By Timor Karimy | Founder & President
Dear friends and supporters,
According to our community leaders and village elders on the ground, the Hazaras continue to get sidelined from the lifesaving humanitarian aid by the major aid organizations in Afghanistan. Due to their influence in the aid distribution process and in local Afghan aid agencies, the Taliban continue to use the aid as carrot and stick to their supporters and opponents. Even when the modest aid arrives in Hazara areas that are much smaller in quantity and inferior in quality – they are either collected by Taliban supporters or Pashtuns, who arrive a day or two prior to the distribution site, or distributed in a significantly smaller amount/quantity to Hazaras. In some localities, they have distributed much smaller amounts of aid per household, compared to aid distributed in Pashtun areas. For example, they would distribute aid to 10 Hazara households in a village of 100 households and mark the project complete, and this strategy applies to the broader Hazara areas as well in Afghanistan. In some localities, rotten food packages were distributed to vulnerable families. Furthermore, Hazaras are subjected to dehumanizing racist taunts during the aid distribution.
In light of the neglect and shortcomings of the major aid organizations in Hazara areas, Bamyan Foundation continues to fundraise, within our limited reach, to provide support for our voiceless and defenseless community in Afghanistan. We have cultivated relationships with grassroots organizations and community leaders on the ground that allow us to reach inaccessible communities left out from the aid distribution process, and partnerships in the U.S. that allows us to fundraise, albeit on a small scale for now, to reach a wider support base in the long term. We are thankful to GlobalGiving, Benevity, Baba Mazari Foundation and local leaders on the ground to help us raise the funds and accomplish the challenging task of identifying the at-risk beneficiaries and safely distributing the aid in Afghanistan.
Kabul (January 2023):
Our team on the ground surveyed and located 126 at-risk families in Kabul. On January 23, 2023, our team distributed the aid that included cash assistance in the amount of 8,000 AFN per family for 126 families in Kabul. Despite the systematic attacks on the Hazaras and a host of challenges, our teams discreetly gathered the families and successfully distributed the aid. The beneficiaries included those who had lost loved ones and bread winners in the recent violent attacks, widows, the ailing and those in urgent need. The total aid amounted to 12,000 USD. Zahra Yagana,our director community development, raised $6000 via our GlobalGiving campaign, and Bamyan Foundation allocated another $6000. For more details, please visit our 2023 aid distribution report via the link below.
Balkhab (January – February 2023):
Balkhab was the scene of violence and bloodshed, when the Taliban attacked to capture one of their former commanders in the summer of 2022. The violence resulted to hundreds of families fleeing to the mountains, where they faced severe food and water shortages. Major aid agencies first neglected the humanitarian crisis, and later on when they reacted, the Taliban hindered their operation… For more details, please see our 2023 aid distribution report provided among the links below.
After a challenging process that took a while, our team identified 140 families, who were among the most vulnerable and who had lost loved ones and their entire belongings. Our team distributed $4500 AFN per family for said 140 families. The total aid amounted to 8,000 USD. We raised $3000 via a Facebook fundraiser with contributions by Hazara-Americans and friends, and $5,000 allocated by Baman Foundation.
Injured Girls of Kaaj Education Center (February 2023):
57 students, mostly girls, lost their lives in a devastating genocidal attack on Kaaj Education Center in the impoverished Hazara area of west of Kabul on September 30, 2022. Scores were injured, and many of the wounded require long term medical treatment. There was a community-led initiative that undertook the responsibility of treatment of the injured in a neighboring country. Several organizations and individuals contributed towards this initiative. Bamyan Foundation provided 6,000 USD to cover the medical expenses of Nine injured Kaaj girls in February 2023. They are on their journey of recovery, but the terrible trauma that they have endured may take a while to heal…
Aid to three families in central Afghanistan (April 2023):
The Bamyan Foundation team found out about three Hazara families in dire need of support. The head of these three families were killed in a Taliban ambush, and the families were left without their breadwinner and support. Our team in the US coordinated with our contact on the ground to find the families who lived in a remote and impoverished village in an inaccessible part of the central highlands. We provided an amount of 1,000 USD ($300 per families and $100 for our contact on the ground).
And last but not least, your support presents a lifeline and allows our team to provide lifesaving assistance to some of the most vulnerable families in Afghanistan’s persecuted Hazara communities – at times, we are the only help they have. Please continue supporting our work and sharing our updates with you network. We thank you for your support during this difficult time.
With grattiude,
Timor + the Bamyan Foundation Tteam
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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