JAHAN

I know it’s been a long time. I’m sorry. We have exciting changes planned for JAHAN. I’ll let you know as soon as everything is finalized but I think that we’ll be increasing the efficiency of JAHAN.

Hawa handled the October distribution alone (JAHAN distributes funds every 2 months) but I was able to help with the August distribution.

We’re also adding more to the website within the next month. If you have any suggestions for us, please let us know!

Welcome to the Jahan blog! In an effort to keep sponsors informed of Jahan’s activities we’ve decided to start a blog.  The blog will have pictures, questions from sponsors and volunteers and hopefully also offer an insight on life in Afghanistan for women and children. I’m uploading an entry that I wrote during my last visit to Afghanistan this last winter.

Please either post questions and comments in the ‘comment’ section or send me an email at asiyahsarwari@yahoo.com. I’ll try to address them in the blog or personally. I’ll keep the names confidential unless I have your specific approval.

                             
I visited Kabul this last winter and had the opportunity to assist in a distribution with Hawa. This was a great opportunity for me to see the impact of JAHAN first-hand.
    
Hawa and I arrived at the house in the morning on a Friday. Fridays are days off in Afghanistan. Hawa’s former co-worker, Zia Rahman, who graciously volunteered his time, was already there. JAHAN is completely staffed by volunteers. It’s nice to see that Hawa has continued this tradition in Afghanistan.

Zia Rahman was tasked with taking the pictures, Hawa with the actual distribution of funds and I, with talking to the children and writing up a short biography for each child.  My overall impression is that JAHAN is doing great work, through the support of our sponsors, but so much more needs to be done.  In a country with no safety net, people must make desperate choices to survive. Deciding between food and a school uniform is not easy. Sponsoring a child will help keep a child off of the streets, keep them in school or at the very least, help them eat more than bread and tea every day.

A generous sponsor gave JAHAN $1,000, which allowed us to give extra funds. This was helpful because we have a number of sponsored children whose sponsors are very behind and we were able to distribute money to those children as well, instead of turning them away.