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Women Against War Afghanistan Project
Our Goals:
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To advocate for replacing the US military occupation of Afghanistan with
development and diplomacy.
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To educate ourselves and others in the Capital District about Afghanistan,
Pakistan & the need for a negotiated, regional peace settlement.
Our work on
Afghanistan began in November 2008 and is coordinated by a planning committee of
women that meets monthly.
Upcoming Events:
 Women Against War is bringing back Fahima Vorgetts to speak at more Capital District locations. Please come hear Fahima talk about the impact of the US military occupation and her development work in Afghanistan – including the Afghan Well Project to bring clean drinking water & irrigation to the village of Mir Taqi Shah, for which Women Against War is raising the needed $10,000.
Fahima Vorgetts of Women for Afghan Women
Speaking with Slides
Sunday, March 7, 2010
12:30-1:15 PM
Afghanistan’s Heartbreak, Afghanistan’s Hope.
Islamic Center of the Capital District, 21 Lansing Rd, Schenectady.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
12:50-1:45 PM
Afghanistan’s Heartbreak,
Afghanistan’s Hope.
Pizza & Politics series.
Union College, Social Science104.
7:00 PM Mercy Center, 310 So. Manning Blvd.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
7:30 PM.
The Plight of Women in the Afghan
War. University at Albany, Humanities, Rm. 137.
Co-sponsored by Women’s Studies/IRO, UUP
& Women Against War.
All events free and open to the public.
Opportunities to donate to the Afghan Well Project, postcards for Congress & literature will be available.
Fahima Vorgetts, an Afghan-American from Maryland, fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. Fahima has dedicated her life's work to improving the conditions of women in her native country. She spent May 2009 in Afghanistan, where she travels several times each year.
Fahima has been involved in other well projects, opening new schools for girls and literacy classes for women, creating income-generating projects for widows, and arranging for the shipment of medical and school supplies and clothing to refugees.
Fahima has addressed the United Nations and traveled widely speaking at university conferences and religious organizations, appeared on many television and radio programs, including the BBC and NPR and been featured in articles in the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post.
Fahima is the winner of several awards from peace and human rights organizations. She is an inspiring, charismatic speaker who possesses wisdom on the realities in Afghanistan and recommendations on how the US should and should not be involved.
For information: Info@WomenAgainstWar.org 518-426-0710
Past Events and Speakers:
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Fahima Vorgetts of Women for Afghan Women, Nov. 2008
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Marilyn Hoffman of Peace Action and Connie Frisbee Houde, local photojournalist
and WAW activist, June 13, 2009
Marilyn Hoffman
Connie Frisbee Houde
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Kristele Younes of Refugees International, date
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Now scheduling Connie Frisbee Houde for community talks following her September
- October 2009 trip to Afghanistan
Lobbying Sens.
Schumer & Gillibrand and Reps. Tonko & Murphy:
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Delegations to their offices.
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Petition circulation.
Book Discussion Groups:
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Punishment of Virtue by Sarah Chayes
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Kabul in Winter
by Ann Jones
Organizations Providing Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan:
American Friends Service Committee
http://www.afsc.org/middleeast/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/17601/pid/673
This organization would be a
good resource for learning about the programs run by Afghans with in
Afghanistan.
The American Friends Service Committee carries out service, development, social
justice, and peace programs throughout the world. Founded by Quakers in 1917 to
provide conscientious objectors with an opportunity to aid civilian war victims,
AFSC's work attracts the support and partnership of people of many races,
religions, and cultures.
AFSC's
work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person and faith in the
power of love to overcome violence and injustice. The organization's mission and
achievements won worldwide recognition in 1947 when it accepted the
Nobel Peace Prize with the British
Friends Service Council on behalf of all Quakers.
They have two programs one
relating to education and building schools and one related to wellness and are
largely run by Afghans.
The Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation
http://www.goodrichfoundation.org/index.php
The Peter M.
Goodrich Memorial Foundation was created following Peter's death on September
11, 2001. It is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt public charity with Tax Identification
Number: 02-6147550.
Its purpose is to support the love of learning for its own sake, especially
by those naturally curious, imaginative, dreamers like Peter, thought not well
suited for it, and to encourage the search for those thin places that separate
what we are taught to believe is true from what really is, give aid to those who
unselfishly approach those perilous places, and help discover means of peaceful
passage through them to clearer understandings of our natural world and its
people.
During May and
June, 2009, the Foundation will join others in raising funds for victims of the
Nangarhar Earthquake who work at WADAN and have lost family and homes. WADAN is
the indigenous non-governmental organization that oversees the Foundation's work
in Afghanistan.
The Foundation is shifting its primary focus in Afghanistan to SOLA, an NGO and
non profit in the making, that provides vocational and educational support
services to returning Afghan exchange students and those who wish to come to the
US for educational opportunities.
In the United States, the Foundation supports a number of male and female Afghan
exchange students.
The Foundation intends to build a school library in Bamyan province. The Shuhada
Organization will direct all aspects of the project.
The Foundation partially funds the food, fuel, and clothing needs of fifty
orphans in Wardak and staff members charged with educating, nurturing and
protecting these victims of conflict. Recently donations purchased a flock of
sheep to lay the groundwork for economic self sufficiency for the orphanage,
schools and health clinic in the village.
In both Afghanistan and the United States, our hope is to contribute to a new
generation of citizens and leaders capable of devising solutions to complex
problems.
Past Projects
The Foundation constructed a 26 room K-8 school in the province of Logar. The
school was conveyed to the government of Afghanistan and dedicated in April
2006. Last year the Foundation funded the construction of two bathrooms for
staff members, a septic system and piped water to the interior of the building.
During the spring of 2006, it also completed second smaller project: a well,
reservoir and water distribution system in a village in Kunar. Former
Afghanistan Deputy Interior Minister, Shamahmood Miakhel, supervised both
projects.
The Foundation currently relies on an indigenous non-government organization,
the Welfare Association for Development of Afghanistan (WADAN), to provide
critical advice andoversee
its work. To learn more about WADAN, please use the link below:
Welfare Association for Development of Afghanistan
International Assistance Mission
http://www.iam-afghanistan.org/
This is a faith based
organization that I (Connie Frisbee Houde –
lilyconnie@verizon.net) have worked with for the past 5 years. They are
dedicated to serving the Afghan people. I have traveled with a photographed
their eye care program know as NOOR (National Organization for Ophthalmic
Rehabilitation)
Women for Afghan Women
http://www.womenforafghanwomen.org/
Women for Afghan Women (WAW) is
an organization of Afghan and non-Afghan women from the New York area who are
committed to ensuring the human rights of Afghan women.
WAW promotes the agency of local Afghan women through the creation of safe
forums where Afghan women can network, develop programs to meet their specific
needs, and participate in human rights advocacy in the international sphere.
WAW raises funds for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, particularly schools and
health facilities for women and children. Recognizing that the ability to earn
their living is fundamental to the empowerment of women, WAW supports the
development of vocational training programs for women in Afghanistan who have
been denied access to education and professional training.
The inclusion of women in all decision-making processes is a requirement of a
democratic society. WAW advocates for the representation of women in all areas
of life in Afghanistan: political, social, cultural and economic.
Afghans for
Civil Society
http://www.afghansforcivilsociety.org/
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Afghans for Civil
Society (ACS) seeks to bring about a democratic alternative for
Afghanistan that opposes violence and extremism and encourages a nascent
civil society.
ACS programs promote community empowerment and citizens to play a
greater role in determining Afghanistan's destiny. ACS is committed to
increasing public participation in the decision-making process through
democracy building, policy development and independent media.
ACS projects are generally conceived to be implemented within specific,
targeted areas in order to achieve immediate and long-lasting results.
Whenever possible, ACS programs are generated and directed by members of
the local community to help ensure their sustainability and to promote
the sense that every Afghan has a direct stake in their own future and,
ultimately, in the shape of their country.
The organization is actively involved in economic and institutional
development and returning Afghanistan to a peaceful, productive and
democratic society. By forging direct links with scholars, experts,
Afghan citizens and schoolchildren around the world, we hope to promote
cross-cultural understanding so a unified Afghanistan can take a
positive place in the international community.
Since 2002, ACS has implemented programs in five major areas to achieve
an integrated approach to strengthening civil society (small image to
right):
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Women's Issues:
providing employment for over 500 women in Kandahar, promoting
women’s leadership in local governance and creating a strong network
of women in Kandahar to build capacity and organize empowering
programs for women.
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Public Policy:
facilitating town councils, women human rights groups and studies
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Reconstruction:
rebuilding a village, schools and organizing numerous humanitarian
aid shipments
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Education:
managing home-based schools for women and girls, literacy lessons,
public health education and college prep tutoring
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Independent Media:
launched Kandahar’s first independent radio station staffed by
Afghan journalists, currently expanding to television.
Working across ethnic
lines, genders and tribal affiliations, we are dedicated to the notion
that political performance should be measured in terms of substantive
improvements in the lives of citizens.
Afghans for Civil Society’s approach to reconstruction focuses both on
technical assistance and democracy building efforts. Consistently
working with local communities, ACS seeks to address critical needs in
Afghanistan and works to build progress toward peace and security
through a range of projects and programs. |
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WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP!
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Come to our next event: Mon, Jan 18, 2010
7:00 PM
Afghanistan Project Meeting
lbany Friends Meetinghouse, 727 Madison Ave.
Planning for winter projects including book discussion group, return visit of Afghan-American speaker Fahima Vorgetts & more speaking by local photojournalist Connie Frisbee Houde recently returned from Afghanistan.
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Join one of our lobbying groups. E-mail
info@womenagainstwar.org.
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Show your opposition to the war with our button (photo) and bumper sticker
(photo).
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Schedule Connie Frisbee Houde to speak this fall after her return from
Afghanistan. E-mail:
lilyconnie@verizon.net.
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Sign up for our Afghanistan list to be notified of speakers & events. E-mail
info@womenagainstwar.org.
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Donate to help us pay for speakers, literature, buttons, etc.
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