When President Obama announced the decision to “draw down” troops from Afghanistan I was often asked what I thought would happen to Afghanistan. My response remained the same. Three factors impacting the future of Afghanistan First, what happens in Pakistan. The fighting inside Afghanistan will never cease as long as the Taliban are supported, […]
The news from and about Afghanistan continues to be troubling. Jack Howell brought me the most recent “bad news” article written by Joel Brinkley, recently published in the San Francisco Chronicle, entitled “Greedy Karzai risks U.S. triggering the “zero option”. Long time no report. My apologies. I’ve been in Montana vegging. No, not eating them, […]
There is considerable debate among aid organizations regarding what to do with the estimated 35,000 people living in refugee camps in Kabul. They are victims of what one author described as a “pitiless Catch-22 policy” established by international humanitarian aid providers” (click HERE for New York Times article). The World Food program stopped providing food to […]
Michelle Toy and Brent Cannon of NBC interview Budd about the work of Trust in Education in spring of 2008. Though several years old, this Emmy-nominated video does a great job of showing why the work of Trust in Education is so important .
As “The Girl Effect” so aptly describes, educating girls makes a big difference to society in the long run: * When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children. * An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to […]
What can be more valuable than opium to Afghan farmers? Poplar trees! When the trees are mature, poplar wood fetches a great price, especially with the high demand for buildings and bridges as Afghanistan rebuilds. Even as they are growing, poplar trees can produce cuttings, which can be sold to other farmers interested in a […]
Last fall, at the villagers’ request, we decided to try supplying improved wheat seed to a few farmers. Nabi’s company Pacific Seed donated the seed and we shipped it to Afghanistan. Well, the grain has not yet been harvested yet but the excitement is in! Our project manager Maiwand visited one of the […]