A New Generation of Afghans

August 2 - 2009
Kabul

The three young Afghans in this Photo - Poya, Fadima and Omer have dedicated themselves to re-building Afghanistan. They have formed a non-profit organization called Kind Hands Strong Village which is dedicated to ending domestic violence and violence towards women in Afghanistan. The following is their mission statement.


KIND HANDS – STRONG VILLAGE

OUR MISSION:
To publicly honor women and girls of Afghanistan, to train boys and young men in gender equity, to end domestic violence in Afghanistan and to foster leadership in a new generation of empowered, tolerant, productive Afghan citizens.

WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE BELIEVE IN:
We are Afghan men and women who were born in the mid-1980’s – into a country at war. We have seen the atrocities of Russian occupation followed by the devastation of Taliban rule – which perverted Islam into a crushing blow against basic human rights. We survived in tact. But many of our friends, family members, countrymen and women did not. The emotional fall-out from years of abuse toward women has left a physiological scar on our country.

While we are re-building the infrastructure for providing a basic package of health services to everyone in our country – social norms still dictate that many women cannot receive healthcare from a man. In fact most Afghan women don’t seek healthcare at all. And while it is now legal for girls to go to school, many don’t because they are afraid. In rural areas of Afghanistan many girls and women don’t even know they have basic human rights. They’ve simply given up. Suicide is pervasive amongst girls and women who feel they have no way out of abuse. We want to change this.

While we support organizations that ‘empower’ women, we believe there will be little positive impact until men make a public stand of support for girls and women. We respect the teachings of the Holy Koran – and we know Islam is a tolerant religion based on dignity. We reject the teachings of violence in any manner. We dream of a country where girls and boys, women and men can live with freedom and dignity.

We are committed to personal growth, education and peace for everyone. We want to re-claim our heritage, re-claim our culture and help re-build the dignity of our girls and women to their rightful place.