THE AFGHANISTAN BLIND WOMEN AND CHILDREN FOUNDATION OCTOBER 2016, ISSUE 5 WEBSITE FACEBOOK TWITTER Greetings from Nooria Nodrat! Greetings from the founder and Execu- Unfortunately, the activities of terror- tive Director of the Afghanistan Blind ists don’t end in Afghanistan the act Women and Children Foundation also affects the United States of Ameri- (ABWC) - Mrs. Nooria Nodrat. ca as well. The foundation is very sor- ry for the incidence that occurred this The Afghanistan Blind Women and past Summer in New York, New Jer- Children Foundation works tirelessly sey, and Florida. Bear in mind that to improve the quality of education hatred will never win because the for blind children and assists blind power of love will overcome to de- women with their healthcare. Despite stroy the people who have no sympa- the work that the ABWC foundation is thy for humankind. We are hoping constantly trying to continue, four that with the support of our allies, we generations of war in Afghanistan will overcome terrorist acts and bring brings many obstacles and difficulties a peaceful community to our nation. for our work. One of the incidents However, life must go on and we will that recently occurred in Afghanistan continue our efforts to this very unfor- was the vicious act of terrorist bomb- tunate population in Afghanistan who ing in Kabul Blind high school. The IN THIS ISSUE have been experiencing hardships and school was severely damaged in the loss for the past 40 years. attack. Over 40 windows were bro- ken, the ceiling destroyed, 4 school On August 23, 2016 the ABWC foun- Pg.1-2:President’s buses broke down and are now dys- dation had its 6th annual fundraising Statement functional, and the bowling alley that event to celebrate our 7 years of es- Pg.3:Chairperson’s Letter the foundation was financially sup- tablishment. At this event, we had the and biography porting to renew has been completely privilege of having our guest of honor, Pg.4:In the News and destroyed. Sadly, we have been in- Ambassador Mahmoud Saikal, the per- updates formed that a young security guard manent representative of Afghanistan Pg.5-8: Comparing the lost his life due to this attack, the to the United Nations. The event was lives of blind individuals ABWC foundation expresses its deep- very successful thanks to our great do- in Afghanistan to blind est condolences to the family of this nors and supporters. With the great individuals in America young brave officer who lost his life to contribution of the participants at our Pg.9 : Sponsorship protect the safety of the school. event (cont. page 2) 1 Greetings from Nooria Nodrat! (Cont.) the foundation was able to raise over 3000$ on that you wish to help us in the future whether financially or day. 2000$ was from 1 anonymous donor who wishes with volunteer work please reach us through our web- to send educational material for 5th-9th grade students site www.abwcfoundaiton.org or contact us via email and 1000$ for repairing of the Kabul Blind High at [email protected]. Let's hope for School. The ABWC greatly appreciates her contribu- peace for of all humankind. tions and we definitely will take action to send the Truly yours money to Afghanistan for repair of the classrooms. We also received 4 Perkins braille writer and 2500 sheet of Nooria braille paper from Ms. Joyce Carrico the ABWC foun- dation will send the supplies to 5th - 9th graders at Ka- bul Blind High School. We are grateful for the support of Ms. Carrico and wish her many prosperity in her life and may god be with her always. In addition, we need to send 4 of these 6 slate and stylus for these students that has been requested by the school principal. I'm delighted to inform you that the ABWC is in the process of extending our mission to become an interna- tional nonprofit organization who can support over 400,000 individual in Afghanistan. We are in communications with our legal attorney that will assist us in the new mission and the new organiza- tion which will be Afghanistan International Founda- tion for the Blind (AIFB) we are hoping with this new mission and vision we will receive more support inter- nationally around the world and be able to collaborate with other nonprofit organizations to support blind individuals in Afghanistan. Furthermore, we are hoping to reopen the case of the three blind women that were supposed to come to us for cornea operation, unfortu- nately, the case was rejected by the American embassy in Afghanistan in 2011. These 3 women were victims of war and poverty in Afghanistan. With the great sup- port of Achilles international and other nonprofit or- ganizations that support people with disabilities to par- ticipate in running, jogging, walking, and other social activities around the world. Achilles was sponsoring these three individuals to come to the US for cornea operation. With direct support of the Ear and Eye hospital and we are hoping with the support for United Nations representative as well as the Afghani- stan embassy in D.C. we will open the case and bring these three women to the US and restore their vision. As usual the Afghanistan blind women and children foundation is always and forever grateful for all our supporters. Without our supporters, the foundation wouldn't be able to continue its goal which is to sup- port blind children and blind women in Afghanistan. Once again thank you for being our supporter and if 2 Statement from the Chairperson, Veronica Strong First, I would like to say I am honored to have been chosen as Chairperson for this organization. The Afghanistan Blind Women and Children’s Foundation focuses on a neglected part of the community that re- ally needs help and resources. With this organization, these women and children have received medical treatments, school funding and supplies and much more. With your help and donations, we hope to continue the great work the organization has already done since it started in 2009. Veronica Strong’s Bio Veronica Strong graduated Magna Cum Laude from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2008 with a B.A. and M.A. in Fo- rensic Psychology and has published research for the FBI. Veroni- ca currently works as an analyst at Accenture. Veronica is ex- tremely involved in volunteer work; she has received awards from the New York City Department of Probation and Bailey House for her extensive volunteer work as a mental health and grievance counselor and as an advocate for survivors of violence and sexual assaults. Veronica has been volunteering with the ABWC Foundation since 2014 and became a board member in 2015. She became the new Chairperson by nomination on Sep- tember of 2016. The ABWC congratulates her on her new posi- tion and wishes Veronica luck. 3 Afghanistan In the News On August 24, 2016 there was an attack on American University in Kabul, Kabul Blind High school became collateral damage. Luckily, the attack was at night and all of the children were dismissed, unfortunately a young security guard at the school lost his life while guarding the blind school. In addition 4 school buses were broken down, there are broken windows, glass- es, and the ceiling has been damage. Updates from the ABWC The board of directors had a very produc- tive meeting with the UN representative to Afghanistan, Ambassador Mahmoud Saikal, to discuss the best ways to reach out to the international Afghan communi- ty and ways to help the vulnerable blind population of Afghanistan. Ambassador Mahmoud Saikal (center). With ABWC Board of Directors. 4 Comparing the lives of Blind Individuals in Afghanistan to Blind Individuals in America Audrey Schading and Shaheem cubator. This was a common oc- blind children to schools due to Hessam are on opposite sides of currence in the 1940s and 50s and fear of ridicule by other children the world yet they both have led to thousands of premature ba- or fear of their child being hurt much in common. They are both bies to become blind ("Facts About outside. teachers who are Retinopathy of Prema- very involved with “Afghans have to face turity (ROP)” ). Sha- Mobility is a big issue that affects blind advocacy. daily threats outside heen was born sighted the blind community. In New Shaheen works as from the Taliban and and developed Glau- York, Audrey gets by perfectly an English and com- Daesh (also known as coma at 12 when he with her seeing eye dog, and is puter teacher at Ka- ISIS). “ suddenly found him- able to take the subway and go bul Blind School, he self sick. Glaucoma is anywhere a sighted person would. is also the head of the second leading In Kabul there are no sidewalks or the Blind Association of Afghani- cause of blindness globally. Both paved roads and it very difficult stan. Audrey is a teacher at the of their parents were naturally for blind individuals to get Lighthouse Guild, she has done worried and were very supportive around. Most members of the vis- advocacy work with Mobility USA of their children. Audrey’s family ually impaired community usually which led her to travel to different connected with parents of other remain home or travel with a countries such as Bahrain and Ja- blind children, done countless per- companion. Blind individuals in pan to reach out about disability sonal research on blindness, and Afghanistan have significant less and to educate children as well as sent her to a blind preschool.