| Love keeps turning the pages |
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"It's been a personal pleasure for me to watch
By Lisa Schnellinger |
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| All lined up at the loading dock, library chairs are ready for delivery to the Mohammad Agha School for Girls. (Photo by Lida Schnellinger) |
Despite heavy snowfall on the weekend of its third annual fundraiser, Bears Oh My! gift store in Wolfscratch Village brought in more than $1,500 in sales to benefit the Mohammad Agha village school for girls in Logar, Afghanistan.
Bears Oh My! owner Barb Maslyk, a devoted booster of the project, kept selling the handcrafted Afghan textiles and soaps for the whole month of February to make up for the snow that hurt business on the February 12–13 weekend.
"We thank the Big Canoe community for their continued support of our charity event, ‘Love Goes Round the World,’" Barb said. "In this, the third year, the library was completed and shelves were built."
Some supporters bought a postcard, for a $20 donation, and wrote personal messages that I'll take with me to give the girls. "Our dreams for you are freedom and peace. All are in our prayers!" wrote Sally Justice.
One book club bought a postcard to send to the girls for their $20 donation, and members signed it with their best wishes. "We'll be thinking of you as you complete the library and start to use it," one message read.
Online sales from the web site during the past several months (http://barakaphotos.com/#/gallery/afghanistan-products/) brought in another $500 in addition to the sale at Bears Oh My!
This year's fundraising allowed the school to buy desks, chairs, carpet and bookshelves for the library. The furnishings arrived shortly after the start of the new year (March 21 on the solar calendar). Schools in most parts of Afghanistan close during the winter due to lack of heating.
It's been a personal pleasure for me to watch the school—and the girls—grow. I have been working to develop independent media in Afghanistan since 2002, and first met the girls of Mohammad Agha in 2003.
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| School hallways make the perfect place for storing library cubicles while the library reading rooms are readied. (Photo by Lisa Schnellinger) |
People often ask about the security at the school; many parts of Afghanistan have seen terrible attacks on students and their schools. The new building is solid stone construction, protected by walls and a 24-hour guard, on high ground that is very visible. The village strongly supports the school, and has not suffered from insurgent activity, so the girls have carried on with their education. Some of the girls I first met in 2003 are now leading classes in high school studies.
The girls are excited to use the new space, the school headmistress reports. Now they just need books to fill those shelves.
Generous folks have offered to send books to the school. However, the shipping costs and language differences make it much more sensible to buy the books in Afghanistan.
In order to fill those shelves, Barb and I will soon offer the chance to donate a book and write a personal book plate for a $5 contribution. Following the theme of "from our village to your village," the label inside the donated books will continue that personal connection, which means so much to the Afghans.
The book plates will be sold at Bears Oh My! and through organizations. Any book club that would like to help with this effort should contact Barb Maslyk at (706) 268-1539.
I'll be back from another trip to Afghanistan by mid-June, and will bring more stories and photos from the school then.
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