On Mother’s Day, May 13, 2012, please take a 
moment to honor Mother Earth in appreciation for her great love and care in sustaining our 
life needs. Please also honor all mothers 
around the world for their unconditional care
and love given to their children, and especially
for the mothers who grieve for the loss of their
children directly from violence.

So many have died or have been seriously injured close to 
home and around the world. Greed, selfishness, money and 
power generate violence in so many places. The taking of 
a life for any reason is murder and war is simply a justification
for mass murder. At the end of a day there is a mother who
grieves, and only she knows the divine spark that traveled through her into her child – and she must ask herself: “Why 
would someone want to kill my blessed child?”

For in these
horrible acts of violence here in the streets and schools, or as 
a result of unjust wars of the world, only a mother can feel 
the deepest-rooted grief born from love. If one wants to 
understand violence, simply look into the heart of a mother and see the great suffering and moral injustice of such acts.

It is said that we have all been each other’s mothers at some point in our lives. We’re dependent on one another; if we
can see our relationships as a mother who cares for a child
then the act of violence would be incomprehensible to imagine.

Let’s take some time on Mother’s Day to remember the victims of violence, and the mothers that grieve today and cannot
celebrate or hold their children. We acknowledge your loss and feel your suffering, for we have all lost another good soul
to the act of violence.

Stop for a moment wherever you are and offer a prayer, poem, words from your heart or your silent intentions to honor mothers that are caring for the children, or
the mothers who are grieving the death of their child 
to violence.

Remember all mothers in Afghanistan who do need our love and support for life to raise their children and to have hope and, if possible, some happiness through the difficult transition from war. What will happen when troops come home and leave these mothers in the hands of the wrong people? We need to stay and support and rebuild and give back, until the time that the country can stand on its own feet. Now is not the time. Two years from now is not the time, either.

But now IS the time, and always will be, to honor our mothers.

Peace,
Sadiq and Ado

Sara Kawamoto Craven spotted a photograph on Sadiq Tawfiq’s desk that made a positive impact on her life and the lives of six others more than a year ago. Craven, a Chicago-area resident who routinely traveled to visit her father in Orange County, knew Tawfiq through bringing her father’s oriental carpets to be cleaned at his Khyber Pass Gallery. On this day in late 2010 she dropped in on Tawfiq to find him busily arranging pictures and bios on Afghan children attending one of the schools supported by Afghan Amity Society in Herat. As Tawfiq explained the history of the AAS schools to Craven her eyes scanned the long table filled with photos, and then stopped on one particular image of a bright, hopeful young face.

“Sadiq, this photo speaks to me,” Craven said suddenly. “Tell me about this child. Who is she? What is her name? Who is her family?” Tawfiq told her about this young girl, Asmah, one of five children belonging to an Afghan widow doing all she can for the survival of her family. “This mother struggles with very poor eyesight and needs surgery to improve her vision,” Tawfiq explained. “We are doing what we can to help her and the children.”

Without hesitation Craven said to Tawfiq: “I will help.”

From there she typed the following letter to the family, which Tawfiq translated into Farsi and hand-delivered during a visit to Herat last spring (2011):

My name is Sara Kawamoto Craven and I am a longtime friend of Sadiq. I live in the country approximately 75 miles northwest of the city of Chicago. 

I am in California every five weeks because my father lives there and I travel back and forth so that I may take care of all his needs. A few months ago I was visiting with Sadiq and he was telling me about his schools. He showed me some of the photographs of the children and teachers. I came across Asmah’s photo, and for some reason I felt a very strong feeling of great interest in her. I think she is a very special child with a great deal of potential and, if nurtured, a wonderful future.

I have one son who will be 39 years old on July 11^th. He is one of the youngest majors in the USA Marine Corps. He has three little girls – they are ages three, five and seven years old. When my son was very young his father became very ill and I had to raise him by myself. (I also had quite a few foster children that I took into my home.)

I know how difficult it is for a mother to have to raise children by herself. I asked Sadiq for the circumstances that Asmah and her family were living under and when he told me I was compelled to learn more about you and your children. I would very much love to get to know you and your children through you. It would be wonderful if we could communicate and get to become friends and maybe extended family. I do not have a large family because most of my family was murdered during WWII.

If you would allow me to help you with your living expenses and your children’s education it would make me very happy. I wish you to have a great deal of health, happiness and pride in yourself and your children. Hopefully you will accept me as a friend and newfound family member.

With great affection,
Sara 

“You can imagine,” says Tawfiq, “that to this mother of five children it was like someone just told her she won the lottery. She was overwhelmed with joy and gratefulness. And now, as soon as possible we will arrange for her to travel for the eye surgery, and she will truly have renewed vision.”

Here is an example of the impact that one person can make in conjunction with AAS, points out Tawfiq, along the path of the organization’s larger goal – which is to build a teaching hospital in Herat so its citizens do not have to travel long distances to acquire needed medical attention and procedures.

“When I saw the photo of Asmah I was captivated,” says Craven, “and I was impressed by her goals of studying English and wanting to become a doctor. I asked Sadiq how much money is needed to support her schooling and he told me $10 a month buys her food, books and supplies. My decision to help her was immediate, and when I learned about her siblings and mother I offered to sponsor the whole family.”

Through AAS Craven pledges $1,200 annually as supplemental income to Asmah’s mother, Sima. Beyond this she will donate collaboratively with Tawfiq on the cost of Sima’s eye surgery, which will help the mother return to work.

“What’s important to me,” says Craven, “is to make a contribution that furthers the fundamental goal of bringing a restructure to the infrastructure; to do something designed to put people back to work rebuilding their own country.” She found a common ground with Tawfiq, she says, in the desire to help Afghans regain the ability to administer their own development. Craven also appreciates the AAS approach as “direct and personal,” knowing that her donations go directly to uplifting her “adopted” family. Along with correspondence and money, Tawfiq facilitates Craven’s interest to send the family gifts, such as shawls, earrings, and dolls.

“My involvement with the AAS agenda is not one of charity,” says Craven, “but of support and guidance aimed at enriching the culture and allowing it to flourish without suppression. Afghanistan is not a moonscape to be dismissed – it’s a vital nation of people with compelling culture, deep history and rich natural resources. I want to do what I can to change the impression, even if it’s in a small way.”

“Coming to America for me was not to start a business, it was to get my higher education and go back home to work in the field of education in Afghanistan.” At the time Sadiq Tawfiq didn’t realize his life’s path was about to change abruptly, along with the future of his country and its people for decades to come. Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979 would alter Tawfiq’s world shortly after his graduation from the University of Kabul at age 22. His destiny, however, would remain connected to his homeland and increasingly focused on the goal of elevating the quality of life in Afghanistan.

While completing his undergraduate degree in education with a minor in business, Tawfiq continued to develop trade and retail opportunities in Afghanistan, becoming a merchandiser of hand-woven rugs and native artifacts. As his business acumen expanded Tawfiq decided to move his family from Herat to Kabul.

“It was not common to move people from their native areas,” he says. “People in Afghanistan would live in the same place for hundreds of years. I moved my family despite a lot of resistance from some of my relatives. At the time it was the best decision because my studies and work were in Kabul, and it was the only way we could come together again as a family.

Yet, his travel abroad to study in America fatefully separated him from his family by coinciding with the Russian War. On December 5, 1979, Russian troops began an occupation of Afghanistan to bolster the Soviet Union’s strength in the Cold War against the United States and its allies. As a result, all exchange between Afghanistan and the U.S. became frozen. Assets of prosperous Afghan families, such as Tawfiq’s, were stalemated by the occupation, which lasted more than a decade.

“I was not able to return to Afghanistan,” explains Tawfiq. “Fortunately my family relocated to India to escape the war, but my brother was put into military service for five years.” Tawfiq meanwhile found himself in Orange County where he had been studying at California State University-Fullerton. In the spring of 1980 he decided to forego his pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Education, and began looking for a place to set up a store for selling merchandise similar to his store in Kabul.

“I looked around Laguna Beach for a place to rent,” he recalls, “and all I had was a small amount of money intended for my living expenses and two suitcases with some craft pieces from Afghanistan – really personal items I intended to exchange as gifts… a few small rugs, jewelry.”

Tawfiq spotted a space for rent on Forest Avenue, a second-floor flat next to the post office. “It wasn’t the best location because it was not street level, but I told the owner I would like to rent it. So he asked me to bring a sample of my wares, $1,000 first month rent in advance, a passport and the names of two references. And I told him, ‘Yes, okay I can do all that.’

Then I thought to myself, how am I going to do that?

Tawfiq turned to his new American friends and they sponsored him with references, and a small loan to enable him to begin business. He returned to Laguna Beach with a couple of rugs, some jewelry and $1,000.

“He told me that because the location would be challenging he’d only agree to lease the space month-to-month. And he also said that if I didn’t have the money at the beginning of each month then I’d have to move out. Well, I lasted there for three years,” he says with a grin. “I had a lot of success and met a lot of wonderful people who helped with the beginning of Khyber Pass. I would serve hot tea, which is a tradition in Afghanistan, and welcome people to talk with me about Afghan art and culture.”

One of Tawfiq’s first encounters was with a dentist who had done some traveling in Afghanistan. He had a hand-woven Afghan rug and was curious about its value. “I told him to bring the rug in to me and I would take a look at it. He did and I was able to tell him exactly how the rug was made, what village it came from and its market value. All the while he sipped his tea and took notes. Then he asked: ‘How much do I owe you?’ And I wondered for what?  All I’d given him was some tea. And the man said, ‘Sadiq, you’ve given me this wonderful story all about the history and value of this rug. You should charge for such expert appraisals.’”

Tawfiq hadn’t heard of charging for an appraisal. In Afghanistan such a service was rendered as good will. In time he learned that expert appraisal skills have monetary value in the United States, and appraising rugs and art became an aspect of his revenue. The dentist, however, ended up offering dental work for the appraisal since money was refused. Tawfiq accepted the trade, along with the new friendship.

Toward the end of 1983 Tawfiq moved Khyber Pass to a street level space on Forest Avenue that had been a food shop. He wasn’t prepared for the delay awaiting him to obtain a permit to rezone the commercial license from food to retail merchandise. As a result he lost five months of business, but once up and going by early 1984 Tawfiq and Khyber Pass Gallery never looked back. Nearly 10 years later he would move locations again – this time to his current Laguna Beach address at 1970 Pacific Coast Highway. During its first 13 years the store expanded in every way and meanwhile evolved as a showcase of Afghan art and culture.

“Creating a gallery for displaying the culture of my homeland was as important to me as creating a livelihood,” says Tawfiq. “My mind was filled with thoughts that the invasion of Afghanistan would destroy the country’s historic architecture and beautiful art. Part of my mission from the beginning with Khyber Pass was to find a way to save and share the Afghan culture – a way to counteract the destruction of my homeland.”

Tawfiq’s passionate desire to fight for the preservation of Afghan art and culture became the bottom line of his business going forward. It led him further down the path of facilitating a rug weaving trade with the native villages, and eventually with refugee camps in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. It also led him to sow the seeds of what evolved into today’s Afghan Amity Society.

“Around the time I moved Khyber Pass the last time, 1993, I began a non-profit organization, The Silk Road Foundation – Crossroads International, with the goal of joining other private citizens, businesses and organizations in the United States whose interest, efforts and money could help to reestablish peace and prosperity in Afghanistan.”

To set a personal example, Tawfiq and his family funded three educational centers in Heart: the co-ed Phoenix Learning and Cultural Center, the Women and Girl’s Educational Center, the Herat School for the Blind and a Rotary International Club.

Today both the Phoenix Learning and Cultural Center and the Women and Girl’s Educational Center run beneath the umbrella of AAS. They offer computer training, learning English, painting and creative writing, as well as classes designed to enhance more native disciplines, such as sewing and embroidery.

“We created classes for the village women thinking we might have a half-dozen women sign up and we ended up with 150 students,” says Tawfiq cheerily. “So we quickly expanded to match the popularity with more teachers and sewing machines, and extended the study period to six months We also keep certain classes for women and girls only so they can be free in their dress – they do not have to come covered.”

The Herat School for the Blind is collaborative between AAS and other international organizations. It has evolved from a tent-covered location in a very poor area of the city to a half-million dollar facility, but remains in need of equipment and certified instruction. The AAS assists the school with donations of Braille machines and necessary supplies.

Within the past few years Tawfiq added to the AAS agenda with the ambitious goal of building a healthcare facility and teaching hospital in Herat. At this point he formally changed the foundation’s name to Afghan Amity Society, organized a dynamic board of directors, streamlined his retail business by liquidating inventory, and reorganized his commercial real estate as the primary headquarters for AAS.

“Afghan Amity Society is my pride and joy,” says Tawfiq, “and it is my future. This is where I want to focus my efforts and resources – into keeping my country alive and enhancing the future of my people.”

Sadiq Tawfiq and the Afghan Amity Society join Laguna Beach in condolence of Harry James Lawrence, a local icon whose civic service spanned more than six decades and earned him the nickname “Mr. Laguna.” Moving to the seaside town in 1947, Lawrence remained active in city affairs and the business community until his recent death on March 25, 2012 at age 97.

Lawrence’s Asian art and antiques shop, Warren Imports, was just a couple doors away from Tawfiq’s Khyber Pass Gallery along Pacific Coast Highway, a relocation Tawfiq made with his business in 1993 from the village center along Forest Avenue. Rather than perceive his new neighbor as competition Lawrence embraced Tawfiq and Khyber Pass Gallery by placing a full-page advertisement in the Laguna Beach News as a welcome. Tawfiq credits Lawrence with bringing his store publicity and introducing him to the Laguna Beach Rotary and Rotary International 20 years ago. The two entrepreneurs connected with a common passion for Asian art and antiques, respecting one another’s knowledge and sharing information about cultural handicrafts and history. They often referred customers to one another and sometimes collaborated expertise.

“Harry would drop in at my store often,” recalls Tawfiq, “during his break time, just to see how I was doing and if everything was good with business. He had a great interest in the Afghan people and became a supporter of my Silk Road Foundation, often offering his home for meetings and encouraging his friends to become involved with the organization’s projects.”

As Tawfiq’s Silk Road Foundation evolved during the past 15 years to become today’s Afghan Amity Society, Lawrence remained supportive with his time and donations to the end of his life. Though his health prevented him from attending AAS board meetings beyond last year, Tawfiq would visit Lawrence at home to keep him updated on the organization’s progress. As Lawrence was retiring Warren Imports in 2006, he encouraged Tawfiq to buy the building along with another property behind the shop. As a result, Tawfiq now owns a cluster of properties in the 1900 block of Pacific Cost Highway that fold into his plans to expand AAS headquarters.

“He was like a father to me,” says Tawfiq, “a kind friend and mentor. We would sit and talk about AAS and its projects over coffee and tea, enjoying his home’s beautiful ocean view. And we would reminisce about so many great experiences and memories during our time of knowing one another.”

One of these memories was a remarkable trip to central Asia and China that Lawrence and Tawfiq took together, along with several other common friends. The trip lasted six weeks with Tawfiq guiding the group through central Asia, including Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Kalash Valley and Hunza Valley, where the mountain passes leading to China rise to altitudes above 15,000 feet along the Karakorum Highway – an 800 mile road across some of the tallest mountains in the world. Lawrence then led the group through China, where they visited the Silk Road border town of Tashkorgan, Beijing and the Great Wall, before finishing the tour in Thailand.

“Harry told me many times it was the best trip he ever took in his life,” says Tawfiq, “and always remained so thankful that I helped to make his wish come true to visit this very challenging area of the world, especially Afghanistan during the years of the Russian War.”

Known as a globetrotter who traveled to 155 countries, including China more than 50 times for both business and pleasure, Lawrence stayed connected to Tawfiq’s trips to Afghanistan right up until last May, when Tawfiq traveled back to his native land to visit the AAS schools and establish business plans for the building of a teaching hospital in Herat.

“He was very interested in my travels last spring,” says Tawfiq, “and he even called one of the local newspapers and encouraged them to write an article about the trip and the AAS projects at hand.”

Along with the rest of Laguna Beach, Tawfiq says he cannot thank Harry Lawrence enough for his outstanding generosity, support and friendship. During his 65 years of civic duty to the community, Lawrence served on a multitude of committees, boards and task forces, including the boards of directors for the Laguna Art Museum, the Festival of the Arts and the Laguna Playhouse. He helped found the Chamber of Commerce’s Beautification Council and worked to turn the sleepy town into a cultural tourist destination. Since 2008 the community now celebrates “Harry Lawrence Day” on October 1, his birthday. The event is held at Main Beach, which Lawrence is credited with preserving as “a window to the sea” public park by lobbying against high-rise commercial development along Laguna’s waterfront.

“I am thankful for all Harry Lawrence did for me, Afghan Amity Society and the Afghan family,” says Tawfiq. “God bless him and let us pray that he rest in peace.”

Every spring Sadiq Tawfiq wistfully recalls a tree he planted with students at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo (CA) nearly fifteen years ago. Knowing that the tree exists, and stands taller and stronger with each passing year, brings him some peace. The tree is a living tribute to “Melah Nehal Shani” – a ceremony of blessing and grace (“Baraket”) that gives a gift to the Earth on the first day of “Nowruz,” the Persian New Year.

“Baraket Rozai” – wishing for a bountiful harvest and plenty of food on the table, marks the beginning of the Afghan New Year (Nowruz) with the vernal equinox (March 20). Starting on the first official day of spring and lasting through two weeks of celebrations, Baraket Rozai recognizes new life on Earth after the passing fast (“Rozai”) of the hard winter. To bless the harvest it is traditional to place wheat or rice in a dish of water about two weeks prior to Baraket Rozai and transfer the sprouts to the fields once spring arrives. This represents a prayer to nature for abundant New Year’s harvests.

Tawfiq has shared many Nowruz celebrations with his local community throughout the years by presenting cultural programs and activities associated with the Afghan New Year to local schools and organizations. Baraket Rozai brings the Afghan people together in celebrations that include visiting one another for meals and exchanging simple gifts, such as candies. These two weeks are also a time for people to visit nature by spending time reflecting in the mountains, the deserts or the fields. During the tree planting ceremonies, the entire community gathers with a focus on teaching children the importance of the Earth. On the final day, known as “Sizdah Bedar,” there is another communal festival to celebrate the beginning of new life. This is a day when people plant what they’ve grown inside their homes and enjoy picnics, games, singing and dancing on the 13th day of spring.

Afghan households prepare for the New Year by thoroughly cleaning their homes… shaking carpets, polishing, waxing and washing everything. “It is like giving your house a shower,” says Tawfiq and adds that the New Year encourages creating a new atmosphere in the home by changing decors, “and purging the heart of any darkness to allow greater love and joy to brighten the longer days of the spring and summer.

Known as “Khouneh Tekouni,” (or literally, “shaking of the house”), the concept of renewal is extended to personal attire, and it is customary to buy at least one set of new clothes. Preparations for Nowruz begin after “Chaharshanbe Suri,” the last Wednesday before the New Year. On the New Year’s Day, families dress in their new clothes and start the twelve-day celebrations by visiting the elders of their family, then the rest of their family, and finally their friends and neighbors. These twelve days recognize the twelve constellations in the Zodiac. On the thirteenth day families leave their homes and picnic outdoors to symbolize “passing by the bad luck of the thirteenth day,” or the Sizdah Bedar.

In Afghanistan, Nowruz is a “national” festival that marks the first two days as official holidays. The Guli Surkh festival (literally meaning “red flower festival”) is celebrated in Mazari Sharif during the first 40 days of the year when the tulip flowers grow in the green plains and hills surrounding the city – making this location the center of Nowruz celebrations in Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans travel from all over the country to attend “Jahenda Bālā” – a religious ceremony at the Blue Mosque of Mazar.

Buzkashi tournaments are held throughout many of Afghanistan’s northern cities, including Mazari Sharif and Kabul. The national sport of Afghanistan, Buzkashi, is played on horseback and involves moving the carcass of a beheaded calf or goat over a goal line.

Aghan families prepare Haft Mēwa (literally means Seven Fruits), which is like a fruit salad made from seven dried fruits, each served in their own syrup. The ingredients of Haft Mēwa are raisins, senjeds (from the oleaster tree), pistachios, hazelnuts, prunes (dried apricots), walnuts or almonds, plums. The number seven has symbolic meaning in the Persian world; it can represent life, health, wealth, abundance, love, patience and purity; it can also represent sky, earth, fire, water, plants, animals and humanity (and fertility.)

Samanak (Samanu) is a special sweet dish made from wheat germ prepared on the eve or Nowruz, from late evening until daylight. Other special dishes for Norwuz include: Sabzi Chalaw (rice and spinach), Māhī wa Jelabī (fried fish and jelabi) and a special cookie baked only for Nowruz, Kulcha-e-Nowrozī.

2012 Nowruz celebrations in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego include the following events:

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 Sunday March 11, 2012
Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, CA
10AM – 6PM

Join ISCC (International Society of Children with Cancer) in celebrating the arrival of Persian New Year by attending the Nowruz Bazaar & Ghollak Shekan supporting underprivileged children suffering from cancer. The Bazaar’s goal is to raise awareness and support for children with cancer while providing its attendees with a variety of traditional Persian New Year Haftseen items, homemade jams, torshis, sholezard, ash reshteh, baghlava, sohan asal, other sweets, and teach our children about the beautiful Persian culture through a number of activates such as Haftseen making and learning the story behind each item set on the table.

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Southern California: Child Foundation 11th Annual Norooz Bazaar
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Hilton Hotel/Orange County Airport – 11:00am – 6:00pm

Child Foundation’s 11^th annual Nowruz Bazaar will offer children’s activities, face painting, Haji Firooz, Hamid Deihimi, DJ Omead, Haft-Seen Taraneh, Persion food & more Free Admission. (Since inception in 1994, Child Foundation has provided basic necessities to children living in poverty or hardship by enhancing the quality of the life for these children as well as their respective families.)

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Sunday March 18, 2012
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) – Los Angeles, CA

For the last four years, Farhang Foundation has proudly hosted one of the biggest Nowruz (Persian New Year) celebrations in Los Angeles. This year, the 4th Annual Nowruz Celebration at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), taking place on Sunday, March 18, 2012, will be bigger and better than ever.

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Sunday March 18, 2012 Balboa Park – San Diego, CA

The lawn program is held every year on a Sunday around the Persian New Year, which is the day of the vernal equinox. The New Year is marked at the very instant when the sun leaves the astrological sign of Pisces and enters the sign of Aries. It offers traditional Nowruz cuisine, displays of Persian artifacts, traditional ethnic dances, music and poetry readings

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March 22 to 27 – 2012
Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA (Pacific Symphony)

Pacific Symphony in collaboration with Farhang Foundation invites you to “Nowruz – Celebrating Spring and A New Day” – a musical celebration, featuring world-renowned Persian classical musicians. This program will take place from March 22 – 27, 2012 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.

“These are not just any kids, these are the future leaders of Afghanistan,” proclaimed Sadiq Tawfiq in the closing moments of a festive afternoon reception for a troupe of traveling Afghan orphans making a stop at Afghan Amity Society’s headquarters at Khyber Pass Gallery in Laguna Beach on Sunday, February 19.

The six teenagers – two boys and four girls – along with two teachers from their orphanage in Kabul were in the final stretch of a 10-week road trip through the Unites States. Their coast-to-coast journey in an RV had already taken them to many grand sights and venues, including the Boston Science Museum and Aquarium, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Yet, perhaps no place they visited offered as familiar an embrace as Tawfiq’s Khyber Pass garden patio, colorfully decorated with Afghan rugs, tapestries and tile paintings. Here they connected with more than a dozen sophomores from Laguna Beach High School, all gathering around a large buffet table laden with authentic Afghan cuisine homemade by Tawfiq’s wife, Asma.

“We first thought about having pizza, or something American,” Tawfiq said earlier in the day as he and Asma scurried around the patio making final preparations for the event. “And then I thought, no. I’d like to have Afghan food to help the Afghan kids feel at home, and to give the American kids a different experience. I told my wife that we could have it catered, and she said that she wanted to make it herself. So here it is right from our own kitchen” he said, while deftly tearing large rounds of naan bread into smaller pieces intended to accompany a matar rice and chicken dish covered with raisons, almonds and shredded carrots.

The Laguna Beach students, along with their world history teacher, Jun Shen, arrived at the event individually, many accompanied by family or other friends. They joined members of the AAS board and others involved with supporting the organization’s goals and efforts, such as Mike Whipple, chairman of International Orphan Care, and Mariam Atash Nawabi, a foreign policy liaison between the United States and Afghanistan. By mid-afternoon a group of about 40 people came together with beaming smiles and bright spirits to welcome the Afghan contingency, arriving fresh off a harbor boat ride and tour of the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. Their leader, Ian Pounds, an American teacher with AFCECO (Afghan Child Education and Care Organization) in Kabul, Afghanistan, delivered the group via RV – the “Magic Freedom bus,” as the kids call it, transporting them on their journey of awareness, inspiration and hope. The RV, sporting a sign on the side announcing “Afghan Children’s Tour of America” with a photo showing the kids, did double duty as both transportation and overnight lodging for the group.

Stirring anxiously in the courtyard while awaiting the arrival of the entourage, Laguna Beach students shared ideas of what they might discuss with their Afghan counterparts. “I’m going to ask them their names; what they like to do for fun – their hobbies; if they have pets,” offered student Austin Willhoft, who aspires to become a journalist in his future. “Mostly I’d like to learn about their personal life, but I wonder too what their school system is like – whether they have grades like us. And, I want to make them feel welcome.”

The welcoming did not take long once the group arrived, though a moment of shyness lingered as the Afghan children lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and faced the friendly reception, smiling at the American kids, nearly a mirror image of one another in flip flops, cargo shorts or skinny jeans.

Jun Shen quickly broke the ice with an engaging question: “Our students know a little bit about your country, but may not be familiar with the circumstances you come from – please be our teachers and tell us.”

Hala Rahmini, a bubbly and confident 16-year-old stepped forward to answer: “Our country is in Central Asia; it is a Muslim country; there is no ocean but it is full of mountains and a big river. We are from Kabul, the capitol, but originally many of us come from different provinces, and there are many different dialects of language, more than thirty.”

Hala, who comes from a northern province of Afghanistan but now resides at a Kabul orphanage operated by AFCECO, tells the group that she likes the United States, but the journey through America has only made her feel strengthened to “return home and work hard to make Afghanistan equal. This country is not like our country.” The outgoing, well-spoken youngster goes on to quickly describe life in her world.

“Life there is very different, because we do not have peace. And life for women is very tough; girls and women have to wear burkas – long dark dresses that cover their faces. Women cannot drive, and we cannot walk freely in public, in schools or to work. In the cities, like at the University of Kabul, women can wear scarves instead of burkas. But this is not accepted in the countryside, the small villages where women do their work inside making clothing, jewelry and rugs.”

Hala finished her objective account with a dynamic flourish telling the group that she has aspirations of becoming a doctor, and she looks up to female democracy activists like Benazir Bhutto. The other children each introduce themselves with dreams of becoming an engineer, a teacher, a filmmaker and musicians. The Laguna students respond with introductions and goals that include actress, veterinarian, teacher, journalist, real estate agent and sports medicine practitioner.  Bearing gifts – artistically decorated letters about themselves, and certificates honoring each Afghan child – the Laguna kids stepped forward to shake hands and exchange personal greetings. Others in the audience followed with more gifts: AAS board member John Tobias, a photographer and Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan during the 1970s, presented packets of photographs of Southern California beaches and sunsets to the Afghan kids. and to the American kids he gave images representing a peaceful, beautiful Afghanistan from forty years ago; AAS board member Kimberly Claiborne, a meditation and yoga specialist, gave decorative glass bottles filled with Laguna Beach sand; and Mariam Atash Nawabi, who was instrumental in bringing the Afghan children’s tour to Orange County, brought the American kids an illustrated book telling an Afghan children’s fable.

“It’s a similar story to The Three Little Pigs,” Nawabi explained, “but this book is called Buzak Chinie (The Porcelain Goat), because it is about three little goats – yet it’s interesting to see how both tales are important in each culture.”

Nawabi credited the gift to its author, Asma Salehi, an Afghan woman whose family came to the United States in the wake of the Russian Invasion when she was 12. Beginning school here as a sixth grader, Salehi had no knowledge of English but parlayed her artistic abilities into a career in illustration and graphic arts, and she lives in Orange County.

“Painting, literature, music, food… these are talents and pleasures as important to our culture as to yours,” she says to the American kids.

The Russian Invasion also drove Nawabi’s family out of Afghanistan, and she had relatives imprisoned and killed during the war. From age six she grew up in the United States, and today focuses her work on uplifting her native land out of strife, poverty and war.

“I feel so grateful that I was able to grow up differently here in the United States,” she said. “As Hala told us, women have some opportunities in the Afghan cities, but not in the villages. The country has always been paternalistic, but now it has become less than humanitarian.”

She motioned toward the children now engaged in animated conversation at the AAS reception. “It might take a generation,” she consented, “but eventually they’ll come to better choices. With 64% of the population of Afghanistan now below the age of 15 because of death to war and conflict, it is a nation of children. And, I believe they can take their country forward quickly with education and awareness being the keys to positive change. I think these children here today want to make different choices.”

As if picking up right where Nawabi’s thoughts left off, a conversation between a huddle of Afghan and American girls is overheard: “So, women can’t drive?” asked a Laguna student. “No, but that’s another thing we need to change,” answered the Afghan girl. “It’s our turn now to make our country a better place.” Giving this some thought the Laguna girl responded with another question: “Hey, what sports do you play?” And the Afghan girl brightens to answer, “Soccer! We have soccer clubs and ours just won a tournament in Kabul.” And the Laguna girl thinks for a moment again and replies with a smile, “That’s cool!”

Many of the Afghan kids remarked that seeing equality between men and women is what stood out most to them during their visit to the United States – along with lobster, pizza, hamburgers, Mickey Mouse and video games. But they also talked with their new Laguna Beach friends about the beach, sports, weather and the books they’re reading. Aria Askaryar, one of the Laguna students of Afghan descent, was able to fluently converse in Dari with his two Afghan counterparts. Not to be deterred by the language barrier, Austin Willhoft joined the conversation with a plate of shoal-e-zard in hand and asked one of the Afghan boys if the sweet pudding with nuts is considered a dessert. “Yes, rice, yellow,” answered Eraj Khurasani, who laughed and then corrected himself, “I mean yellow rice!”

Watching the kids talk and laugh together gave the impression that they were longtime childhood pals, rather new acquaintances. There also seemed to be no hint of any differences between them. Yet, these Afghan kids are among an estimated two million orphans in Afghanistan, each with a story of heartache: parents lost to death from war or illness, or parents who abandoned them due to reasons such as drug addiction or extreme poverty. Their academic achievements enabled them to join this tour, funded by grants from the U.S. Embassy’s Afghan Women Empowerment program and Goldman Sachs. Along with building relationships between the U.S. and Afghanistan, the tour is raising money for orphanages run by AFCECO.

Before departing Khyber Pass for a quick tour of the Laguna Beach Art Museum and a sunset walk on the beach, the Afghan kids gathered to sing two songs, accompanied on guitar by Pounds. Their emblem song, “There is a way from heart to heart,” chased with Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In The Wind,” left no eyes dry in the crowd. Proud of the children and pleased with the uplifting outcome of the event, Tawfiq appeared to be floating on air when he exclaimed: “The Taliban for a time stopped the music. Now we are allowed to reconnect with the beautiful poetry of our culture. We are a culture possessing great harmony in design – whether music, literature, painting, handcrafts. In Afghanistan, when the weavers work to make rugs they play music to ease the tension of their hard work. And now, poems, poetry, music, song… it is all part of life again.”

To conclude the impromptu concert and the event on a memorable note Tawfiq shared a Rumi verse, which is the motto of the Afghan Amity Society: “Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” And Pounds followed by reciting a Rumi poem:

Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free.

– Jelaluddin Rumi (13^th century)

Within two years after Sadiq’s father died the family business failed. Only 15 years old, Sadiq stepped forward to establish his own livelihood, and he never looked back. He considers the traveling he did throughout Iran, Iraq and Turkey as the turning point between his childhood and adult life, an experience that influenced him to mature quickly and augmented perfectly with his commitment to meditation and study.

“When I returned home to Afghanistan I had the confidence to travel around my own country and visit some of the cities and villages where my father once did business with local weavers and farmers. I was learning quickly how to create business opportunities with the artisans and I knew what I really wanted to do with my future – to help the native villagers produce and sell their handicrafts. I loved the artistic beauty and uniqueness of their work.”

What Sadiq admired most about the native handicrafts was the story-telling quality embedded into the design of the products, whether rugs, embroidery, jewelry, clothing or pottery.  When visiting the villages he looked forward to spending time with the elderly artisans because they could explain the meaning behind the patterns and symbols styled into the artwork, and they understood the tradition behind the process. He learned a great deal about the beliefs and customs of his native people’s past, and he saw Afghanistan as a beautiful and peaceful country – a place of unique traditions deeply rooted in an ancient history that he took pride in and desired to share.

Sadiq began building a business by purchasing sugar and fabrics from the markets in Kabul, the nation’s capitol, and trading them to the outlying villages for rugs and embroidery to sell back in Kabul, largely to tourists. Within two years he established several stores in Kabul, most selling native handicrafts, including his staple product, authentic hand-woven rugs.

“I loved the historical product of Afghanistan… the products that reflected the life, culture, and history of the people. I was especially attracted to the weavers, and their natural process of making rugs – the ancient symbolism and patterns woven into the rugs, the organic quality of the dyes taken from the wild plant roots, tree bark or fruit juices. It was magical to see how the dried powder of a certain fruit can mix with water to produce the most beautiful colors – different shades of greens, blues, or reds. It amazed me to watch women from the villages – sitting outside in the sunshine with huge piles of wool next to them that was just sheered from the backs of lambs, washed and cleaned – twisting the raw wool into yarn with their own hands.”

Fascinated by the industry of the artisans Sadiq sought a way to be a conduit of income for them. Concentrating his inventory on native crafts he sought out markets for sales, accentuating the cultural value of the native artisan’s handiwork by explaining the story behind each piece – the village it came from and exactly how it was designed, including its colors, symbols and patterns. Before he told a customer the price of a rug he made sure they understood its value as a gift passed forward through the centuries.

Sadiq pursued his livelihood concurrent with his education and as the top graduate in his high school class he was awarded a scholarship to study medicine or engineering at the University of Kabul. Because he enjoyed working with numbers he chose engineering, but quickly became concerned about the separation from his family who remained in Herat.

“It was a terrible feeling to leave my family completely behind in the desert, especially during the harsh winter months. Even though I am only 18 at this time I am the father. And, I am worried about things… things like buying groceries, helping my siblings through school, removing the heavy snow from the matt roof before the spring rains come and it melts through. I know my business responsibilities can be done from a distance, but not my family responsibilities. I needed to be with them.”

Not long into his first semester Sadiq decided to return home, but his desire for a university education eventually brought him back to Kabul with his family in tow.

“The chance for a higher education was offered to very few high school graduates, and I felt it was an opportunity I had to take advantage of in some way. I talked with one of my professors and he suggested that I return to study business instead of engineering, since I was already having success in business. It was a great suggestion that changed my life going forward. I ended up earning a degree in business administration with a minor in education, thinking that one day I would like to work in the education field.”

(To be continued….)

Have we been asleep at the TV, or what. Back in the month of December when Jersey Shore and the continuing saga of the Kardashian sisters dominated the American media psyche, Afghanistan advertised that bidding would open on billions of dollars worth of copper and gold deposits in four areas of the country that together amount to roughly half the size of the Grand Canyon.

Just so you know, the U.S. Defense Department values Afghanistan’s untapped mineral deposits at a tidy $1,000,000,000,000. That’s one trillion U.S. dollars, suggesting a vast wealth of mineral riches lays dormant in the marbled underbelly of the Sistan Basin. Iron, copper, cobalt, goal and assorted rare earth materials used in everything from cell phones to hybrid car batteries are buried throughout the country – but especially in Badakhshan, Ghazni and (you guessed it) Herat provinces. According to the Afghan Minister of Mines, Wahidullah Shahrani, who estimates the value at an even loftier $3 trillion, Afghanistan plans to sell the rights for up to five mines a year until 2014. That should get the geological money pump lubricated.

But who are the proper arbiters of this newly discovered treasure trove of mineral fortune? A clutch of business-cozy Afghan government ministers? The multinational mining corporations who are assuming the risk?

To be fair, Afghanistan has little if no modern capabilities to plumb this potentially obscene amount of earthly wealth on its own, let alone conduct the appropriate geological surveys that can a) isolate the quantity and grade of each precious metal sought, or b) avoid environmental disaster in the international “gold rush” to capitalize on the country’s stunningly large reserves. Still, do conveniently written mining treaties crafted by a notoriously corrupt government to the benefit of foreign mining firms seem like the Afghan people will be reaping an equitable share of the lode?

Slow down, you say. Afghanistan has high hopes that its budding mining industry will generate billions in revenue to help rebuild the nation after 30 years of war. Isn’t this a good thing? Sure, if it was actually based on locally developed infrastructure, clearly defined socio-economic revenue streams attached directly to nation building and the Afghan people themselves managing the entire supply chain, from extraction to project management and financial administration.

Instead, the whole thing whiffs of mortgaging Afghanistan’s future to outside influences all over again, continuing an age-old tradition of occupation begun by Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army or (choose one) the Achaemenid Empire, Indian Maurya Empire, Islamic Empire and Sassanid Empire. Which says nothing of those past 30 years.

Drill, baby, drill

To me, government-sponsored corporations marching in under the banner of resource development in order to liberate the Afghan people of their poverty is no less of a foreign invasion and material conquest. Let’s review some of the early agreements, interesting for their absence of explicit U.S.-sponsored involvement.

In late 2007, a $3 billion contract was awarded to China Metallurgical Group Corp. to mine copper at Aynak in Logar province, 21 miles southeast of Kabul. The mine is thought to hold one of the world’s largest untapped copper reserves.

In December 2010, Afghan officials approved a multimillion-dollar contract to mine gold in Dushi district of Baghlan province. It was the first mining project in Afghanistan backed by private investors from the West, who pledged $50 million for the project.

In November 2011, the Afghan government gave investors from India and Canada permission to mine an estimated 1.8 billion tons of iron ore in Bamiyan province.

Call me Chicken Little, but in the history of mankind it has always been dig first, deal with the consequences of human greed (labor rights abuses and ecological crises) later. I’m not saying the projected 4,000 to 5,000 Afghan jobs that mining copper could create in the next five years is a bad thing, nor are the hundreds of millions of dollars Afghanistan’s treasury department stands to gain from this effort. It’s where the fruits of this harvest are falling.

Specifically, the national interests need to be even more largely served (employment numbers and sectors represented) and genuinely felt by the people themselves (revenues legally bound to hard-core issues of provincial or national need, such as rural education and quality healthcare). And that this is achieved only through a transparent democratic process in which the entire voting public plays a role, not something determined by a dubiously elected government agreeing to terms dictated to by multinationals driven entirely by self interest.

Afghans need a chunk of the benefit that mining could bring, not a chip off the ol’ rock. Stay “tuned” to this one. viagra

Faced with anguish and confusion over the loss of his father, Sadiq turned to meditation and prayer – a practice he gained during his childhood by accompanying his father to the mosques in Herat. Now, feeling adrift in a sea of darkness, he shook himself awake every morning before dawn to develop a ritual that began with one hour of intense meditation.

Alone with his litany of questions, he sat perfectly still and silent but for the static of his worry: what do I do now, who will take care of me, how can I help my family, what will become of my life? Beneath the thick straw roof blanketed by that winter’s heavy snowfall, he concentrated on thoughts that reached through the cold darkness to find answers that slowly brightened his spirit, warmed his heart, and strengthened his resolve. By candlelight he went on for two more hours to study for his classes, geography, mathematics, English. At 7:00 a.m. his mother called him to join his four siblings for breakfast before seeing him out the door to school. Chores at the family home and its surrounding farmland would be waiting for him at the end of each long day.

Today Sadiq expresses gratitude for receiving such a strong spiritual foundation early in his life, and he credits meditation with transforming the sadness of his father’s death into a powerful inspiration. Believing that “life is energy,” Sadiq fixed his mind on positive thoughts of how to follow in his late father’s footsteps

“After five or six months I understood that I had to become the father myself – and if my efforts were sincere, then the power of the universe, God, would be there to support me. I knew I would be able to go on and make a life for myself. I did not doubt it.”

As an eighth-grade student, Sadiq quickly rose to the top of his class. He evolved into an assistant teacher, helping to lead classes of 30-40 students. His love of learning, ability to study independently and evolving fluency in English greatly impressed his teachers. This recognition, along with the support and encouragement of his mother, bolstered his confidence and fueled his ambitions.

During high school Sadiq enhanced his education by continuing to show foreign visitors the art and history of Herat. Located in the center of Persia, at the crossroads of ancient trades routes, Herat fascinated Sadiq as a voluminous repository of an artistic culture many thousands of years old. He saw the city as a unique and magical place holding its spirited past inside ancient buildings filled to the brim with precious artworks; a Mecca of creativity that produced greatly revered artists, such as Ustad Kamal Behzad (the most renowned Medieval Persian painter), or Khwajah Abdullah Ansari (a famous Persian poet of the 11^th century); an environment embracing its past into the present day with architecture of centuries-old structures; and the purposeful design of artisan’s tools and handicrafts, all telling stories of a rich tradition and longstanding lifestyle. And, in this kaleidoscopic cultural landscape Sadiq’s mind swirled with endless curiosities

“I wanted to know: how did people live in that former time, what did they wear, how did they build, how did they decorate? And, I would visit the city’s museums where artifacts, like 2,000 year-old coins, would make me wonder: what is the value of these coins, and what did people buy with them?”

In exchange for his tours, Sadiq continued gaining knowledge of foreign languages and culture. He yearned to see the world outside of Afghanistan and got his first chance at 14 when he accompanied his grandmother on a visit to relatives in Iran. It was not typical, he says, for people to travel outside of their local communities, especially at a young age. He extended this journey on his own, traveling by bus throughout Iran, Turkey and Iraq.

“That trip really opened my eyes to the world outside of Herat,” he says, “and it gave me a sense of how commerce and trade is done between different cities and countries.”

How to make money was particularly important to Sadiq at this time because his father’s export business was languishing under inexperienced employees and directors. The revenue that used to come to his family was dwindling to nothing, and he felt pressed to forge new opportunities.

“Many decisions were made by the new management who took over,” he says, “and their decisions didn’t lead to good results. My father was very intelligent with his process of import and export to the international markets, particularly Europe. He knew the value and quality of every product he sold – pistachios, sugar, cashmere wool and hand-woven rugs. He had an excellent sense for the market’s deman, predicting how much of each product to import and at what price to sell in a free market.

“For example,” Sadiq explains, “with pistachios, you have to know the right timing and process: when and how much to pick, how to clean, how to sort and store in a proper warehouses, how to deliver, how to price, and how to sell at the best time. The window of opportunity to sell to the European markets was very critical – just two months out of the year. If you missed the timing then all was lost.”

(To be continued….)