By J. Davis
The special service opened with a Muslim prayer followed by a video film of the children of Kandahar and a discussion by Afifa Yusufi, daughter of the imam of a Flushing mosque. The film depicted many of the medical problems in the war-torn country that not only is heavily landmined but also has suffered severe droughts.
The resulting loss of farm animals has created a shortage of milk for the children. Many schools that were supposed to be opened after the war still do not exist. The film showed, however, that some happiness could be seen among the children as they received small gifts of pencils and books and, more importantly, as they received some medical attention and basic supplies.
One of the dramatic speakers at the event was Esther Hyneman, a board member of Women for Afghan Women, who pointed out the desperate straits of the Afghan people. More than 60,000 are still in refugee camps in hopeless and miserable conditions. The United States had promised hospitals and schools, but many still do not exist throughout the country.
As Hyneman spoke, she reiterated the difficulties left in Afghanistan by the Taliban, a patriarchal society that left in its wake illiteracy, displaced persons, widows with children and hidden landmines.
But there is hope for the Afghan women, the speakers noted. In 2003 the Afghan Women's Bill of Rights was presented to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai by a women's rights group comprised of women leaders from every region of the country. Among its list of rights were mandatory education for women through secondary school and opportunities for higher education; provisions for up-to-date health services for women, with special attention to reproductive rights; and freedom to vote and run for political office.
As a jump-start, Women for Afghan Women is training women in skills to help make them self-supporting. International support for this effort was shown in a full-page advertisement by a well-known home furnishing store in a recent Sunday edition of The New York Times. The store offered to sell handcrafted Afghan textiles and other products with a percentage of the price going to private literacy schools for girls in Afghanistan.
Women for Afghan Women is at 32-35 Union St. in Flushing, where residents from Afghanistan are offered lessons in English and instructions in obtaining U.S. citizenship.
