so much part of our lives in this and many other countries.  Shy though I am, and having absolutely no experience at fundraising of any kind, I contacted schools and churches in my little corner of Connecticut.  I solicited donations of books, videos, and money.  Two of the schools and one church were terrifically enthusiastic and a few other sponsors chipped in as well.  The AFCECO organizers built a beautiful library in the Mehan Orphanage, and that facility is expanding into a multimedia center that is used by the children and staff in all three of the Kabul orphanages. 

For the past months, initially via Facebook, a small group of people, whom I now consider my close friends, have joined to talk about our sponsored children, about the orphanages, and about the situation in Afghanistan.  And now, joining hands with AfCECO, Charity Help International, and the new Veterans for Afghanistan group, we have our own website and can work together and, I hope, bring in the many sponsors from all over the world.  I am really excited about our prospects for making a big difference in a country that needs just the kind of help and love we are eager to provide.

Welcome to us all.

I was proud to serve my country in a place where such a large part of our mission was helping local Afghans rebuild and move on with their lives, but it very soon became clear to me that there was such a vast need, and we had such limited resources at the time I was there.  My primary job was to supply medics and health care providers at the American hospital at Bagram Airfield, but I also assisted with supplying our taskforce partners at the humanitarian hospitals run by the Egyptian Army and the Korean Army who combined saw over 500 Afghan patients every day.  Afghan men, women, and children would come from miles away for medical care.  I once saw a young man bring in an elderly man to the Egyptian hospital in a wheelbarrow.  Another man carried his mother in on his back.  And children were everywhere -- as medical patients, as beggars or clever hucksters outside the front gate, or as laborers -- and not in school as I thought they should be. 

Afghanistan continues to be plagued by conflict, crime, and dire poverty.  But the breathtakingly beautiful landscape of the rugged brown Hindu Kush mountains, the lush green fields and angular mud-brick villages dotting the river valleys, and the dusty plains where I first saw camels lumbering by in their natural habitat.  And the smiling warmth and generosity of the everyday Afghan people I met, despite all they've endured, and despite all that they lack -- well, all of this made a profound impression on me.  I wanted to do something that would make a lasting, positive change there.  One thing I discovered I could do as an individual of modest means was to sponsor a child through the AFCECO orphanage program.

The future of Afghanistan is its children.  Society there has been so disrupted by decades of brutal war; families and communities have been torn apart, and for thirty years now it has been an extreme challenge just for children to be educated in the basics of reading and writing in their own language.  Children need and deserve a safe place to live, sanitary conditions, basic health care, nutritious food, and caring people who can help them learn how to grow up into strong men and women, prepared to be citizens in a modern world.  That is such a daunting challenge in Afghanistan right now.  But AFCECO is actually doing it.  And with more funding from those of us who do have resources -- even modest ones -- we can help AFCECO reach even more children. 

The organization I've founded, Veterans for Afghanistan, is proud to partner with Hope for Afghan Chidren in support of the amazing work that AFCECO does.  Regardless of how you feel about the current conflict, I think we all can agree that the time is now for each one of us to do something to help Afghanistan.  By supporting AFCECO, we are making a powerful and profound investment in an independent and peaceful future Afghanistan.  These children will indeed be Afghanistan's future.  And from what I've seen of all that AFCECO is able to do despite the surrounding challenges -- that future is a bright one. 

Won't you join us?

My name is Rose and I've been an AFCECO sponsor for about a year. I started by sponsoring a 7-year-old girl, Madinah, in Mehan Orphanage. Somehow that quickly blossomed into sponsoring three other girls, all in Mehan: Sara, Farzana Masoom and Farzana Nori. I love having the chance to build a relationship with these children/young women and I feel privileged to be able to contribute in a small way to building a better future for young Afghan people. I am learning so much through this process.

My original impetus for sponsoring was when I met Zoya, an Afghan woman and member of RAWA who spoke at the 10th anniversary V-Day in New Orleans. I was so impressed by her bravery and commitment and so overwhelmed by what she and other women like her are attempting to do in Afghanistan. I asked her what was the one thing I could do that would make the most difference to the country's future, and she said "Help us to educate our children."

There are many other reasons I am committed to sponsoring. As an Australian living and working in the USA and with the Australian and US military both present on Afghan soil, I feel it is important to reach out to the people of Afghanistan and show my support. I also feel that creating connections between Muslim and non-Muslim people, especially after 8 years of the Bush adminstration (and the Howard government back home in Australia), is essential.

When I'm not working on this site, I work for Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, doing anti-death-penalty work. I am also a freelance computer writer and have a site called Geekgirl's Plain English Computing, which I never have enough time for.

I'm passionate about social justice, the language of music, the music of language and making a difference. And I'm very keen to get to know other AFCECO sponsors.

Please take a moment to introduce yourself to other members of the Hope for Afghan Children forums. Feel free to be as brief or descriptive as you like. Some things you might like to mention:

• A few detaiils about yourself.
• Whether you are already a child sponsor. If so, is your sponsorship through AFCECO or some other organization?
• What is your sponsored child's (or children's) name, age and orphanage?
• What drew you to the Hope for Afghan Children website, and what would you like to get from your participation here?
• Any skills or special knowledge you have to contribute to further the goals of AFCECO and Hope for Afghan Children.

To post your introduction, please click the 'Add a new topic' button near the top right of this post, and put your name and location in the 'Topic name' box.