ISSUE 5 January 2009   |   Visit our website   |   How you can help

• Personal Message from Mahboba
• Afghanistan’s Winter – a Looming Crisis in a Stricken Land
• Ahmed Update
• Gifts That Give
• Creativity Blooms at Hope House
• Olympic Medal for Afghanistan inspires Hope House Children
• Houses for Progress
• Australian Army Shows Hope House Orphans some Australian Rules
• Baby Born at Hope House
• New Health Clinic for Hope House
• The Orchard of Asia Returns
• Thank you to Photographer, Imal Hashimi

• Issue 1 - Feb 07
• Issue 2 - Sept 07
• Issue 3 - Feb 08
• Issue 4 - Jul 08
• Issue 5 - Jan 09
• Issue 6 - Feb 10

" The growing insecurity hits widows and orphans hardest so this is a time for more work, not less... "

Snow and ice are the killers stalking Afghanistan this winter and they are more lethal than bullets and bombs. Thousands are in danger of freezing to death. Millions face starvation and epidemics of disease.

Last winter was the harshest in living memory and most of the victims were children. Now droughts, food shortages and civil unrest have left the Afghan people more vulnerable than ever.

Mahboba Rawi, Founder of Mahboba's Promise, says the situation is critical. “Winter is always harsh, but this year high prices and insecurity have created shortages. There is no wood, no gas, no food, and no water. People search the streets for rubbish to burn to keep warm.”

Ms Rawi says “People require necessities for life. To avert a humanitarian crisis action needs to be taken now before extreme weather leaves much of the country inaccessible. People become isolated in remote areas due to snow and ice. We need to help before the snow falls, but nothing is happening – nobody is doing anything. When people begin to die then it is too late. We need to act now.”

Mahboba has had an extra guest for the last few months, a little Afghan boy who came to Australia for a life-saving operation on his spine. The Exodus Foundation stepped in to help organise the surgery and with financial help from ROMAC, an arm of the Rotary organisation that provides medical treatment for children from developing countries, and the generosity of the medical team, the operation became a possibility.

The difficult surgery was performed by highly skilled surgeons at The Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick. His operation was successful and he is now playing ball games. “I like handball and rugby the best,” says Ahmed. His favourite Team? “Broncos.”
Ahmed was going to stay in Australia for 6 weeks and then doctors discovered that his condition, which has hampered his growth, is caused by a Tuberculosis infection and Ahmed has had to stay for a much longer period of time to receive treatment.
While he is here, Ahmed is doing an Intensive English Course and getting very good results. Harvey Norman have kindly donated him a laptop computer which he uses to do his homework and to play games. By the time Ahmed goes back to Afghanistan he will have many useful new skills!

A special thanks to
ROMAC
Dr Angus Gray and his team
Dr Hazel Goldberg
The Exodus Foundation
Harvey Norman
.

Mahboba with Ahmed after the operation

This year Mahboba’s Promise offers Gifts That Give, wonderfully unique gifts for friends and family that initiate positive changes in the lives of human beings!
We have a fantastic set of Gifts That Give which can be purchased; A Fruit Tree, A Girl’s School Kit and a Sewing Machine. The Gift buyer receives a beautiful card, illustrated by an Afghan child, which can be given to loved ones.

Each of the gifts is designed to have the maximum impact. When children plant trees the benefits are ongoing, improving the environment and providing food. When a girl is educated she can offer positive contributions to her family, her community and her country. When a woman is taught a skill and given a tool to earn a living she can care for her family and contribute to society. Together these changes can bring peace and healing.

These gifts are enduring and profound. Years into the future they will still be having a far reaching beneficial effect.

A happier, healthier world? There is no better gift than that.
To find out more visit our website
 

Gifts that Give cards

Art classes in schools don’t have a very strong tradition in Afghanistan where basic education has been a luxury few can afford and schools struggle to find fundamental resources such as blackboards. Two years ago, artist Annette Tzavaras visited Afghanistan with Mahboba and ran the first art class at Hope House. “It was a frenzy” says Ms Tzavaras. “Firstly there were no resources at all to draw on, there was one pair of blunt scissors the size of hedge clippers, a glass jar that held a few blunt pencils and that was it!”

Children’s art class at Hope House

Since then, artistic endeavour has been fostered in Mahboba’s Promise projects. Pictures from Abdara Girls School were displayed at Parliament House in the Big Ones Little Ones exhibition. Three beautiful drawings from across all projects were chosen for the Gifts That Give cards and Ms Tzavaras is planning to co-operate with Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre to show the Children’s Art in a formal Exhibition.
Ms Tzavaras says “Introducing art to children has a number of benefits ranging from improving creativity to increasing self confidence. Art can help develop a child's imagination, cognitive skills, problem-solving abilities, fine motor skills, and much more.”
The variety of the children’s art coming out of Afghanistan expresses humour, joy, beauty, and boldness. Other pieces are very confronting, picturing helicopters, guns and fighting. These works provide important insights into the minds of children who have been deeply affected by unimaginable traumas.

 Art also provides a method for imagining a better world, such as one drawing of helicopters flying overhead and dropping, not bombs, but flowers and money. The process of art is providing these children with a vital means of expression and creativity. “Painting and drawing is a way to express feelings when words are inadequate or unavailable. Art lays the necessary groundwork for healing, personal growth and positive change,” concludes Ms Tzavaras.

Art by Hope House children

" Firstly there were no resources at all to draw on, there was one pair of blunt scissors the size of hedge clippers, a glass jar that held a few blunt pencils and that was it! "

History was made in Beijing in August when Afghan competitor Rohullah Nikpai won the first ever Olympic medal for Afghanistan. It was a much needed moment of national pride and celebration for the people of Afghanistan. Afghan representatives have been attending Olympic Games sporadically since 1936. Nikpai won bronze in the ancient Korean art of Taekwondo which is Afghanistan’s fastest growing sport.

Ghulam Rabani Rabani is the president of the Afghanistan National Taekwondo Federation. He believes that Taekwondo is a force for change. “One of the best ways to bring peace is to look after sports”. It has even become popular with women, who under Taliban rule were oppressed.

Hope House kids are mad about the sport which was first introduced two years ago. Qualified Taekwondo teachers train both boys and girls to competition level. Last year several Hope House students took home awards from the local championships. Nikpai’s medal has inspired the Hope House kids to shoot for Olympic gold. “If an Afghan can win bronze, then an Afghan can win gold” says Tareq, the top student in Taekwondo, “We have started taking it more seriously now.”

Afghan taekwondo Olympic champion Rohullah Nikpai	Children winning taekwondo competition

Children at Hope House learning taekwondo

Shelter is a basic human need, fundamental to survival.
Each winter the office in Kabul receives many emergency calls after snow and ice damages widows’ fragile houses. Often houses are left in a perilous state with mudslides weakening foundations, roofs falling in or walls falling down. Not only is this dangerous, but it means the houses are wide open to the extreme cold that Afghans deal with in winter. Many houses are overcrowded with six to ten people sharing one room which can be inadequately ventilated. Burning firewood in these cramped conditions is another health hazard.

Mahboba’s Promise initiated the Houses for Progress project after several pleas for help from desperate widows. Each year we try to raise a fund of $20,000, so that Mahboba’s Promise can assist widows and their children with stable, safe housing. The fund also assists women to extend their houses where they have undertaken vocational training and need a space to operate a home business or where they have a child studying who has no space to study because all the family is living in such a tiny house.

Subara feels lucky that neither she nor her children were injured when their house in the Panjshir Valley was demolished by a heavy fall of snow in the winter of 2007. With the help of local villagers, Mahboba’s Promise rebuilt Subara’s house. Subara is very happy in her new home; she now has livestock and is almost fully independent as she sells her cheese and yoghurt in the local market place.

A safe, sanitary and functional home offers much hope for the future of these families”.

Widow’s house destroyed by weather
New house built by Mahboba’s Promise

Afghanistan’s health care system has not recovered from the decades of conflict. Most people don’t have access to medical care and expertise. Some hospitals are improving but, with one of the highest rates of resistance to antibiotics in the world, diseases are long lived and fast spreading and the demand on health professionals is great.

Hope House beneficiaries require medical advice and continuous health checks. They have often been malnourished at some stage of their lives, survived infectious diseases and have been subjected to freezing temperatures and traumatic incidents, like landmine explosions and beatings.

Variety International, the children’s charity, has generously agreed to fund a new clinic to be built in Hope House with the aim of providing a wide range of basic health measures free to the Hope House community. The services will include a dental clinic, an eye clinic and personal hygiene classes. The clinic will also supply basic necessities like toothbrushes and sanitary pads.

Afghanistan was once renowned throughout Asia for its delicious succulent fruits and nuts. Over 30 years of fighting have wiped out 80% of the orchards, leaving the once green areas to turn to barren dust. Hope House has begun a process of regreening Afghanistan by planting a delightfully lush garden.

The Kulsum Garden project was started when a benefactor donated funds for a piece of land adjacent to Hope House. Sidiq Rawi, Mahboba’s Promise Director in Afghanistan, says “This piece of land gives us more room to plant fresh vegetables for the children and in time the orchard trees will provide fruit”. This year Hope House has reaped harvests of cucumbers, radishes, and beans. This is important for us as the price of vegetables is rising sharply in the city.

The benefits for children at Hope House are invaluable. They get fresh air as they enjoy and work in harmony with nature. They learn skills of growing vegetables and trees and using gardening tools. And they have a constant supply of fresh healthy food.

Trees arriving at Hope House	Child planting a tree
Hope House produce	Picking radishes in Hope House garden

A wonderful Afghan photographer, Imal Hashimi, has generously allowed Mahboba’s Promise to use his work in our publicity material this year. Mr Hashimi’s main interest lies in society and people, but he has done extensive work on different topics, such as landscapes, portraits, travel photography, news and disaster reportage. He has covered a wide range of daily news events and stories on Afghanistan, such as coverage of Kabul’s waste processing system, the city’s leather industry, environmental concerns and street photography.

Imal Hashimi’s photographs of Afghanistan can be seen at
http://thruafghaneyes.blogspot.com/2008/07/imal-hashimi-free-lancer-photo.html 

	Photographs by the talented Imal Hashimi

Schools, vocational training, help for widows, orphans, it’s a big job to keep it all happening. Oil price and food price shocks are hitting everyone hard, but it will always be the poor who are hit hardest, prices are rising dramatically in Afghanistan and that means our costs are escalating just to continue the work we are already doing. Please continue to support us with your donations and your time.

Mahboba Rawi

ABRN 135 823 880
Mahboba's Promise Inc is an Association Incorporated in NSW
and the liability of members is limited.
Mahboba’s Promise is a non-profit organisation that brings hope to orphans and widows ravaged by war.
PO Box 6234 North Ryde NSW 2113

OUR THANKS TO ALL OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS AND DONORS WHO HELP MAHBOBA’S PROMISE TO CONTINUE ITS WORK IN AFGHANISTAN.

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