HTAC Was Recognized By The White House

Ms. Sadeed attended this special White House event along with 14 other leaders of Afghan and Iraqi nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Help the Afghan Children was the only national NGO (absed in Afghanistan) invited to the event.

Ms. Sadeed conveyed to President Bush:
(1) The work and successful track record of HTAC;(2) the importance of investing in education as a b, proved mechanism towards helping to stabilize Afghanistan and building a 'civil society' and (3) not to forget national NGOs who, in the face of many obstacles, continue to do the hard work on the ground that's making a tangible differenc3e for so many Afghan children - who after all, represent the future leaders and productive citizens of their country. She also encouraged the President to find ways to better fund national NGOs in the future.

The Effect of Natural Disasters On our Projects

A year ago at this time, we were on top of the world with the opening of our four new schools, and expansion of our innovative pilot programs. We had no idea back then that a series of natural disasters (the tsunami in Southeast Asia, Katrina, and the devastating earthquake in Pakistan), would have such a significant impact on our work. As large amounts of potential funding from major donors were ediverted to help the hundreds of thousands of victims, HTAC was forced to make tough decisions that involved scaling back on some of our educational programs and services.

Throughout these difficult times, we have been grateful for the on-going support of individual donors (like you) who share our passion and commitment to the children of Afghanistan. Your contribuions have made it possible for us th continue doing our work, even in the face fo natural disasters, and keeping the dream of quality education alive for thousands of Afghan children. As we continue to make this long-term investment, your continued support is as important as ever.

Afghan Children Inspire An American Soldier

When Todd Schmidt, former US Army Captain and Company Commander stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, came to Help the Afghan Children with an idea to help sponsor one of our schools, we were initially cautious. However, once we saw his demonstrated caring and commitment to helping Afghan children, we were sold.

In the spring of 2004, Todd and other U.S. servicemen and women, working in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan, encountered many children in the cities and villages of this embattled, war-torn region. While the children enjoyed interacting with the soldiers and receiving small gifts, toys, and candy, they most appreciated receiving scool supplies such as crayons, markers, pencils, and paper.

These interactions inspired Todd with an idea to give hope and a future to these children and Operation Dreamseed was born. With the help of his colleagues, volunteers, and other supporters, Tood's organization became the embodiment of a noble cause.

Operation Dreamseed has since provided thousands of children and partnering schools in the Kanadahar and Ghowr Provinces with valuable educational materials, lunches, desks, and assistance in supporting teachers' salaries. In December of 2005, Todd and his organization provided HTAC with support for the operational costs of Kohak Primary School in Kandahar Province. HTAC Executive Director, Suraya Sadeed, told Todd "Your generous contribution will help us in our goal of providing the childrn and families in Afghanistan with their basic right to education."

In this day and age, there is often talk about 'where have all the American heroes gone?' Here at Help the Afghan Children, we believe Todd Schmidt is an American hero in the truest sense of the word and we are proud to have him and Operation Dreamseed as one of our educational partners.

You can learn more about Operation Dreamseed by clicking onto their website at www.operationdreamseed.org

Bride At Age Four

When I meet Gulsoma, I'm surprised that the little girl, now 12, is the same one that had endured such horrible suffering. She is wearing a red baseball cap and an orange scarf. She has beautiful brown eyes and a full and animated smile. She takes one of my hands in both of hers and greets me warmly. She sits in a straight-backed wooden chair and tells us the story of her lift. She is stoic for the most part, pausing only a fes times to wipe her eyes and nose with her scarf.

"when I was three years old, my father died and after a year my mother married again, but her second husband didn't want me," says Gulsoma. "so my mother gave me away in a prolmise of marriage to our neighbor's oldest son, who was thirty. They had a ceremony in which I was placed on a horse and given to the man."

Because she was still a child, the marriage was not expected to be sexually consummated. But within a year, Gulsoma learned that so much else would be required of her that she would become a virtual slave in the household. At the age of five, she waw forced to take care fo not only her "husban" but also his parents and all 12 of their other children as well. Though nearly the entire family participated in the abuse, her father-in-law, she says, was the cruelest.

"My father-in-law asked me to do everything, laundry, the household chores, and the only time I was able to sleep in the house was when they had guests over," she says. "Other than that I would have to sleep outside on a piece of carpet without eveny blankets, In the summer it was okay, but in the winter a neighbor would come over and give a blanket, and sometimes some food." When she ouldn't keep up with the workload, Gulsoma says, she waw beaten constantly. "They beat me with electric wires," she says, "mostly on the legs. My father-in-law told his other children to do it that way so the injures would be hidden. He said to them, 'break her bones, but don't hit her on the face.'"

Gulsoma says the family had one boy her age, named Atiqullah, who refused to take part in her torture. "He would sneak me food sometimes and when my mother-in-law told him to find a stick to beat me, he would come back say he couldn't fine one." shy says, "He would try to stop the others sometimes. He would say'she is my sister, and this is sinful.' Sometimes I think about him and wish he could be here and I wish I could have hime as my brother."

One evening, Gulsoma says, when her father-in-law saw the neighbor giving her food and a blanket, he took them away and beat her mercilessly. Then, she says, he locked her in a shed for two months. "I would kept there all day," she says, "then at night they would let me go the bathroom and I would be fed one time each day. Most of the time it was only bread and sometimes some beans." She says every day she was locked in the shed, she wished and prayed that her parents would come and take her away. Then she would remember that her father waw dead and her mother was gone. But Gulsoma had an inner trength even her father-in-law couldn't comprehend. "When he came to the shed he kept asking me, "Why don't you die? I imprisoned you, I give you less food, but still yo don't die." But it wasn't for lack of trying. Gulsoma said when her father-in-law finally let her out of the shed; he bound her hands behind her back and beat her unconscious. She says he revived her bypouring a tea thermos filling with scalding water over her head and her back. "It was so painful," she says, dabbing her eyes with her scarf and sniffling for a moment. "I was crying and screaming the entire time."

Five days later, she says, her father-in-law gave her a vicious beating when his daughter's wristwatch went missing. "He thought I stole it," she says, "and he beat me all over my body with his stick. He broke my arm and my foot. He said if I didm\n't find it by the next day, he would kill me." She crawled away that night and hid under a car. When the driver found Gulsoma, broked and bleeding, he listened to her story and took her to the police. Gulsoma says when the police questioned the family, the father-in-law lied and tried to tell them she had emilepsy and had fallen down and hurt herself. But the nieghbor who had helped Gulsoma confirmed the story of her beatings and torture. Gulsoma was then brought to a Kabul orphanage, where she lives today. She takes off her baseball cap and show us b bald spot, almost like a medieval monk's tonsure, on the crown of her head where she was scalded.

She then turns her back and raises her shirt to reveal a sad map of scar tissue from cuts, bruises and the boiling water. I am shocked. Her life's tragic story is etched upon her back. Yet she continues to smile. She doesn's ask for pity. She seems more concerned about us as she reads the shock on our faces. "I feel better now," she says. "Ihave friends at the orphanage. But every night I still afraid the family will come here and pick me up." Gulsoma also says that when the sun goes down, she sometimes begins to shiver involuntarily, a reaction to the seven years of sleeping oudoors, sometimes in the bitter cold of the desert night. She says she believes there are other girls like her in Kandahar, and elsewhere in Afghanistan, and that she wants to study human rights and on day go back to help them. As we walk outside to take some pictures, I ask her i , after all she's been through, she thinks it will be harder to trust, to believe that there are actually good people in the world. "No," she says, quickly.

"I didn't expect anyone would help me but God. I was really surprised that there were also nice people: the neighbor, the driver, the police," shy says. "I pray for those who helped release me." Looking directly into th camera, she smiles as if nothing bad had ever happened to her in her entire life. "I think that all people are good people," she says, "except for those that hurt me." By: Kevin Sites, Kabul, Afghanistan

The young man and the starfish

A wise man waw taking a sunrise walk along the beach. In the distance he caught sight fo a young man who seemed to be dancing along the waves. As he got closer he saw that the young man was picking up starfish from the sand and tossing them gently back into the occean.

"what are you dong?" The wise man asked. "The sun is coming up and the tide is going out; if I don't throw them in, they'll die." "But young man, there are miles and miles of beach with starfish all along it - you cna't possible make a difference." The young man bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it lovingly back into the ocean, past the breaking waves. "It made a difference for that one" he replied.

That young man's actions represent something special in each of us. We are all gifted with the ability to make a difference. Each of us can shape our own future. Each of us has the power to help our organizations reach their goals.