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Afghan Winter…Help!
So much is being said about the war in Afghanistan, but the
worsening situation is the severe suffering of the civilians
caught in the middle. The question is, how can we help? Life
has to continue for ordinary people regardless of one rhetoric
against another.
Today we have made a decision to address one of the serious
needs of the victims apart form food and medicine in the coming
severe Afghanistan winter, namely by collecting and distributing
what are known as "space blankets." These are very
thin (folding up smaller than a wallet), lightweight (less
than 100g , or about 3 ounces), blankets made of a slivery
plastic, highly effective at keeping a person warm. These
blankets cost about $2 each (US$) and are available in camping
stores in the US and Europe (They are not available here in
Nepal.) We would like to collect as many of these blankets
as we can to send to refugees in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
If you are willing to collect and donate these space blankets,
you may send them to the address below in the US.
Afghan people are historically known to be proud and generous
and yet today they are highly humiliated. Let's put ourselves
and our family in their position. Please take a moment to
reflect on that. What would we do, what would we say, and
what would we expect from God, from friends, from neighbors
and from humanity?
We have expressed in our previous articles and calls for
peace and help as well as our position and opposition against
the war of any sort whether from this side or that side. We,
as a medical, educational and peace organization, would like
to draw your attention to the seriousness of Afghan suffering,
leaving out all political debates. Out of 22 million Afghani
people, a great number of them (the majority being under the
age of 18) suffer from disease, hunger, illiteracy and lack
of security. We have tried to help on a very small scale in
a medical and educational level to ease some of the sufferings,
namely establishing two mother-child care centers, 14 home
schools for girls, and some vocational training programs for
widowed women and young girls inside Afghanistan.
The last we heard from our coordinator in Afghanistan (about
1 week ago), these programs are still running, despite the
bombings. But we have had no news form him since last week.
We can only hope that he, the staff and the people being served
are alive and safe.
Some of you probably have many questions as to how else you
could help, whether sending medicine, clothes, etc but we
must consider the situation in Pakistan and the transportation
of many of the necessary items into Afghanistan. And we must
say at this point it is rather difficult if not impossible
to send these bulky, expensive items.
We do, however, have a system in place where we can buy medicine,
tents, and food in Pakistan and provide financial support
for some families as we did last year and this spring. Please
feel free to check our website and request a copy of our latest
brochures for more details on these past works. Let's hope
that we can give whatever support to the victims under the
very unusual circumstances that we have at hand.
Thank you for your support and compassion and for taking
part in this effort to help those caught innocently in the
acts of war.
MEPO Committee
In the US, donations of space blankets or money (with checks
made out to MEPO) can be sent to:
Lyda Ghaemi
950 Kains Ave. #A
Albany CA 94706
Or to:
MEPO
C/O Badawang Art
37 Maple Street
Summit, NJ 07901
** MEPO is a non-profit charity organization serving people
in Nepal and Afghanistan.
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