Messaggio di AFCECO in merito alle iniziative del mese di aprile e speciale menzione per il concerto organizzato a Piadena il 10 aprile scorso.

AFCECO – Newsletter aprile 2016

Dear Sponsors and Friends of AFCECO,

During April, the children settled into their routines of going to schools, doing sports, attending their courses such as painting, computer and core studies. Besides this we have some more exciting stories to tell you.

As you are aware a group of our girls attended April 23rd Children Festival in Turkey. This was the first time that Afghanistan was invited in this important festival. Our children performed two pieces of Afghan traditional dance. All of the girls stayed with their Turkish host families while they were there and had a very good time. The girls returned on the 25th and had lots of stories to tell to their friends at the orphanage. The Turkish families were extremely kind to our girls and once they learned about our orphanages they collected lots of clothes, shoes, socks and stationary for the children and then sent them along with girls. Here is the link to photo gallery of the festival and their journey in Turkey.

We are also honored to let you know that Women Economic Forum of ALL Ladies League has awarded AFCECO Founder and Chairperson, Andeisha Farid the award of “Global Women Peace Leaders of the Decade”.  Women Economic Forum is a mega marquee global event hosted by ALL Ladies League (ALL) the world’s largest league of women. ALL has recognized Andeisha “as a humanitarian leader, you have energized the cause of goodness and peace in our world through your innovative and courageous approach. In recognition of your outstanding leadership for humanity and peace, and for your caring and concern for social inclusion and service to society”

And we are extremely proud of our music students who continue to excel on big stages and make headlines. Negin, who is the first female conductor of Afghanistan is now a well-known star and has been featured by several prominent world media like BBC and Huffington Post. Here are few links of the recent news coverage:

• Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/afghanistan-female-orchestra_us_571508c0e4b06f35cb7019aa.
• Macleans: http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/the-new-faces-of-afghan-women/?google_editors_picks=true.
• NowThis: https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/1044185455671578/?pnref=story.
• Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-orchestra-idUSKCN0XF00X.

This month we celebrated Abdul Bari’s birthday along with other children whose birthdays were in April. Thanks to our generous sponsor Terry Cardwell who funded this big party.

Our Italian friends organized a concert on April 10th in support of AFCECO and we were lucky to watch it live via Skype. It was great to see all the people we knew including the families who hosted our children at their homes in the past. They raised 1100 Euro on this night.  Many thanks to our Italian family members for their continued support of AFCECO.

We are also pleased to let you know that we have a big group of students who are in 12th grade, the last year of high school. They are now enrolled at the university entrance exam preparatory courses. This entrance exam is called “Kankor” and it is an extremely competitive. All the students who graduate from high school must take this exam if they want to continue their studies at university level. Given its important role in our students’ lives we decided that all the students should take the necessary courses in order for them to pass it. These are the students that are taking the preparation courses: Frishta, Roeen, Madina, Safia, Rohia, Hamida, Sayara, Ahmad Zia, Farhad and Sami. We are thankful of Allyn Rosenberg for his contribution towards his sponsored child, Frishta’s Kankor expenses.

At the end we cannot say anything else but thanking all of our generous sponsors and friends who have always stood by us in our hardest times. Thank you again and please feel free to write me if you have any questions.

Warm regards,

Mahbooba

“I nostri amici italiani hanno organizzato un concerto il 10 aprile a sostegno di AFCECO e siamo stati felici di poter assister in diretta via Skype. È stato bello vedere tutte le persone che conosciamo, comprese le famiglie che hanno ospitato i nostri bambini nelle loro case negli anni scorsi. Durante la serata sono stati raccolti € 1.100.

Tanti ringraziamenti alle famiglie che continuano a sostenere finanziariamente AFCECO.”