Afghan Women
Roqia Center for Rights, Studies and Education

February 2005

Roqia Center Update	1
Events and Honoraria	2
Cedar Lane Dinner	3
Want to Help?	3

Available at Kabultec.org:
      - Background of the Roqia Center
      - Nasrine at the Constitutional Loya Jirga
      - Speech at the French Senate Seminar
      - Speech at ICHS/UNESCO in Lebanon
      - Article on the Presidential Elections
      - Susan Andersen's Literacy Report
      - Photographs (coming soon)

Happy New Year to all!! I've had a wonderful visit to America this year for the holidays. My only regret is that I didn't have enough time to chat with more of you. May this newsletter find you and yours in good health and happiness!

As you know I have been living in Afghanistan for more than three years now. The darkest hour of Afghan women is behind us thanks to the diligence of the Afghan people and the support of so many of you.

But is Afghanistan out of the woods yet? Not by a long shot… How can we rest when 90% of the women and 80% of the men are illiterate; when more than 75% of the population lives in rural areas without access to education and information; when the majority of the people do not know and understand their rights or their legal system; when prolonged war has utterly eroded the knowledge of life before the war; when people cannot read their children's prescription, their candidates names, or the words of God for themselves, when forgiveness and healing have not yet occurred, when poverty permeates every breath of life?

What can I do as one person to help create hope and harmony, faith and understanding, progress and serenity, passion and ethics, that would last beyond my generation, not just in Afghanistan but also for this world I cherish, this child I love, this woman who is my sister?

I find living and working in Afghanistan meaningful beyond belief. I know it is my right I am working for. But I also know that it is our common legacy. Make no mistake about it. How Afghanistan turns out will set the standard in the twenty-first century, for women, for democracy, for peace, for culture, for progress and for spirituality - for an enlightened humanity.

This newsletter is a glimpse of what we have been doing in Afghanistan in 2004. With best wishes, Nasrine Gross

Roqia Center Update

At long last: the Roqia Center for Women's Rights, Studies and Education in Afghanistan was finally registered last year

with the Ministry of Justice as an official Afghan civil society organization. It will now serve as Kabultec's sister organization on the ground in Afghanistan. We also established Kabultec as a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization in the U.S. to facilitate supporting the Roqia Center from afar.

Rights. We held conferences throughout the country in preparation for the Constitutional Loya Jirga in December 2003. At these conferences, Afghan women came together to discuss the content of the constitution, and most importantly, to support the specific designation of women's rights. Days before the Loya Jirga, this work culminated in the Women's Conference in Kabul, sponsored by Negar. More than 2,000 women and men from around the country attended.

After the Loya Jirga we worked for the presidential elections encouraging women to vote and participate in the political process.

>> This year we would like to hold four workshops/conferences in four provinces for those women interested in running for elected office (parliament, provincial, district and nomad's councils and mayoral races).

Studies. We published Nasrine's "Women in the Koran" just prior to the Loya Jirga. In this book, she pulled all verses in the Koran with a reference to women, in Dari translation (from the original Arabic). This will allow Afghans to read in their own language what the Koran says about women. Nasrine was able to distribute the book to the delegates of the Loya Jirga as well as to the attendees of the conference in Kabul. In fact, the book has been distributed so widely that the Center has run out of copies.

We've also been distributing Nasrine's "Qassarikh" book about women who were educated in Kabul in the twentieth century. The purpose of this book is to make the history of women's social participation better understood among the Afghans. It is written in Dari and has been quite popular with all levels of society.

>> This year we would like to print more copies of "Women in the Koran" and the "Qassarikh" books. We would also like to gather materials for and publish second volumes of each. If extra funds are available, we may translate the books into English.

Education. The Center's literacy program has been a great success. What began as a course in reading, writing and arithmetic to a group of 13-21 year-old boys and girls has grown into four innovative couples-only classes. Each class is comprised of ten couples, ages 15 to 75 years old. The classes are ethnically mixed in order to continue breaking down barriers among these groups. Each course lasts about one year and covers the equivalent of three years of literacy curriculum.

>> This year we are committed to searching out the funding to make sure we can continue to offer these four classes in full on a yearly basis. We would also like to develop a mobile library so students can borrow books on a monthly basis.

Other activities. Seeds for widows' gardens: for three years now, the Roqia Center has distributed donations of American flower and vegetable seed packets to widows. This has been a successful program because the seeds provide food for the widows and their families as well as for barter for other goods and services.

>> This year we would like to continue with this activity and expand it to cuttings and seedlings for various fruit and flower bushes, such as berries, forsythia, holly, different pines, and others. Considering how few vegetables are available in the winter season, we would also like to include those types of vegetables that grow in winter.

>> This year we would like to continue this activity by collecting office and school supplies.

Events, Honoraria and Articles

In February 2004, The Konrad Adenauer Foundation honored Nasrine with the Konrad Adenauer Medal of Freedom in Berlin, Germany. The award recognized her work in women's rights.

Earlier that month, she attended an ICHS/UNESCO meeting in Bbyblos, Lebanon, and gave a talk on culture and democracy in Afghanistan.

Also in February, Nasrine gave a talk at the Asia Society in Washington DC.

In March 2004, Nasrine was invited to speak at the French Senate Seminar in Paris.

In June 2004, Susan Andersen, a professor of psychology at New York University visited the Roqia Center and researched the literacy classes. She then prepared a brief, informative report of her observations that constructively describes the program from the point of view of its participants.

The Roqia Center has also been featured on CNN, ABC, NBC and Radio France Internationale. Articles featuring Nasrine's work appeared in the "Our Country, My Role," a book published by the Women Without Borders of Austria, Main Gate, the Journal of the American University of Beirut (Nasrine's alma mater), the Italian News Network and the Japanese Daily. Nasrine also contributed articles on Afghan women to the "Encyclopaedia of Women in Islam".

Further information about these events, the text of Nasrine's talks, as well as Susan's report are available on the www.kabultec.org website.

Cedar Lane Dinner

This year's fundraiser at Cedar Lane Unitarian Church was a wonderful success. The staff from the Roqia Center is deeply grateful to everyone that helped make this event fun, interesting, and flawlessly executed. To name just a few: Eleanor DePaola-Kajeckas, Molly Hauck, Sally and Norm Lauben, Nancy Janssen, Warren Thompson, Valarie Thomas, Barbara Bick, Faranaz Abubakr Fazl, Omar Abubakr and of course - the more than 130 people who came!

Susan Andersen, as mentioned earlier, a professor of psychology at NYU, debuted a rough cut of the brief film she is making to document the impact of the literacy classes on the students. When it is finished, it will be her gift to the Center and to Kabultec with the hope that it will better inform people of this important literacy work and inspire support that will enable the program to expand. The testimonials and personal stories in the film touched everyone in the room.

Then, Nasrine reported on all the Roqia Center's projects and gave her perspective of the current situation.

Other Friends

We are very pleased that Proliteracy Worldwide continued their support of the Roqia Center in 2004. In addition, Lynn Curtis and Mary Kelly have both been wonderful with advice, material and cheer leading from the very beginning. Without their encouragement we would not have been able to start.

Want to Help?

1) Supply Donations. So far we've had donations of textbooks, school, office and art supplies from interested Afghans and Americans, most notably Donna Sammander and Helen Kuo. We have distributed the textbooks to various universities, schools, and new women and artists' organizations. This year we would like to collect office and school supplies.

2) Good news for other support. As noted, Nasrine's US-based NGO, Kabultec, is now incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions to Kabultec directly go to support the Roqia Center. Those interested in supporting our programs or desiring more information can contact us at the address below. Your feedback is also very welcome.

Kabultec
PO Box 2079
Falls Church, VA 22042

USA telephone: 703-536-6471
Kabul telephone: 070-281694

Website: www.kabultec.org
Email: kabultec@gmail.com