Afghan Women
Roqia Center for Rights, Studies and Education

THANKING MALALAY'S FRIENDS

Nasrine Abou-Bakre Gross is hereby reporting on the projects sponsored by the sale of Qassarikh-e Malalay to date. As promised in the first chapter and in the ads of the book, the proceeds from the sale of the book have been given to a non-profit organization, headquartered in the country of the sale, to be used for a women's project inside Afghanistan or in the refugee camps. The five projects thus far funded and started are:

1. Distribution of flour, during the dead of winter, to 20 girls of Malalay still living in Kabul. In February of 1999, one sir of flour (16 pounds) cost 80,000 Afghanis; one dollar was 40,000. Proceeds from the sale of the book in France.

2. Establishment of a home-based school for girls ages 8 to 12 in Kabul. Proceeds from Northern California.

3. Extension of the Aria clinic into a center for the protection of mother and child in the city of Kabul, by Help the Afghan Children, Inc. Proceeds from the sale of the book in the Washington, D.C. area.

4. Distribution of cash to the destitute widows of the Mosque of Shah-e Do-Shamshira in Kabul, by Help the Afghan Children, Inc. Proceeds from Southern California.

5. Establishment of an English chair in a school for poor refugee girls in the city of Peshawar, on condition to hire a girl of Malalay, by the Afghan Women's Association of Germany. Proceeds from Germany.

Nasrine Abou-Bakre Gross expresses her thanks to all friends of Malalay. Especially, she would like those who bought a copy of the book to know how their money has been utilized. Also, she extends her appreciation to those who wrote in the book. Like the Malalay of history, the proud and nurturing patron of our cherished school, each one has risen to impart her warmth to the forsaken, forgotten and cold-stricken of Kabul. With hopes for a brighter tomorrow for our beloved birthplace and dreams for the return of the Afghan woman to the society-building gardens of Malalay, I am grateful to all.