Sponsor an Afghan Child

Remember Afghanistan? The country we bombed and then left in shambles to begin bombing Iraq? It rarely makes headlines, but things aren't going so well over there:

Suspected Taliban guerrillas dragged a teacher from a classroom of teenagers in southern Afghanistan and killed him at the school gate after he ignored their orders to stop teaching girls, police said on Friday.

The attack was carried out by two armed men who arrived at the secondary school in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province by motorcycle on Thursday, Helmand police chief Abdul Rahman Sabir told Reuters.

"They dragged the teacher from the classroom and shot him at the school gate," he said.

"He had received many warning letters from the Taliban to stop teaching, but he continued to to do so happily and honestly -- he liked to teach boys and girls," Sabir said.

A parliament was sworn in yesterday, but women's rights activists say it is dominated by warlords.

Women's activist turned politician Malali Joya on Tuesday picked up where she left off two years ago, condemning Afghanistan's warlords, some of who now sit with her in the Parliament that convened Monday after three decades.

On Monday she told reporters, "I see the future of this parliament as very dark because of the presence of warlords, drug lords and those whose hands are stained with the blood of the people they should be brought to justice."

Joya's accusations were echoed by a group of 20 candidates who blame their losses in the September polls on corruption and vote-rigging and who gathered as the parliament opened Monday. "The current parliamentarians are all smugglers, who made their way to parliament through using force," said failed contender Mohammad Anwar Sultani.

Parveen Durrani, a woman lawmaker from the Kuchi tribe, also underlined the need to develop close unity among parliamentarians, who she urged to join hands for the greater glory of the country, battered by decades of war.

Employment opportunities for youths, improved security and more facilities for women are immediate priorities for Afghanistan, she added, especially because there have been no visible change in the life of the common Afghan citizen despite the billions of dollars in assistance that poured into the country over the last four years.

Pajhwok reported Dec. 6 that violent crimes against women were on the rise in the southern Helmand and northern Kapisa provinces, including several cases of women having been thrashed to death by their husbands or other male relatives.

"Violence against women and girls is pervasive," concluded an Amnesty International report in May. "Afghan women and girls live with the risk of abduction and rape by armed individuals; forced marriage, being traded for settling disputes and debts; and they face daily discrimination from all segments of society as well as by state officials."

For most Afghan women, little has changed since the fundamentalist Taliban's ouster as part of the U.S.-led 'war on terror' in 2001. Literacy rates for women are an abysmal 14 percent compared to slightly more than 50 percent among men. Female life expectancy is a mere 45 years.

The Afghan people are in desperate need of assistance. The Revolutionary Association of the Women in Afghanistan is running a program that allows you to sponsor an Afghan child:

RAWA are helping to bring very poor and often homeless girls and boys off of the streets in Afghanistan and give them a chance for a brighter future. Their shelters are run like a family home; a local husband and wife care for the children and make sure they have a warm bed, warm and clean clothing, regular meals, and a place to call home. Your help will enable RAWA to further help the neediest of Afghan children, by providing them with an environment of love, tolerance and respect for others. Not only will you providing these children with a brighter future, you will helping to provide them with the skills they need help build a modern and peaceful Afghanistan.

You can sponsor a child today and communicate with that child via email on regular basis. CharityHelp International and Afghan Women's Mission has teamed with RAWA to bring low-cost commuication technology to each orphange and enable them to send messages including pictures to you via the internet. Sponsors can see where their money is being spent; orphans can see that someone cares about them and is interested in their well-being and future. Over time, we hope that you will develop a real realationship with your sponsored child.

It costs an average of $141 to bring a child from homelessness to warmth and shelter. Due to our low cost internet based operation, we are able to send $.92 out of every dollar directly to RAWA for your child's care including immunizations, medical check-ups, shelter, food, clothing, and education.