Situation in Afghanistan & Iran

In the past few days and weeks many of us have heard the awful news coming from Afghanistan and Iran.

Rapid takeover of Taliban in Afghanistan and the resulting upheaval have made supporting our students there ever more challenging. In our communication with our sponsored students in Kabul as well as our nonprofit partner organization, the situation is extremely dire. More than their fear of reprisals for merely accepting help to attend school; especially for girls; the absence of a coherent central government means facing a life and death situation at any time. Our main focus is to reestablish channels of funds to our students whose daily sustenance is dependent on our provided assistance.

In Iran, based on data from Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at John Hopkins University, almost 5 million cases of COVID have been reported and at approximately 100,000 lives have been lost. The report indicates that COVID deaths in Iran is the highest per capita in the world. The government seems to be more concerned with having tombs ready to accept bodies than desperately needed vaccines. Hospitals are overrun with COVID patients and the cost of merely basic medication and treatment is far higher than most Iranians earn in a lifetime. In this catastrophic condition our impoverished students are facing evermore hardship and obstacle in continuing their education.

We, more than before, need your help.