On Sunday, November 10th, joined by around 55 volunteers, we packed 33,336 packages of rice = 200,016 meals in less than 4 hours! You got the job done! The atmosphere in the warehouse was upbeat, and it was a joy watching the elementary and middle school kids happily banging lids onto the buckets of rice […]
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 […]
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 […]