The Center for Creative Ability

Yesterday was the grand opening of the Center for Creative Ability at Marastoon, and there was a great ceremony to commission the building. We had worked hard to clean the area up prior to the occasion. We lugged hot metal pipes out of sight and handled a minor catastrophe when the ditch in front of the Center overflowed. After all of the effort, it was nice to see the place filled by smiling faces.

Before long, we were all taking a tour of the rooms with Andrew Patrick, the representative from the British Embassy, and Fatima Gilani, the head of the Association of the Women of Afghanistan. The before and after pictures of the building were truly amazing: what was once the ruin of a building has become something warm and friendly.

We all packed ourselves into a hot room for the speech section of the program. The sentiments were nice, and it was great to hear about the goals of the Center and the personal stories that make it so worthwhile. That being said, I could see a number of people fidgeting in the heat (myself included) by the time we were done. The drinks and food was a welcome reprieve from that stuffy room.

After the ribbon cutting, we all milled about for a while. I practiced my broken Dari with lots of people, and they in turn responded in much better English. What really struck me about the day was the feeling of kinship. The opening for the Center was a lesson in the infectious nature of PARSA projects. Of course they fill their primary purpose of improving the lives of those hit hardest by war, strife, and poverty, but PARSA also bridges a cultural gap. It brings together Afghans and foreigners in a way that few other organizations manage to do. It’s a valuable trait, to say the least.

-Connor

Hi Everyone

My name is Connor O’Steen, I’m a family friend of Marnie’s and I just got into Afghanistan three days ago. To say things are moving fast here would be an understatement. Looking out the window at the dust covered mountains beyond Marastoon, it is impossible to believe that less than a week ago I was sitting at my grandmother’s house in Port Orchard wondering if I would ever get to leave. To say that this place is ‘a world away’ is terribly cliché, but there’s simply no other way to describe the shock, the rending difference from one place to the next.

One of the hardest activities so far has been driving around town. After getting over the initial knee-jerk panic of watching oncoming traffic pass within inches of your car door, dealing with the sensory overload of Kabul is a challenge. The city is so tremendously dynamic…every 20 feet is a unique scene, a vignette of life for some of the poorest people in the world. Just to watch it is exhausting. To imagine living it stretches the limits of empathy.

On top of this, it’s impossible to not be the center of attention anywhere you go. The stares wear you down and pile on the fatigue when you’re getting used to such a radically different place.

All that being said, there’s nowhere I’d rather be. I came here to work, I came here to make a contribution and I haven’t been disappointed. There’s so much potential and so much to do…you could fill a lifetime working to make a difference. It’s a wonderful feeling, and I can’t wait to become more involved.

-Connor

Healthy Afghan Girls Prgram in Alluhoddin Orphanage

Congratulations to the PARSA staff. Asia Foundation has just agreed to partner with PARSA to produce a "Healthy Afghan Girl" program in Alluhoddin orphanage. Below is a letter from one of the 20 girls currently in the program. This grant from the Asia Foundation allows us to serve all 150 girls...

My name is Zainab and my father name was Hayatullah, I am fourteen years old and I am studying in seventh grade of school in Allahoddin Orphanage. My father and mother killed by internal war in our country when I and my younger sister were children. After that we were living in my uncle house for a while, but life was very difficult for us in those years. My uncle’s wife didn’t like us to grow up well and go to school, and she always oppression on us she and my uncle got us out from the house. We were sleeping in the bathroom, and we were sweeping the hallways and balcony. They always told us to go for begging on streets and my uncle’s wife told us she’d sale us to a reach man to get money. We referred here by a woman who, she was very kind. She told me that I can study there in orphanage and make our future better there. I worry about our life and our education. I am writing this letter and I am crying that I remembered our bad days. I never saw a happy time in my life, but I am feeling much happier in orphanage then my uncle house. I am studying a lot so probably having a good education will make my life better. Many time I wanted to kill myself but, unfortunately I am alive yet. Many thanks for my dear teacher Saleha Jan especially from PARSA organization to get us this occasion to share and solve our problems. I always pray and study a lot to have a good future for myself and my younger sister. Zainab