Dear Friends:
Aschiana continues to move forward to provide needed services to Afghanistan’s most needy children. During the summer, Aschiana moved into the new Children’s Center where they serve more than 700 children each day. This is in addition to the 6,300 other children Aschiana serves at 15 other sites in Afghanistan. These are located in Parwan, Herat, and Gardiz, as well as in 6 displaced persons camps around Kabul.
Aschiana received an extremely generous gift of 12 pallets of prepackaged food (85,200 meals) from the Lamia Foundation headed by General and Mrs. John Bradley. Sadly, this is only enough food to last those that we serve for 12 days. On the bright side, we know that locally grown food can be added to make these meals stretch to last longer and this food alleviates some of the pressure on Aschiana’s resources in Kabul.
Aschiana is challenged more than ever by the political and military situation in Afghanistan. As generous donors tire of the war or are discouraged by those who do not want peace, our unflagging support for the innocent victims of war in Afghanistan is ever more crucial. The education that Aschiana imparts to the children will be with them for a lifetime and help them to form a stable democratic society. Knowing that our work does make a difference is what inspires us every day.
With hope for peace,
— Tricia Silbermann, President