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Have you told a friend about GoodThings today?
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Have you told a friend about GoodThings today? |
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A few favorite goodthings from Meghan Connolly of Brattleboro, Vermont:
"The first snowfall of the year. Corporate social responsibility. Surfing. Shooting stars. The local farmers market." [Meghan is connected to other goodthings! To find out what, be sure to read today's "Upshot" at the bottom of the GoodLetter.]
We've captured some of your favorite goodthings in our new line of greeting cards! Come check them out on our Web site.
[ What are YOUR favorite goodthings? ] Read more |
| NetAid, Net Gain On the ground in Afghanistan, the unsung heroes of the massive humanitarian crisis are -- in the face of war and drought -- tirelessly and passionately saving lives and changing the world. Dear GoodLetter readers, There were sunny CNN skies over Afghanistan this week, but the nights have been brutally cold, and food, fuel, and other necessities are in short supply. While the recapture of Kabul from the Taliban has opened a door for the delivery of humanitarian relief, this victory comes too late for the thousands of Afghan refugees now huddled against an advancing winter in tent cities along the Pakistan border. I work with NetAid. Since April, 2000, we have mobilized more than $1 million in contributions for projects to help end extreme poverty in 22 countries. And almost 7,000 individuals have applied for NetAid online volunteering assignments in 60 countries. We are currently directing our support to two organizations working with the most vulnerable of Afghan refugees -- children, the frail and elderly, the disabled, and families headed by women. Disconnected from their traditional resources, most fled with little more than the clothes on their backs. Our two partners on the frontlines are well established in the region. The first, the International Medical Corps (IMC), was founded in 1984 by volunteer American doctors who went to Afghanistan to provide emergency care and training to civilians. Since then it has helped to train a new generation of Afghan doctors, nurses and other health care professionals under the leadership of Anwaral Haq, a dedicated Harvard-trained Afghan doctor. His team has been one of the few groups providing medical services to people living in refugee camps in northwest Pakistan, as well as in Afghanistan itself. As displaced Afghans pour into the camps, Dr. Anwar (as he is known to everyone) continues to train female Afghan doctors who will provide much-needed maternal and child health services. "The presence of the new clinics and our community-based health care program will save many lives," he reported this week. "The female medical professionals we train go on to train other women, who, in turn, train others. This hands-on education is the difference between life and death for many Afghan women and children." Clinics established by Dr. Anwar in Herat province prior to the current conflict support medical needs in a community of about 200,000 people. They provide immunizations, pre- and postnatal care, and treatment for common illnesses. At the El Jehad Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Dr. Rushdi Abdul Cader, an American Muslim, has redesigned the emergency department to meet the urgent needs of about 150,000 refugees in the surrounding area. He also runs classes to upgrade the skills of some 42 Afghan physicians in 22 different subjects. "It has been an awesome experience," says the California native. "The Afghan doctors are amiable and very eager to learn and improve their skills and services. Thanks to IMC, these doctors have a new approach to traumatic and medical emergencies. I am so proud to be a part of the lasting change IMC is making here." This is not Dr. Cader's first time on the frontlines. He also helped set up and run clinics on the Albanian border with Kosovo. And at home he founded the UMMA Free Clinic, the first free Muslim medical clinic in Los Angeles. Located in the heart of South Central Los Angeles, the poorest and most medically underserved section of the city, the clinic provides free services to all people, irrespective of race, religion, or ethnic background. NetAid's other partner in support of Afghanistan's refugees -- the International Catholic Migration Commission -- opened its office in Pakistan three years ago to work with refugees with special needs. Dale Buscher, director of operations, writes from the city of Quetta: "In spite of all the anti-American rhetoric and the daily demonstrations, the Pakistani people are gracious, warm, incredibly helpful, and friendly." But conditions are harsh for Afghans and humanitarians alike. In a note dated Sunday, November 4, Dale wrote: "My colleague, Andrea, and I flew down to the southern desert city of Quetta this morning. Approaching the landing strip, one sees nothing but shades of brown -- endless miles of brown sand, completely barren brown mountains, and brown, squat homes constructed of mud and clay. We have arrived in the high desert -- 'the world's most hostile environment,' as the journalists keep referring to it. The locals tell us it hasn't rained in Quetta for four years. Development experts inform us that the water table is completely depleted. Yet the city is home to an exploding population of 500,000." Dale and his team spent early November recruiting locals to staff their office in Quetta. They set up a temporary home in local hotel, but found themselves in stiff competition with hoards of foreign journalists whose needs have pushed up local prices for all kinds of services. Dale wrote on November 6: "As always, there are dozens of local "hangers-on" -- locals who offer their services as drivers, interpreters, guides, fixers, and one can only imagine what else. In the world of humanitarian emergencies, these scenes are repeated all over the globe in places like Kinshasa, Pristina, and Sarajevo when each city was, in its time, the focus of world attention." And so it goes: Intense competition for vehicles, the bustle of the streets, the insecurity surrounding strangers in a new and unstable environment, and the scream of fighter jets in those CNN blue skies high above Quetta, as they make their bombing runs to Kandahar.
:: Ian Steele NetAid accepts online donations for the programs it supports. In addition, anyone wishing to donate by check can send a contribution to NetAid, 267 Fifth Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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