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Supporting Democracy, Improving Lives for Girls, Women in Afghanistan

CW4W Business of Charity

Through their long-term commitment and effective education projects, CW4WAfghan has been helping to improve the lives of tens of thousands of women and girls in Afghanistan since 1996. However, Co-Founders Janice Eisenhauer and Carolyn Reicher believe “it is the Afghans themselves who have accomplished the real ground-breaking change in their country: those little girls heading off to school, widows learning to read for the first time, the thousands Afghan teachers on graduation day and the 29 young, healthy girls at our Omid-e-Mirimum orphanage.”

And so we asked them…

Q: How has CW4WAfghan been able to accomplish so much?

It’s thanks to our fabulous network of 800 Canadian members who have formed 12 volunteer community-based chapters across Canada. They have raised $3,500,000 mainly from individual Canadian donors.

Q: Please tell us why you believe the pen is mightier than the sword.

Sally Armstrong, an award-winning journalist, author and human rights activist, wrote a shocking article in Homemakers’ Magazine called “Veiled Threat” [Summer 1996/97] about women under the Taliban. It inspired us to get involved. Sally has been a mentor and unqualified supporter of CW4WAfghan and, if it were not for her, so many Canadians would not have become informed and engaged in the issue of women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Another author, Deborah Ellis, has also played a significant role in our evolution. Inspired by Parvana, a litte Afghan girl she met, Deb wrote a young adult novel called The Breadwinner. After 9/11, this award-winning trilogy became a worldwide best seller generating $850,000 in royalties which Deb has donated for our education projects! 

Q: Do you worry when one of your members goes to Afghanistan? How do you handle the stress?

Absolutely, we worry because the challenges are great and the security is far from ideal. We also know that Afghan women live with that threat and insecurity every day of their lives; this gives us additional courage and strength.

We have a developed a Security Code of Practice that provides guidelines to ensure our volunteers are well trained and knowledgeable about security measures and know how to respond in emergency situations. We are also very fortunate to have a small CW4WAfghan office and Country Director in Kabul as well as many Afghan friends and colleagues we know and trust. They understand security threats and are very supportive in their care of our volunteers.

Our Projects Director from Vancouver, Lauryn Oates, travels to Afghanistan regularly and calls Afghanistan her ‘second home’. Lauryn started with our organization when she was 16 years old and now is an expert in international development, human rights and gender issues.

Q: Should our government be negotiating with the Taliban?

No. The Taliban’s discriminatory policies and misogynist beliefs are part of the core of their ideology and won’t be negotiated away. The international community needs to listen to Afghan women to effectively respond to questions about negotiating with the Taliban.

Q: How did Little Women for Women Afghanistan (LW4LW) get started?

Alaina Podmorow was nine years old when she met Sally Armstrong in Kelowna in 2007. When she asked Sally what she could do to help Afghan girls go to school, Sally said, “The worst thing you can do is to do nothing.” The next morning Alaina emailed us with her idea to start Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan. She said her motto would be “Education = Peace” and she wanted to engage other youth all across Canada. Remarkably, Alaina and the “Littles” have been doing it all: advocating, inspiring, motivating, educating, fundraising and more!

Q: Why are Breaking Bread dinners your major fundraising initiative? How much have these dinners raised?

The Breaking Bread dinners resonate with Canadians because they provide a very simple and easy way to get involved, to become informed and to raise funds that will have an immediate and positive impact in Afghanistan. The dinner can be in a home, a church, a school, a community hall or anywhere for a handful of people or for hundreds. They can even be in the form of bake sales. In the case of the “Littles”, they “break cakes” on the girls’ birthdays.

As well as being encouraging and inspiring, more than 900 Breaking Bread dinners across Canada have raised $1.4 million for education projects in Afghanistan. This also means tens of thousands of Canadians are taking action. Thank you, Canada!

Q: What was your budget for 2010? What will be your budget for 2011?

To sustain all of our existing projects, our annual fundraising budget is $400,000. In addition, we apply to our Canadian government, CIDA, for matched funding for teacher training and literacy programs.

Q: What are some of your current challenges?

Our team is looking for Canadian sponsors for some of our public engagement, education and youth programs in Canada as well as help with our operating costs. As volunteers, we have pledged that 100% of our individual donor dollars will go to projects in Afghanistan.* We are also looking for free TV space to run a 60-minute Public Service Announcement to share our story with Canadians. Thanks to Shaw Communications for agreeing to do so over the Christmas holidays!  Now for the rest of 2011...

Finally, we would love to see more Canadians host a Breaking Bread Dinner in 2011. Fundamentally, we all believe that we don’t truly have access to our human rights unless others in the world have that same access. Every effort does make a difference – not only for the people of Afghanistan but for those of us involved.

* This is possible because Janice is a full-time volunteer! For more information, visit www.CW4WAfghan.ca.

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Pull quotes and photocaptions:
“…more than 900 Breaking Bread dinners across Canada have raised $1.4 million for education projects
in Afghanistan. This also means tens of thousands of Canadians are taking action.”

CW4WAfghan Co-Founders Carolyn Reicher and Janice Eisenhauer, two amazing human rights champions!

Carolyn Reicher, left, and Janice Eisenhauer, right, visiting their friend Golpery in Kabul.

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