Books, the best present

For a project as needy as Shawl Pacha School, all help is welcomed, even more when it materializes in a generous donation of books. It happened recently with the offer of 6000 books by the organization Hoopoe Books for Children - Awaking Young Minds.

Girl students show the new books, next to Dr. Said, "manager" of the school

Ajmal, the "principal" of the school, next to a boys class

 

Hoopoe Books is an imprint launched in 1998 by the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), an educational NGO located in Los Altos, California (USA). The Institute has an ongoing program called Books for Afghanistan that aims to publish traditional children’s stories from Afghanistan, collected by Afghan author Idries Shah (who passed away in 1996), for over 30 years.

 

 

"The Teaching-Stories published by Hoopoe Books are part of Afghanistan’s rich storytelling tradition and for centuries were told and retold in teahouses, on street corners and bazaars, and by family members and friends as they sat around the fire on winter nights", we can read in the Internet page of the Afghanistan program. "Children learned about themselves and their world through these stories, and through repeated telling adults, too, obtained insight and wisdom to benefit their own experiences and choices."

 

For Hoopoe Books, it boils down to a maxim: "Give a young girl a book of her own, and she will find someone to help her read it".

Photos by HOM

Links:

Hoopoe Books website

Hoopoe Books Facebook page

Drawing 4 Peace

Please take a moment to look at these drawings! This morning I received a package from Afghanistan from our school. This should make you smile. I received a ton of drawings from our students in kindergarden to 2nd graders. They drew pictures for my mother and I. So made my weekend! Look at the colors, they are full of love & innocence. Most of the pics, they are thanking my mom for teaching them about nutrition & giving them education. :) ♥

Dina Azim, Director of HOM and Mina Wali's daughter, 12/10/2012 

Photos: HOM

Small donation... big help!

In late September, goods colected in Lisbon arrived in Jalalabad. Their final destiny was Shawl Pacha School and its clinic, both facilities run by Hope of Mother.

This initiative became possible thanks to the generosity of a few people and institutions:

• AMI and a some individuals, who donated goods, from textbooks to furniture and medical supplies.

• The Portuguese military, who ensured its transport to Afghanistan.

• Hope of Mother, that, on the ground, took the goods from Kabul to Jalalabad.

On my own behalf, I thank in particular Mr. António Calisto, the owner of kiosk "Bragantina", in Anjos area (Lisbon), who donated English books, and also Sandra Antas, tireless in collecting goods and sensitizing other donors. Your generosity is priceless!

Margarida Mota

Photos: HOM

Sadaf Rahimi, a dream (just) postponed

For a long time, Sadaf Rahimi dreamt about representing her country at the London Olympic Games. This aspiration was born after, against all odds, she started practicing boxing... in Kabul.

“The first time I hit someone it was in my village, I was 11. It was actually my cousin. Afterwards he said I hit him so hard that I should become a boxer!”, recalls Sadaf.

Born in 1994, she started training boxing after Tareq Azim, vice president of Hope of Mother (HOM), has launched, in 2007, the Afghan Women's Boxing Federation. Around 25 girls began training by that time, which took place in Kabul Stadium, where, during Taliban regime, many women had been victims of public executions.

Sadaf and her sister Shabnam, one year older, were among the first athletes. “My family fled to Iran during the taliban regime, but I heard that women used to be killed here and sometimes, when I exercise alone inside the stadium, I panic”, Sadaf confesses.

At the beggining, their father was reluctant, concerned that such a male sport could jeopardize the personal future of his daughters. Whose man would marry a woman boxer? However, the enthusiasm of the girls... knocked him out.

“It is something that has never been done in the history of any islamic republic, to see a woman step up in such male dominated world”, said Tareq, the first coach of the two afghan girls. “I'm not training these young ladies to become killers. I'm there to present them on how to develop confidence and say: 'If he can do it, I can do it!?'”

The girls understood Tareq's message. “I want to deliver a message to the world through my fighting: that afghan girls are not victims”, says Sadaf. On Youtube, she dazzled with videos of Laila Ali, daughter of the champion Muhammad Ali and herself a boxer in the US. “I wanted to prove that afghan girls could do everything too, just like in the West.”

Faced with social disapproval, religious condemnation and even doubts from some coaches, Sadaf won every single domestic battle. Her determination crossed borders and, in early 2012, she received a “wild-card” - a special invitation given to cases where the qualification was not possible - to compete in the London Olympics. “I am sure I will be punched like a bag. Like I am a pillow being pummeled”, she said. “I just don’t want to be down on and knocked out on the floor. That would be embarrassing for me and a dishonor for Afghanistan.”

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) gave Sadaf a hand and took her to the United Kingdom where she attended a training camp in Cardiff University, for two weeks. “Whether I win a medal or not, I will be a symbol of courage as soon as I step into the ring”, she said.

That moment, however, never came. The July 18th, 2012, AIBA decided that Sadaf would not participate in the London Olympics, fearing that she could not endure the fighting against more experienced and better prepared opponents.

When Sadaf's dream fell apart, Tareq Azim felt as if it was his own dream. “The ultimate thing is about keeping her motivated, the ultimate mission is to keep the project alive, is about keeping hope for ther nation. And that's what we are going to do! Sadaf wants to go, Sadaf wants an opportunity in the Olympics. All she has to do is give me the green light.” Tareq is willing to train Sadaf in San Francisco, where he lives and owns a gym. Perhaps having in sight the Rio de Janeiro Olympics (2016).


Documentaries:

“Fight like a man!” (2011), about Tareq Azim's return to Afghanistan, in 2007, and the start of female boxing classes in Kabul

“The Boxing Girls of Kabul” (2011)


Additional articles:

"I'll proudly fight for women and Afghanistan", The Guardian, 11/03/2012

"Una púgil indomable", El Mundo, 05/06/2012 (spanish)

Dialogue through cricket

Tareq Azim elected sport as a weapon. In Afghanistan, he wants to use it to bring citizens together and contribute to national unity.

“I truly believe that sports are an alternative tool for reconciliation – there is a contract of peace in sports”, says Tareq.

Last July, Tareq Azim inspired and named a cricket tournament that took place in Kunar province, near the border with Pakistan.

The Tareq Azim Cricket Tournament was organized by Said Muhammad Hasrat, doctor and collaborator to Hope of Mother. He is the "manager" of Shawl Pacha School.

Said Muhammad Hasrat, wearing cream clothes

Photos by Said Muhammad Hasrat

Fighting for unity

In december 2011, Tareq Azim, co-founder of Hope of Mother, visited Afghanistan, where he offered free Brazilian Jiu-jitsu instruction to some NATO coalition military. “It was a good demonstration of how sports like Brazilian Jiu-jitsu can bring different people together, create teams and establish loyalties”, said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Chris Colley, who attended the training.

Tareq Azim (wearing black) gives Brazilian Jiu-jitsu instruction, 
at U.S. Camp Eggers Base, in Kabul.
Photo by Senior Airman Kat Lynn Justen/U.S. Air Force

Professional boxer in the United States, and Ultimate Fighting Championship trainer for contender Jake Shields, Tareq Azim also used his stay in Afghanistan to meet with students of regional sports programs he has been developing throughout the country.


“Anything in the world is available, anything is possible. My biggest sports philosophy is empowerment”, said Tareq Azim. “I truly believe that sports are an alternative tool for reconciliation – there is a contract of peace in sports.”

Photo by Senior Airman Kat Lynn Justen, U.S. Air Force

Mina Wali's son, Tareq was born in 1979, in Germany, where the family, fleeing from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, enjoyed refugee status. In 1983, Azim family moved to San Francisco (USA), where Tareq began to devote himself to martial arts. In 2004, he visited his home country for the first time.

“My grandfather was commanding general of Bagram Air Force Base, the first fighter-jet pilot and senior in command of the Afghan Air Force during the reign of the monarchy”, he said. “That internal legacy drove me back to service for this nation the way that he did. He did it through military, and I’ll do it through sportsmanship.”



Article:
Afghan-American UFC trainer spreads empowerment through unity, NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan, 22/12/2011

"Friendly Gift" benefits Afghan project

Five euros, for any of us, is a symbolic amount. In Afghanistan, five euros is a substantial amount that can make a difference.

For five euros only, you can acquire this "Friendly Gift" (Prenda AMIga) and help, directly, Hope of Mother's school and clinic in Jalalabad, one of six projects benefited by this initiative of AMI.

How can you do it?

1 - Choose the project you want to support.

2 - Transfer a minimum of 5€ to the following bank account:
BES Account No.: 015/45875/008 | SWIFT Code: 0007 0015 00458750008 36

3 - Send by e-mail the proof of payment to prenda.amiga@ami.org.pt, stating:
• Your data (full name or full name of the company (trade name), address and nr. Tax Identification for issuance of receipt of donation).
• For individuals: Message in the chosen Project (up to 120 characters).
• For companies: Message in the chosen Project (up to 120 characters) and logo you want to put on postcard (logo up to 300€).

The personalized e-card will be sent by AMI within 24 hours (weekdays) until 23/12/2011.

Note: This post was originaly written on december 16th 2011 in the Portuguese version of Mina's Dream. This campaign took place during Christmas time 2011.

Thanks to "O Diplomata"

I thank the journalist Alexandre Guerra the post published in his blog "O Diplomata" (The Diplomat) about "Mina's Dream".

"All the children have dreams, even those who live in situations of great hardness and drama, like in Afghanistan. Here, the concept of 'crisis' is easily relativized", writes the author.

O Diplomata is a space of opinion and analysis of political affairs and International Relations. There, the author reflects on the major actual international issues, making reading suggestions and providing links to the leading newspapers, Portuguese and foreign, as well as to the websites of major international organizations and think tanks specialized in international matters.

Former editor of the Foreign desk of the weekly newspaper "Semanário", Alexandre Guerra is a specialist in International Relations and Communication.

Margarida

Contacts in Kabul

On November 2011, Mina Wali, the founder of Hope of Mother, went to Afghanistan for a few months. The main reason for this return was the need to develop local contacts in order to develop a draft concerning the establishment of a Vocational Center in Kabul.

This Vocational Center aims to match some of the major challenges facing Afghanistan after the withdrawal of foreign troops. Namely:

- To promote education and training;
- To create employment;
- To support entrepreneurship of Afghan women;
- To root the youth in the country;
- To aware about the dangers of drug use;

On her agenda, Mina planned meetings in several Afghan ministries, as well as in embassies and international institutions with offices opened in the Afghan capital. In Kabul, Mina had the support of Lieutenant Colonel Octávio Vieira.

Photos by Octávio Vieira

"A dream in a land of nightmares"

"In eastern part of Afghanistan, Shawl Pacha School seemed to be a project doomed from birth." But it did not happened. Not only the school has suceeded, but also turned into a model in this poor country. This story is told in "AMI Notícias" bulletin, of the third quarter of 2011. The article discusses the project managed by Hope of Mother and also education in Afghanistan in general.

Entitled "Afghanistan: where going to school is a dream", the article describes a visit to Mina Wali's school and explains how this project is like an "oasis" in a country (yet) so harsh to education (especially of women). "In many parts of Afghanistan, going to school is not a right, but an aspiration", one can read.

Article:
Afeganistão: onde ir à escola é um sonho, AMI Blog

Afeganistão: onde ir à escola é um sonho, AMI Notícias, 3rd quarter 2011 (distributed free with "Visão" magazine, November 17th, 2011) (appendix)


Appendix: