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April 2008

Dear Friends of PARSA:

Spring has arrived here,and outside of ourresidence old, old lilacbushes are blooming-

planted no doubt in theearly 1900s when thisgraceful old building wasfirst built. I amheartened by all of theactivity at PARSA, and infact all the new activity that I see in Afghanistan.I know, this is not what you are hearing about this country but I

appreciate the fact that somany of you are willingto stay in touch with us and hear what we have to say.

Genna Fleming, photojournalist,accompanied Camilla Barry ofBarry Scientific, and her son,Nicholas to document Camillasremarkable teacher training program and we were luckyenough to have her take pictures of

some of our projects andgenerously give them to me to use.I was sitting with her in our kitchenthe day before she left looking overher photos and I was struck by picture after picture of faces of Afghan men, women, and children

PARSADiscovering the Afghan Spirit

Genna Flemming and Nicholas Barry working at mykitchen table.

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smiling and full of the wonder of discovering something new. Genna also, left thiscountry wondering at this untold tale about this country.

I have recently had the opportunity to work through the American University as aconsultant in their Professional Development Institute, and I have met over 100 upand coming Afghan professionals who are hungry for learning, and who will be futureleaders in Afghanistan. We talk about the future of Afghanistan during the course ofmy trainings with them, and how they want it to be and what they are doing to work toward a stable Afghanistan. Yesterday as I was working with a young, dynamicgroup employed with a donor country agency a young man said to me, We love ourcountry and we are so desperate to have a government that is not corrupt, a countrywhere there is no fighting! Our hopelessness is almost a psychosocial problem!!! I

say to them, find what is good and who is working-pay attention to them instead oflistening to the bad news-lets see how your country looks like when you do.

Dawn just called me from Ghor province where we are inaugurating our pilot programto help the Ministry staff renovate the orphanages. Yesterday, she dealt with all of thecomplaints-not enough money, food, no water, and supplies. Our job is not to supply these but to mentor the ministry staff through the process of being accountable for their jobs, and finding the resources to accomplish that. Today she called me elated.She and our staff worked with the ministry staff to teach them how to network, andfind resources for the children by hands on teaching or walking them through theprocess. By noon, together they all had secured an agreement with the local hospitalto care for the children for free, found a source of support for all hygienic supplies anda water source for bathing-our staff and the ministry staff overcame their resignationand hopelessness and got to work.

My dear friend, Mahbouba Seraj, has just launched a radio program that we created together on one of our long jaunts in rural Afghanistan. She calls it My Beloved Afghanistan and it is about the Afghan people who are accomplishing remarkable things under difficult circumstances. Afghan people who have not lost their spirit,

Camilla Barr workin with PARSA teachers

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Donating to PARSAPlease either send yourcheck to:

PARSA3246 39th Avenue SW

Seattle, WA 98116

Or go online atwww.afghanistan-

parsa.org and click ondonations to pay with

Pay Pal

their hope, their generosity or their heart. And there is nolack of stories for her show. However, the internationalmedias persistent focus on how Afghanistan is failing isextraordinarily counter-productive and simply not thewhole picture or the whole truth. This coverage overlooks

the greatness of these people, what is working, and serves to make the international community and Afghans feellike there is no hope. I feel extremely lucky to be workingas I am in the presence of these people. I thank you, ourdonor community for having the wisdom to look foranother story in PARSA and for your personalcommitment to us and I thank you for the hope that yourcontributions, gifts and letters give my staff and me.

Program Updates: Our program reports have become so lengthy that I am

posting them now on our web journal atwww.parsakabul.blogspot.com. Hereis a brief introduction to these reports this month.

Jawzjareen Community Vil lage SchoolDear Jawzareen Funding Team;Yasin, PARSA national director, traveled with a team to Bamyan last week to begin the

process of setting up the school. We begin the process with one of our senior staffmembers meeting with the village shura or elders......(read the rest of the report online)

Thank you to our Northwest teachers giving group who have pooled their resources tomake this project possible. They have raised over $12,000 to make this pilot projectpossible!

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A Safe Place programF o r t h e P s y c h i a t r ic P a t i e n t s a tM a r a s t o o n .PARSA staff members, Abobaker andSahelia have begun our rehabilitationprogram with Marastoons Asylum patients. We are just into the first two weeks with

much learning to do, but the 8

women and 4 men participating inthe program are thrilled to be a partof the program. More details online

PARSA Wish l istFunding wishes: PARSA is operated primarily from a grassroots community of smalldonors and small funds from foundations. Many people in our community of supportjust want to know that their contributions have somehow touched the Afghan people

and contributed to a better future. I have instituted a list of funding needs and of itemsthat you can send us to support us. If you are going to mail us something please e-mailme for our address at mgustav@mac.com. We have completed 28 sewing baskets forthe women in Jawzjareen Community Village School. I cannot tell you how touched Iam by the love and effort that has gone into the boxes that have been sent our way andI want you to know that we make sure that the Afghans that receive them understandthe personal nature of your contribution!

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Giving Groups are a phenomena where our donorsself-organize by getting together to pool theircontributions to contribute to a specific program or effortthat means a lot to them. In Seattle, we have 12 teacherswho have a modest amount to contribute rally around the

Jawzjareen Community Village School-PARSAs pilotcommunity development program for rural communities.Here in Kabul, British General Sean Bell has organized agrassroots-funding group he calls Ringing in theChange. ISAF soldiers have very limited engagementshere and love to work with the orphans. General Bell hasorganized a project to renovate the two Kabul orphanages,as well as has set up a volunteer program for the soldiersto meet and play with the children. Since January he hasmanaged to raise enough money to fix the electricity and plumbing at Tai Maskanorphanage. PARSA works with RTC to facilitate the volunteer program, select and

manage contractors, and insure that the money is spent on what RTC intends. We areconducting our Healthy Afghan Children Program in both orphanages alongside hisrenovation effort.

I love grassroots efforts. A lot of people with a small amount of money putting theirresources together to make an impact here is remarkable, and a story very rarely told.

Funding needs:Schools: We would like to organize more giving groups. After three years we recentlycompleted our contract with CRS for our 10 village Early Childhood Development

programs in Paghman. We would like to find one giving group for each village so that we can provide a Community Village School model ofdevelopment that has literacy, economic training andparent/child programs. The funding goal for each group wouldbe $8,000 per village for villages close to Kabul and $12,000 formore remote villages such as in Bamyan. We will connect you toa specific village and keep you updated on the villages progresseach month, like I am doing forthe Jawzjareen group.Our wonderful volunteer, CherylCampbell has started interviewing

each village to support us indocumenting the issues and finding funding to continueour work in Paghman. She just came back from a dayinterviewing villagers and said that the villagers havecome forward and offered to figure out how to handletheir teachers salaries, for the literacy and ECD coursesif PARSA would initiate economic training for the adultsso they can support themselves. This is such a great sign

Women Soldiers visiting girls at Alluhoddin

Yasin working with villagers inVillage Community School

Cheryl, volunteer physiotherapist

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of their initiative and interest in using our program to become independent! Please letme know if you are interested in supporting one of these villages and if you need moredetails.

Joguri- PARSA facilitated the building of a school by 100 Friends in a remote

Hazara village in Ghazni Province. 100 Friends raised $20,000 to build the school andwe thought that we had a donor for an additional $8,000 to complete the school but this funding fell through. We are hoping to organize a giving group to complete thebuilding of this school in such a needy area- Dawn Erickson and Jim Springer areheading up this Giving group-starting by donating $500 themselves. Please contactJim Springer if you are interested in supporting this effort. sprngr_jms@yahoo.comItems neededFor PARSA administration tofunctionUsed laptopsGenerator for Bamyan

Day Planners for our directors (withcalendars)Plastic

For physiotherapy clinic and workingwith the disabledWobble boardAir splint

Parallel barsCryotherapyMud packsTherabandUltrasound machine (used)Interferential(use

For our Center for Creative Abil ity Science Center developed byCamilla Barry founder of Classrooms across Cultures

PARSA had the good fortune of having Camilla Barryand her son Nicholas stay at PARSA for the last two weeks, conducting special teacher training forelementary and high school teachers. She worked withour Paghman teachers, Marastoon teachers and teachersat the orphanage, Tai Maskan. She teaches scientificinquiry or as she says teaches children to think. Thisis such a huge gap in the Afghan education system, that those of us, who train professionals here, have a hardtime being effective because of the lack of understandingof critical thinking. Traditional Afghan Education

involves rote learning. During the war the quality of education devolved and many young professionals speak of being beaten if they did not know the right answer-astrong deterrent to a child demonstrating any curiosity or experimenting to learn.Camilla is going to help us stock and create curriculum for a Science Center in ourCenter for Creative Abilities: We could use help stocking the Science Center belowis her explanation and list of items needed:

Practically none of the children or teachers in Afghanistan has been exposed to hands-on

science. In fact, throughout my travels in Bamyan, Ghazni, and the greater Kabul area, I have yet

to meet a single person who has conducted an experiment or used inquiry methods.

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PARSA website:www.afghanistan-parsa.org

PARSA Web Journalwww.parsakabul.blogspot.com

Afghan science textbooks describe chemical

reactions or facts about physics, botany, etc. However, there

are no depictions of experiments that might be done to

accompany the texts. There are few illustrations.

I have taught science for twenty years, and have

discovered that it can best be taught using everyday materials. This makes science accessible to

everyone: students and teachers alike. Students can, and often do, repeat the experiments at home fortheir parents. Alternatively, teachers can easily pass their experiences on to others, even when the master

teacher-trainer is not present.

Another reason for using common materials, is that teachers are hesitant, and even afraid, to use

unfamiliar chemicals and equipment. Furthermore, these supplies cannot be duplicated in Afghanistan,

once the original supplies have been exhausted (if they were purchased elsewhere).

Therefore, my list consists primarily of common items that can be used to teach many scientific

principals, pre-K through college. A few of the items may be somewhat difficult to find in Afghanistan,

but not impossible.

TablesChairsWhite boards

White board markersWhite board eraserWriting paperNotebooksPencilsColored pencilsCrayons or colored markersSidewalk chalkRulersProtractors (suggest Barry Scientificprotractors; easiest to use)Lengths of bell wire, copperelectrical wire coated with

plasticMagnetsof all types, especiallyalnico bar magnetsBaking sodaVinegarLiquid dish soap (Dawnpreferred)Plastic ziplock bags (differentsizes)Plastic wrapAluminum foilScissors both student and teacherBowls of all sizesPlates of all sizes

Spoons of all sizes, some woodenand plasticPortable burners, and extra gas

canistersMatchesHot pads and towelsPaper towels, napkins, wipe-upragsPitchersEasy access to water, both hotand coldTrash baskets, largeMeasuring spoons in all sizesMeasuring cups in all sizes, glassand plasticPots, non-aluminum best, smallto medium-large sizesSkillet with handleGlass cups, lots, all sizesPaper Styrofoam cups, manyEye droppersCoffee filtersChildrens markersFood coloring or non-toxicliquid dyesPlastic strawsRefrigerator and freezer, orcombinationIce chest

SpongesRolls of several thicknesses ofstring, cotton or poly

Thermos bottleHand mirrorsBatteries, C and D sizeFlashlight bulbs, for C and DbatteriesL.E.D. bulbs, any colorAlligator clips, plastic coatedPaper clips, large and smallStapler and staplesTransparent tape and dispenserWhite glueBlack electrical tapeDuct tapeColored construction paperPennies or other coinsKitchen scales, various sizes:dietscales measuring approx 1 oz 15oz scales measuring one lb and up(and/or metric equiv)Thermometers:

digital thermometers forcandy-making or measuringliquids.Range should be at least from

freezing to boiling, higher rangesprefer

Camilla Barrys website iswww.barryscientific.com for more about her work.

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Healthy Afghan Child ProgramFor the Chaghcharan Childrens Centerin Ghor Province

PARSA and the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit (IRCU) have entered into a one yearpartnership to implement the Healthy Afghan Child Program (HACP) which has just

been approved by the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyred and Disabled(MoLSAMD). The Icelandic Foreign Affairs Minister Ingibjor Gisladottir met withPARSA at ISAF Headquarters in Kabul in March for a welcome dinner and to discussthe HACP starting in Ghor.

From left to right: NATO SCR POLAD (Political Advisor) Susan Martin, Health DelegateInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Afghanistan Delegation,

Pitambar Aryal, PARSA Executive Director Marnie Gustavson, PARSA OrganizationalDevelopment and HACP Program Director Dawn Erickson, Icelandic Foreign Minister IngibjorSolrun Gisladottir, Ragnheiur (Heida) Kolse

IRCU Development Advisor and International Legal Foundation, Afghanistan Country Director(ILF-A) Ibrahim Hassan.

In 2007, it was reported Afghanistans NationalOrphanages housed over 8,000 vulnerable children in 32orphanages and childrens centers around the country. InAfghanistan, an orphan is defined as a child without afather. It is estimated that 60% of the children currently

in orphanages have a mother or extended family thatcannot afford to care for them. In some cases childrenattend orphanages to get a better education and morefood, as well as, to have better living conditions than areavailable at home.

The design of the Healthy Afghan Children Program is toprovide MoLSAMD and the Chaghcharan Childrens

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Center (CCC) management staff training that provides intervention techniques in howto run the CCC and that provides training in new systems of supervision, educationand management. At the end of the one year program, PARSA will have implementedsimple but effective organizational systems that will enable the Head of theDepartment of Labor and Social Affairs (DoLSA) which is under the direction

MoLSAMD in Chaghcharan, Ghor Province to continue running the CCC using theprogram components.Currently, the orphans in Ghor live in a building without running water and in shopfronts. Girls only attend the orphanage during the day for classes. The newChaghcharan Childrens Center is expected to open in Fall 2008. With the trainingfrom PARSA, the DoLSA staff will be fully trained to work with the orphans at theCCC using case management and other modern techniques. PARSA will be trainingstaff to provide services to approximately 300 children.

Note: In Afghanistan an orphan is a child that does not have a father, so in some caseschildren in the orphanages have a living parent. In other instances, children are

institutionalized due to poverty, drugs, violence, etc.

The wall for the CCC was completed in Fall 2007 with funds from Brunssum,Netherlands. Construction on the CCC is expected to start in May as weatherpermits.

With the funding from the IRCU, PARSA will conduct multiple trainings forMoLSAMD staff including teaching case management, developing plans forreintegrating the orphans and vulnerable children into the community, working with

Boys in front of shop front homes (part of current orphanage

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health professionals to provide services, identifying vocational programs for the olderstudents and more!Dawn Erickson On Our Work in the Orphanages

Marnie Gustavson:A Friend to Afghan Women and Children

By Colin Hume

I sat behind her, a middle-aged American woman, in aconference room at the Ministry of Martyred andDisabled in Kabul, Afghanistan. I was amazed at the poise

and confidence with which she addressed the Afghanofficials and leaders of several important internationalorganizations who were sitting before her. Thisremarkable meeting had been coordinated byPhysiotherapy and Rehabilitation Support for Afghanistan

(PARSA), for which Marnie Gustavson serves as executive director. Theimportance of the days topic, conditions in the government-run orphanagesacross the country, was not lost on any of the attending Afghans andinternationals. Gustavsons focus was on the living conditions in the nationalorphanages where more than 8,000 children live. She was trying to get thechildren the care they deserve. And she was putting her professional reputation

on the line.

A social worker and Seattle native, Marnie Gustavson has been working inAfghanistan since 2003, following the fall of the Taliban, and living there withher husband, Dr. Norman Gustavson, since 2004. After starting an educationaland well-being program in the large Alluhoddin orphanage in Kabul the

previous fall, Gustavson and her Afghan staff members found conditions soupsetting that they began a movement to overhaul the inner-workings ofgovernment-run orphanages.

This days meeting was presided over by the deputy minister of Martyred andDisabled. In attendance were leaders of at least five other domestic andinternational organizations that work with orphans, including Save the Childrenand the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The meeting came aboutin response to the circulation of a report Gustavson had written which detailed

what she and her PARSA staff members had found in their six months ofworking in Alluhoddin. The conditions described in the report were distressing:

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inadequate access to hygienic facilities and medical treatment, allegations ofabuse by staff members, and a lack of night-time supervisors in girls dorms

were just a few. Once circulated, the report and the conditions described in itcould no longer be ignored by Afghan officials.

The report achieved exactly what Gustavson wanted: A hearing before theministry. After officially welcoming the meeting attendees in English, hercolleague Mahbouba Seraj presented the findings of the report in Dari. Seraj is

the once-exiled granddaughter of King Habibullah, a progressive Afghan kingwho reigned at the turn of the century, and her presence lent weight to thefindings. Finally, Gustavson and Seraj acknowledged that the report wasunofficial, but that the findings warranted further investigation by the ministry.They asked that a committee comprising domestic and internationalrepresentatives already working in the countrys orphanages be formed to

preside over an official investigation into government-run homes for children

across the country. And they wanted continued oversight by this samecommittee to ensure long-lasting systemic changes.

After listening to supporting statements by other representatives in attendance,the presiding minister acknowledged the report. He agreed to therecommendations and promised to form a committee. He then went on thedefensive and began attacking the allegations that had been made, calling intoquestion the integrity of Gustavsons organization. He stated that as PARSAhad not been given permission to write a report, the problems documented hadno concrete basis.

After listening for 15 minutes, Gustavson interjected. She stood up and statedthat the meeting had begun to turn in the wrong direction. She was unwilling todefend the work of her organization or the veracity of the report, as it wouldshift the meetings focus. She thanked the deputy minister for agreeing to theformation of a committee to undertake an official investigation into theconditions of the government-run orphanages. She stated that she expected theminister to abide by his word and with that, walked out of the meeting.

As I followed Gustavson out of the conference room, accompanied by herhusband and Mahbouba Seraj, I looked back to see the stunned faces of thedeputy minister and other Afghan officials. Though not diplomatic, Gustavsonhad certainly made her point. As we found out later, the report she hadcirculated almost got her expelled from Afghanistan for the stir it raised. I hadnever felt more proud of my mother. It was the spring of 2007 and I had justarrived in Kabul for a month-long visit with her and my stepfather.

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Gustavsons love of Afghanistan stems from the four years she spent there as achild from 1964 to 1968, during the Golden Years of relative calm in thathistorically turbulent country. Her father, looking for adventure, had packed uphis wife, three daughters and cat, and accepted a teaching position there. As achild, Afghanistan was wonderful, mostly because there was such a sense of

community and relationship with Afghans and other internationals, she recalls.We made our own entertainment, and I enjoyed a wonderful childhood ofadventure and learning in an amazing culture. I still enjoy living here because of

the sense of close relationship with people that we dont have in our ownculture. The experience shaped each member of the family in lasting ways.Exposure to the lives of the truly poor and vulnerable at such a young ageclearly left an impression on the 9-year-old Gustavson, who has since spentmuch of her adult life as a social worker in Seattle.

Married with two children by age 25, Gustavson began her social work career

in her early thirties in Seattle, becoming the executive director of the youth atrisk program Steps Ahead at Rainier Beach High School. In 1991, she cofounded Washington Works, an organization that specialized in helping welfaremothers transition back into the workforce. In 1996 she cofounded CreativeEconomic Opportunities, which focused on helping the most hard-to-serve

people, including addicts, the mentally ill, teenage mothers and thedevelopmentally disabled integrate into their communities and find employment.

It was not until the Taliban regime fell that Gustavson fixed her attention onAfghanistan. The living conditions of women and their children are especially

important to her. Since returning to Afghanistan she has worked for a numberof organizations, including Refugee Women in Development and Equal AccessRadio. At the helm of PARSA, she directs work on issues such as thedevelopment of economic capacities for widows, education for women, as wellas physiotherapy and rehabilitation of war wounds.

In a report on the conditions of the Alluhoddin orphanage as of this fall,Gustavson had this to say: .we made a difference in Alluhoddin ... you

wouldnt recognize the place ... kids are clean, have uniforms, TV in every room,kitchen brand-new ... some toilets work ... People always ask my mother why she has chosen such a difficult place to work.Her response is, In spite of how hard it is in Afghanistan ... I believe in the

Afghan people and their ability to make their country right ... and my workreflects that. Most people just go around the Afghan government. I challenge

them because I want Afghans to run this country well ... and I believe they willdo it ... and last week that man I walked out on invited us back to work in theorphanages ... we are now good working partners.

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