After a successful six-week triage mission where we took 386 critically ill children in the Charahee Qambar IDP camp to the hospital for treatment, we are now ready to begin Phase II: the U.S./Afghan Senior Investor Program (also known as “Briquettes Into Bridges”) which will help their parents begin income generating businesses so they can take care of their children, and ultimately move out of the camp on their own.
AFter nearly three months, we have finally pulled everything together, including getting the full support of the Afghan Ministry of Returnees & Repatriation and the camp elders, as well as coordinating the briquette training operation and selecting the participants. Additional challenges included being held up by weeks of constant rain in Kabul (which, at the IDP camp translates to slippery, cold, messy, miserable mud) as well as Kabul’s frequent electricity outages, which made uploading a 10-minute video a week-long exercise in patience.
Nobody ever said launching projects in Third World war zones was easy, I guess.
But things are finally ready, and not only is this project already generating media interest, but the project and I have been introduced to Mark Jacobson (the senior advisor to General Stan McChrystal, the head of the military effort in Afghanistan) who will be following along, and I will be presenting the project in conjunction with a symposium in Dallas in a few weeks called “Afghanistan: The Next Phase- 2010 Military Symposium, featuring General George Casey, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
I’m excited for you all to join in as we embark on this unprecedented adventure, so please take a moment to check out our new webpages…and get ready for the fun to begin!
Dina