Efforts to bring desperately needed humanitarian aid to
Afghanistan have emerged on campus over the last two months,
organized by the newly formed Afghan Student Association.
Founded early this year, the Afghan Students Association is
working with the nationwide Afghan Relief Organization and
International Orphan Care to bring student donations of clothes,
money and school supplies to Afghanistan.
A used-clothes donation drive in the dorms last month for Afghan
orphans received extensive support and the group plans to
concentrate on school supply donations on Bruin Walk starting next
week.
Berna Kamyar, a first-year political science student who came up
with the idea for the clothing drive in the dorms, said the
donations far exceeded expectations.
“We weren’t expecting that big of a response,”
he said. “We constantly had to be emptying boxes and we would
come back from class the same day to find a box was
overflowing.”
Though they did not keep track of donations, Kamyar said they
collected six boxes and eight trash bags full of clothing.
Kamyar said the success of the donation drive indicates
students’ awareness of the political situation in
Afghanistan.
“Most people just responded to a sign that said please
donate and needed no further explanation about the organization.
They were trusting that (supplies) would go to the right hands and
were eager to help,” he said.
Co-president and co-founder of ASA Wais Nezami said Afghanistan
has suffered 20 years of war, a prolonged drought and oppression by
the Taliban, resulting in extreme poverty and approximately 1.5
million orphans.
“We are more fortunate in that we were able to find better
life in America, but our principle goal (in ASA) is to not forget
the country where our families are from,” he said.
Nezami said the idea for founding the organization was to allow
students to help rebuild Afghanistan even though they cannot
actually visit.
By helping orphans, Nezami said they are directly affecting the
future of Afghanistan.
They chose relief organizations that distribute 100 percent of
proceeds and personally deliver them to Afghans, with relief
workers facing physical danger to get to civilians.
Danishwar said the goal of the ASA is not just to collect
humanitarian aid but also to promote cultural and humanitarian
awareness.
“Sept. 11 (2001) put Afghanistan on the map but it
didn’t really show people what has to be done,” she
said.
Danishwar said the group does not deal with politics in
Afghanistan but focuses on spreading awareness of Afghans’
suffering and ending misconceptions.
While she said many people who approach them are aware of Afghan
suffering, many are unaware of the situation.
“They see (Afghans) on TV and that’s the image that
they have: turban wearing women, barefoot kids with machine
guns,” she said. “They don’t understand that the
kids don’t have clothes or schools, that they need to be
helped.”
The group will also continue ongoing efforts to collect surplus
medical supplies from local physicians and spare change from
students on Bruin Walk to help build orphanages.