Imagine the value of demonstration gardening in Pashtun villages on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, that are a living example of useful agricultural practices. Not only a beautiful garden aesthetically, but a resource for demonstrating and training local people in valuable gardening skills.

The nutritional demonstration garden and greenhouse have both continued to serve as a training area for gardening classes as well as a supply of planting material for the community. The tree nursery was utilized for grafting classes for both women and men. Classes were given in setting up simple greenhouses at the clinic site and then Operation Mercy distributed basic materials for 65 women to set up their own greenhouses. These women erected their own greenhouses in their home compounds where we were able to take part in home visits to see their progress first hand. Mens' groups in the community requested agricultural training. Training thus far has included establishment of gardens, hygiene, how to prevent pollution of the environment and planting of trees.

A tree sale was hosted with improved varieties of apple, peach, mulberry, plum and apricots brought in from a local district. 263 trees were sold. Some women wanted trees but did not have the money to purchase them so they agreed to work in the demonstration garden to pay for their purchases. The womens' groups also helped in constructing more demonstration greenhouses at various locations in the community.

With the goal to decrease the effects of malnutrition in this area and surrounding villages, the demonstration gardens continue to provide significant insight and practice toward improving home grown produce. The program, developed in large part by the late Cheryl Beckett (served with Operation Mercy in Afghanistan), continues to encourage and provide instruction in the growing of flowers, fruits, and vegetables in an arid land.

Through additional components to this project, groups of women are also able to train and become certified as community health workers, assisting in deliveries, first aid, basic health needs and education, and making referrals to local clinics and hospitals. Through a community based approach to planning, decision making and implementation, WPD is increasing the capacity and self-initiative of the community to address its own identified needs in the areas of agriculture and health.

Ever tried studying long hours with a broken chair or table? In Tajikistan we are restoring classroom furniture through a local carpentary apprentice program. In Safedchashma village in Esanboy subdistrict (Rudaki District) we stocked up a school furniture repair centre with carpentry tools (hammers, saws, pliers, hand drills and other useful hand tools). Students work at the centre as apprentices learning to repair school furniture. Over three months, more than 143 tables and 295 chairs were repaired and sent back for use in 13 schools.

"They loved the pictures of the baby developing in the womb and had many questions about a baby’s formation.”

This was the response heard time and again throughout a successful year distributing the Miracle of Life pregnancy calendar in the GBAO region around Khorog. 

Khorog is the main medical center for the entire GBAO region. The team introduced the important maternal health material to relevant medical professionals and expectant mothers through trainings conducted at the Oblast General Hospital and Khorog Polyclinic from March through to September. Both of these medical centers handle many patients and have become partners in this project, along with the GBAO Ministry of Health.  

During the summer, pregnancy calendars were delivered to 180 villages across GBAO. Later in the year, the team returned to these villages to conduct day-long participatory trainings based on the pregnancy calendar. A survey was taken at the beginning and end of the training to measure how much was learned during the day. The overwhelming conclusion was that participants’ knowledge increased significantly in this area.

The autumn was a time for follow-up and evaluation, revisiting the villages to assess how much the calendar was being used and how useful it was proving to be.  Workers at village clinics consistently responded with enthusiasm and, among other things, highlighted the value of the section on communicating with husbands and mothers-in-law. These evaluations also allowed the team to distribute the newly developed anaemia poster aimed at helping the 99 percent of women affected in GBAO.

To make the project sustainable, the team involved medical staff from across the region including doctors, nurses of maternity and neonatal departments, midwives, interns and trained and volunteer village health workers. This way they could pass on their knowledge and skills to new medical staff and patients.

“Faris watched us with anxious eyes while we examined her daughter. She smiles when we get her daughter to laugh and a sparkle comes into her eyes. We note that the girl has been paralysed by polio for nearly eight months. The chances for improvement are largely nonexistent. It is a difficult task to tell the truth but not to extinguish the hope and the will to fight. The mother must see that life is not over and that her daughter will have great opportunities to live a good life.”

In the spring of 2010, a polio epidemic hit Tajikistan. Of all the cases of polio reported worldwide this year, more than half are from Tajikistan. Most polio cases are in the area around the capital, Dushanbe and the southern part of Tajikistan. Operation Mercy has been given responsibility to lead the national efforts in rehabilitation of those affected, and the rehabilitation is done in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, UNICEF and other organizations.

With the spread of polio halted, it has left 700 children and young people with different types of paralysis. Of these, statistics say 30% recover, 30% suffer from severe paralysis, 30% will have mild paralysis, and 10% die early from the virus destroying the nerves to the breathing muscles.

A lack of education on treating patients during the acute phase has meant many patients do not exercise affected limbs to lengthen muscles and prevent contractures. Also, many do not seek orthotics that can stabilize affected joints to prevent deformities.   

For the best possible outcome, Operation Mercy staff has focused on teaching medical personnel about the disease, how the patient is best treated during the acute phase, and medical rehabilitation with physiotherapy and positioning. Also, staff has taught school principals, youth, community leaders and social workers, trying to engage the entire community in how they can train and help their residents. The focus has been on shifting the mindset from placing the disabled into institutions to adapting society into a place where everyone is included.

Polio does not affect the patient's mental capacity. This means that those affected can reintegrate into society relatively easily. In doing so, we believe that children with other types of disabilities will be more readily accepted into society in the future, for all people are created equal and loved by God.

Tajik law states that all children have the right to education and the team works to help disabled children have the same opportunities as able bodied children. 

Safari Consultants publishes books on leadership and management. These books are made available at associated leadership training workshops as well as being sold in Afghan bookshops.

We print and distribute these two leadership books, New Horizons and Habitudes to Afghan leaders. Participants applying the principles of the New Horizons’ course learn how to become more effective leaders and managers. They engage with topics such as taking initiative, being responsible, accepting criticism, and handling conflicts. These areas of learning can have long-lasting benefits in local government institutions, business life and other corporate areas.

One participant commented, “This book 'New Horizons' changed my life.”

Operation Mercy started Children’s Groups in 2009. At present we have 50 children’s groups, with an average of 15-20 children in each group. Most of the children come from poor families, whose mothers are members of our Self Help Groups.

We encourage children who are interested to buy books to save a small amount of money. When they buy their own books, it helps them to take better care of the books and proves to be a tremendous source of pride for them. We are building a culture of reading among the children. As they read, they learn to express new ideas, and their attitudes and behavior change positively. Children are asking for more books.

Currently 750 children are using or reading books published by Safari.

Three groups have established small libraries. In three areas we set up a reading competition for about 200 children. We used five books published by Safari, The Honest Woodsman, Amazing Facts of Animals, Wild Swans and other Fables, What do you think? and The Fearful Sparrow.

Here is what some children said;

Sina, “I was so excited when my teacher said we should read different books and they would test our comprehension. I am very happy our area won the competition. I will remember this day all of my life. It is the first time we’ve held a competition between children like this."   

Reza (9 years) “I am happy because we have more information about different animals and cultures. We also shared our books with other children in the community.”

Zaker (10 years) “Before this, I used to wander the streets because I didn't have any hobby. Now I have books to read. The books are very interesting. I’ve read 10 stories which are full of many good messages. From the story about the snake and frog, I learned that if we choose bad friends they will lead us astray.”

Ali (9 years) “From the story, ‘The Red Tooth Demon,’ I learned that we should respect our parents. In another story, I learned that God created everything for humans and we should be satisfied and happy for these things.”

Shakila (11 years) “From the story, ‘Beautiful Princess,’ I learned how bad selfishness is. Regardless of our situation, we need to respect each other.”

Several children’s reading clubs ‘rent’ books to other community children.

The children in the reading club Roshan (Bright) worked together to build a cupboard to store their books. With pride they say, “We have a library in our group, we will get more our books and make real book shelves.”

Ali said the story about the honest woodsman taught him to be honest. “In our country it is very difficult to find honest people. This kind of book is good for us to learn from and even share with our parents.” The honest woodsman found a golden hammer but he didn’t touch it even though he was a poor man. Ali’s father said, “I am very happy my son is using his money for books instead of buying candies.”

A Self Help Group of young Pashtoon ladies 18- 25 years of age meet together in a village, along the road to Jalalabad. They have not been allowed to go to school and or even walk outside their homes. The SHG facilitators read to them from SAFARI books and ask them questions. Although the stories are very short, time is spent within the meetings discussing issues related to the stories.

One lady remarked, "I like listening to these books even though I am not educated.  When my teacher reads the book I can really enjoy myself. The story has such a nice message!"

Another lady exclaimed, “These books encourage me to go to a literacy course. We are not allowed to go outside but we will try to set up a literacy course in our homes.”

Anisa mentioned, “I had the terrible habit of gossiping behind people’s backs. I’ve learned how bad it is, and I am trying to stop my bad habits.”

Yasamin said, “I really like that we read a story at the beginning of the meeting.”

“In July I received a phone call from one of my students, Saaleh. He was working on his Masters earlier in the year. He rang to say that he had successfully passed his TOEFL exam.

TOEFL is an international standard in assessing the language level of students whose native language is not English.

He certainly developed in the 2 courses he attended with me, but I was pleasantly surprised that he was able to pass this very strict exam which he took at a Jordanian university." Men’s English Teacher

“It was a great encouragement for us to see our children’s progress in terms of their adjustment in the kindergarten routine over the last couple of months.  The children have learned many basic things, such as how to walk, sit, eat, and put things in order whilst in the kindergarten. At first, it was quite a chaos in the classroom, but as time went by the children showed us outstanding progress in many ways.

We have seen a visible change in behaviour amongst a good number of children over the last few months.

Baadi was one of these children. He is in KG2 and he was one of the unmanageable children. He was hyperactive and wasn’t even able to sit still for one moment during class time. He would stroll around the classroom, bothering others and even jumping off the table. His behaviour seemed somehow like that of an autistic child. However, ever since he received full attention from our teachers, he started to change little by little.  One teacher told him, 'You are so lovely', and the other gave him a huge hug and a little star, which the children received as a gift when they behaved well.  Another teacher praised him for his one little deed in front of all the other students. Now he knows where to sit and once his name is called, he goes to the teacher with his hands behind his back and returns to his seat in the same manner.  Although he gets distracted sometimes, it is still amazing to see our new Baadi. We trust that love can transform even those who we might think are impossible to change.”  

“These past few weeks my son has woken me up really early every morning to make sure I’ll get him ready in time for the English club. It’s been amazing to see how much he’s enjoyed this program and every day he comes home eager to tell me what he’s learnt”.

 The Bedouin mother was beaming with joy as she came up to thank our staff after the graduation party. Her son was busy running around, proudly showing his grandmother, aunts and other relatives the certificate he had received during the ceremony,

Most people, even out in the villages, realize the importance of learning English. Unfortunately in these remote areas there is often a lack of effective English teaching and an even greater lack of opportunities for the children to practice any English skills they’ve learnt in school.

The project Creative Children’s Services offer English classes, mainly during summer and winter breaks, in order to let the Bedouin children learn English in a fun and creative way. A lot of the teaching is done through songs, games, and handicraft activities, which encourage the students to engage more fully with the language and help them absorb and remember what they’re learning. We’re hoping for these classes to serve as a good base for their further learning and development. These classes were held in a Bedouin village where we’re working alongside a local NGO.