This weekend, UCLA’s United Afghan Club will help to host “Remembering the Forgotten,” a fundraising banquet benefitting the people and particularly the impoverished orphans of Afghanistan.
Afghan Students Association West, an organization that consists of all college Afghan clubs across California, is teaming up with International Orphan Care for this cause.
The banquet, initiated and spearheaded by the United Afghan Club, is funded by the Undergraduate Students Association Committee, said Muzhgan Mansoori, social chair of the United Afghan Club and third-year political science student.
The event will be held in Ackerman Grand Ballroom and will feature poetry, music, a fashion show and guest speakers. Among other schools that will participate in the banquet programming are UC Riverside, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and California State University Fullerton.
Perhaps the most important banquet donations will be those of unopened prenatal and children’s vitamins bottles, said Uzayr Humkar, programming chair of the United Afghan Club and third-year communications studies student.
“Many Afghans live off of bread and tea, (while) fruits are considered luxuries,” Humkar said. “Without vitamins, children will be prone to many diseases and stunted development.”
Donated vitamin bottles must have an expiration date of October 2010 or later because of the possibility of a delay in shipments, in order to ensure high-quality assistance to the Afghan people, Humkar said.
The vitamins will be collected and sent to schools, clinics and public hospitals in Afghanistan.
Donated vitamin bottles may also be substituted for monetary donations for free admission to the banquet, which otherwise costs five dollars for students and 10 dollars for non-students.
All proceeds will go to the International Orphan Care, which is a non-profit, non-sectarian and non-political humanitarian and charitable organization, according to the organization’s Web site.
“International Orphan Care was chosen because years of conflict (in Afghanistan) have left millions of children orphaned,” said Ahmad Bahrami, outreach chair of the United Afghan Club and fourth-year biology student. “These children are left unprotected from the harsh realities of life in Afghanistan including drought, famine, warfare and a total lack of essentials such as access to education.”
The keynote speech will be given by Robert Abdul Hayy Darr, an American convert to Islam who brings an outsider’s perspective to the issues in Afghanistan, said Weiss Hamid, external vice president of the United Afghan Club and third-year political science student. “He will appeal to Americans who have never been exposed to Afghan culture before.”
Classical poems by Rumi will be presented in Farsi and accompanied by an English translation, and the fashion show will highlight the clothing of different regions in Afghanistan. Autographed copies of “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” books by Khaled Hosseini, will also be raffled, said Diana Fazely, secretary of the United Afghan Club and fourth-year history student.
She said the books offer both educational and historical accounts of life in Afghanistan.
The program will conclude with a performance of the Attan, a traditional Afghan dance, Fazely said.
Overall, members of the United Afghan Club hope to draw attention to the humanitarian crises that affect Afghanistan and to offer a different cultural experience.
“Everyone can, and should, attend this event because, with a small donation not only do you contribute to an important cause, but you’ll also have an entertaining night full of music, food and culture,” she said.