One of the things that struck me as I was reading The Kite Runner, is that had I been born in Afghanistan, I would not have known peace in my lifetime. Imagine that, growing up with an interminable war. That and the grinding poverty. Kind of puts my own personal struggles & hardships into perspective.
Here are a few other sobering facts about Afghanistan – along with some links to organisations who are working to change them. Please consider making a donation to support their work.
The average life expectancy of an Afghan in 2011 was 48 years.
More than 87% of Afghan women suffer domestic violence
Since 2009 Womankind has been working to increase literacy rates amongst women and girls and strengthen leadership and women’s participation in the community.
Afghanistan has the third highest maternal mortality rate in the world
Care International supports maternal and newborn health in Afghanisatan as well as programmes aimed at empowering women, improving Education and promoting rural development.
In 2009, 90% of all opium was produced in Afghanistan
Mercy Corps’ primary goal is to enable Afghans to improve their quality of life by strengthening sustainable, legitimate livelihoods. Our programmes are aimed at improving agricultural production and market linkages, community and agricultural infrastructure, livestock health, natural resource management and access to financial services, with an emphasis on linking government, communities and the private sector.
The IMF estimates that GDP per capita in 2012 will be $597.739
Afghanaid‘s projects are focused primarily on the promotion of economic, political and social rights. Afghanaid runs an extensive agricultural programme, an animal health programme and invests in community productive assests such as irrigation. They also promote the notion of savings, internal lending and creation of economically viable opportunities for Afghan rural poor families and communities to start micro and small enterprises.
If you want to find out more about Afghanistan and some of the organisations that are working there, visit BAAG.org.uk
I enjoyed reading 
by Khaled Hosseini.
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons-their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
