Guest post: Love Letters from Kabul
Love letters from Kabul – a fairer life for all
Letters from an Afghan boy, an Afghan girl & a Singaporean doctor
Dear friends and fellow human beings,
1st November, 2012 ( Gregorian calendar )
11th Aqrab, 1391 ( Afghan calendar )
Like yourself, Abdulhai, Samia and I live in a world that is not well. There are growing inequalities and angry conflicts, and the air in Kabul is getting increasingly polluted.
Are the three of us well?
“I’m 16 years old. I want to be happy, but when I see how human beings ignore or treat one another, I feel alone,” says Abdulhai (pictured below), who carries an inner burden created by the loss of his father.
Samia (pictured below),“I’m 13 years old and I want to learn to read and write. I also want to help my family have enough food at home…it isn’t easy to feel hungry.”
And I’m a 43 year old Singaporean physician whose name is Young and whose given Afghan nickname is Hakim. Afghan friends, like Abdulhai and Samia, have changed my life over the past 10 years, as I learn with them about meeting basic needs and improving livelihoods. I thought I was educated, until I peered beyond orphan boy Najib’s tearful eyes, and saw our modern world making children cry from hopelessness.
The three of us thought that we’ll write letters to you as friends and fellow human beings, with me as the translator-scribe, to tell you stories of our lives in 21st century Afghanistan.
We have no political or religious affiliation or aims, and we’re not looking for funds. We are ordinary people, warts and all.
We’re a little nervous about being vulnerable with you, so we’ll have to fall back on the shared hope that all human beings want to love and be loved, and long to be free.
Love letters from Kabul – a fairer life for all
Please join us.
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/2012/11/love-letters-from-kabul-a-fairer-life-for-all/
http://www.2millionfriends.org/apps/blog
Love,
Abdulhai, Samia and Hakim
NB Before our first letter next week, please take time to see the late Rachel Corrie speak of the shared hope of a fairer life for all when she was 11 years old, in this video clip “I’m here because I care” . In 2003, Rachel was crushed by an Israel Defense Forces armored bulldozer in Rafah, West Bank, when she stood to block the demolition of Palestinian homes. We’re privileged to know Rachel’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie.
Abdulhai, Samia and I will try to pen our sentiments weekly or fortnightly under the following letter headings….
Our letter on basic needs
Our letter on a fairer education
Our letter on fairer livelihoods
Our letter on family
Our letter on friends
Our letter on a fairer community
Our letter on a fairer world
Our letter on safety
Our letter on fairer thoughts
Our letter on emotions
Our letter on deeper emotions
Our letter on fairer beliefs
Our letter on fairer money
Our letter on fairer power
Our letter on fairer hopes
Our letter on fairer dignities
Our letter on love
End
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