Texan and Afghan

I spoke to an Afghan women today at the Artisan's Fair. She was selling things from Afghanistan to support the Afghan Women's Fund. Her name is Fahima Vorgetts and she was the winner of a lifetime Achievement Award for "Extraordinary Contribution to Peace and Justice" awarded by the Ann Arundel Peace Action Organization in 2002. She has had a number of such awards since then.
Fahima first asked where I was from, and when I told her I lived in Texas she was afraid to speak to me. I had to assure her that I was not a threat, nor did I collaborate with George Bush. I told her I sincerely wanted to know what was going on in her country, and after a minute she told me, in no uncertain terms, how the country has been abandoned and is in shambles.
She is raising money for the rebuilding of Afghanistan because the money that was allocated for the rebuilding has not made it into the country for Afghani's. It has been re-directed to Iraq and gone to pay US corporations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Particularly here at the UN this week she is raising money for four schools and health facilities for women and children. Some of the rugs, jewelry, and tapestries were very old, but the people need facilities and help. She doesn't have time to manage selling on her website, but you can read about the organization by going to http://www.womenforafghanwomen.org.
Here is an insert from her blog dated September 2006. This brief story clearly tells the tale of Afghanistan today, especially for women and children:

A very sad time for Afghan women
12:28 am

This is a very sad time at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Afghanistan. Yesterday the provincial director of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Kandahar was assassinated by two men outside her home while she was on her way to work.

This slaying is a senseless and cowardly act, more proof that security in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda are winning in the southern part of Afghanistan and women’s human rights are a prime target of their fanaticism.

Progress for women in Afghanistan has been frustratingly slow, but it has been happening. We call upon women throughout the world, those who are still fighting for their rights and those whose rights are honored and protected by their governments, to take every necessary step to prevent a reversal of this progress and a return to the time when Islam itself was falsely interpreted as sanctioning tyranny over women.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Safia (Amma Jan).