Summer 2023 Newsletter
Dear friends,
I hope you are enjoying the gorgeous days and nights of early summer. On this beautiful Monday morning, I look around at the trees that surround my home overlooking a pond brimming with life. From the fourth story, I watch the adult ducks, with their ducklings in tow, swimming merrily from one side of the pond to the other, taking frequent rest stops beneath the shade of the trees and bushes. The birds are content among the tree branches, and I can hear their magical conversations from the canopies.
As I write this letter to you, I marvel at how fantastic it is to be amid nature – a marvel I never tire of. I marvel at how integrated life is and how one form of life attracts and welcomes another. The water, the trees, the ducks, the rabbits, the fish, and the occasional crane landing on the pond are all at home. They move about as their hearts desire, feeling unhurried, creating a semi-autonomous ecosystem while integrating fully to form part of the whole system of our planet.
The pond downstairs is a metaphor for our Afghanistan projects, which are part of our shared ecosystem system. In the last twenty years, thousands of miles away, you and I and many others have joined the Samsortya community to plant trees in arid areas, establish gardens that provide nourishment to families, and to dig wells so that children and their families may drink clean water – in an effort to beautify and revive that semi-autonomous pocket within our larger ecosystem.
Our efforts aren’t only contributing to the well-being of communities in Afghanistan. Instead, I encourage folks to think from a broader perspective that while, yes, Afghan children and their families benefit from the trees, gardens, and wells, the whole planet is the beneficiary of our positive work. Every tree planted in Afghanistan, every garden growing with nutritious vegetables and fruits, and every drop of clean water is part of the whole planet's – our collective home's – well-being. At the least, we alleviate suffering; at best, we create spaces where humans thrive. Here are a few vignettes of three projects for the summer:
Children's Park in Khairkhana
I am delighted to share that we donated 1,200 trees and flowers this April to revive a park in the Khairkhana region of Kabul, home to an estimated 4,000-5,000 residents. Early this spring, I received a request for trees from a representative of the community for a park that was in fact a bare piece of land of about three acres that had the skeleton of some old playground equipment. They asked whether Samsortya could help rehabilitate the park, and after an assessment of the project which revealed its importance and ongoing impact, we donated 1,200 trees and flower bushes to the park. On the day the trees and flowers arrived at the park, the community organized young people who participated in planting the new arrivals as a lesson in stewardship. The trees and flowers we contributed to beautify the park have already done much to green the space, and women and children are already enjoying the space. I am working with the representatives from the community to dedicate a portion of the park to children and women, so that they can freely and safely enjoy the space. I aim to equip the park with a playground for children to have a safe place to play and dream.
Alongside the garden, we will plant additional trees to ensure a greener space for women to take walks – a practical and comprehensive approach to rehabilitating the formerly barren park. I plan to continue to contribute trees and flowers from our nursery spaces to this project, and aim to make this park the first of many such green spaces in Kabul and other regions where women and children can safely seek respite. Imagine the impact on the lives of the people. Imagine alleviating their stresses and traumas in such a healing space. Can you hear the children's innocent voices and laughter filling the air in the park?
Nurseries
Currently, we have three nurseries in Nangarhar Province from which we transplant tens of thousands of trees and flowers each year. Throughout the year our four employees attentively care for the nurseries' inhabitants, ensuring they are watered and protected from the heat. In August, we will graft thousands of mulberry saplings with higher-quality mulberries. Some of these saplings will be ready for donations to communities in January and February, providing delicious nutrition and shade for people. Much of Afghanistan needs a reliable source of power, so the trees are natural air purifiers and air conditioning systems for people in scorching summer temperatures. Our nursery in Jalalabad City, with a population of more than one million people. Seraj-El-Imarat is an old public garden in the city.
Our nursery, located in the heart of the gardens, is a sight for the eyes: tens of thousands of trees and flowers fill this space, and due to our location in a public area, the nursery is also a resource center. People from the province and even outside the province visit our section of the public gardens to look at the wide varieties of trees and flowers, and to receive cuttings from our nursery to propagate in other regions of the country. Additionally, we donate thousands of rare and popular saplings to communities from this space. In this way, the nursery also serves as an impactful educational site for visitors from around Afghanistan who might be interested in creating similar projects. This February, a friend from Herat took 12 sour orange saplings to that province to plant in his private garden. I am excited that this might be the first time someone has been interested in cultivating sour oranges in Herat.
Health Studies Program:
We currently provide scholarships to 36 students who continue to thrive in their studies. They study midwifery, nursing, laboratory sciences, and pharmacy. We are in the fifth year of our program, having graduated 30 students thus far. Our graduates are self-contained mobile clinicians – imagine the knowledge, expertise, and practical experience they gain in school and the impact such experience has on the country's population. Recently, I received letters from two students. One former student, Hejera received a scholarship to the midwife program of a local health institute in Kabul and graduated with honors. She writes: "I am supporting the institute as an assistant lecturer, which is a great start to my career journey." She thanks the supporters of Samsortya "who supported and enabled me and now, I am living happily with my family and my colleagues at the institute.” For Hejera, the scholarship is life-altering. As a young, independent woman, she is supporting herself financially and contributing to her family’s household income while proudly serving her community. She concludes her letter, "I request all the charity foundations to continue their support to Afghan girls and women in the field of higher education, capacity-building, career opportunities, and livelihood supports as they are in more need than ever before. Without women’s inclusion, society is destined for extreme poverty and darkness of health, economics, education, ethics, politics, and development.” Most interestingly, Hejra has titled her letter: "Ray of Light in Darkness." We don't need to say more; her message is clear.
I also received a letter from Ms. Akbari, who eloquently writes in Dari, that “unfortunately, Afghans face many economic, social, environmental and mental health issues”. In particular, young women have dreams of education and access to professional opportunities, and alas their dreams are dashed these days. She writes that she is in her third semester of a two-year nursing program, and that she has already helped several women in her community in the birthing process, as they live far away from a health center and do not have the financial and social means to even receive attention at such a center.
Furthermore, Ms. Akbari explains that she takes care of the health needs of her own extended family, and works part-time at a health center in Kabul to receive further practical experience. She eloquently concludes her letter by encouraging us to expand the scholarship program, as many young women are interested in studying health sciences, and it is crucial to train them in health services so that they might serve the needs of millions of women in Afghanistan. At this moment, Afghan girls are able to remain in school until sixth grade after which schools don’t support their education. It is important to note that our students are exempt from this because our scholarship program enables them to study in private health institutes in Kabul and Ningrahar which function outside state jurisdictions.
I am excited to share these positive updates with you, and I look forward to connecting with you in person or through Zoom meetings and phone calls this summer, and thank you for your continued support. Please refer to the end of this letter for ideas on how you may support Samsortya's projects. I welcome your questions and feedback.
In Pashto, Samsortya means revitalization and rejuvenation - an apt name for our organization since our mission is to foster the well-being of all people. Here is an excerpt from one of my favorite poems by the 13th-century mystic Saadi Shirazi. This beautiful poem is from his compilation, Golestan or Garden.
بنیآدم اعضای یک دیگرند کھ در آفرینش ز یک گوھرند چو عضوى بھدرد آو َرد روزگار دگر عضوھا را نما َند قرار
Human beings are like limbs of a body,
created from the same essence.
When one part or limb is hurt and in pain,
the other parts or limbs are not left alone and (impacted).
With love and gratitude,
Mariam
P.S. Here are a few ideas on how your communities can help Afghanistan Samsortya:
❖ Donate to provide critical financial support to sustain and grow our programs. Contributions can be made online at www.afghanistansamsortya.com or by mail to 200 Swanton St, Winchester, MA 01890.
❖ Arrange speaking events where I can introduce Afghanistan Samsortya's work to your school, church, library, or other group.
❖ Introduce our work to funders interested in supporting our projects.
❖ Donate your time and expertise to support our efforts in grant writing, video editing, website design, agriculture/permaculture, nutrition, medicine, and education.
How do your contributions help?
$30 provides 2 trees for an Afghan family
$50 provides 4 trees for a family and its children
$100 provides 10 trees to revitalize a neighborhood in Afghanistan
$250 provides 25 trees to give fuel, shade, and food to an Afghan community
$500 provides 50 trees of various species to sustain a community in Afghanistan
$1000 provides 100 trees to renew and heal the local ecosystem, as well as offer opportunities for employment to local Afghans
$1500 provides one well for a community in need of fresh, potable, and accessible sources of water
If you have other ideas, please do not hesitate to share them with me!