Coats for Children of Afgan Mothers in Prision

Thanks to the compassionate heart of an American doctor stationed in Afghanistan, we had the opportunity this winter to help keep a group of children in an Afghan prison warm, by providing them with coats, as well as perhaps bringing them some moments of happiness by giving them a few toys to enjoy. It all started with Bill Davis’ suggestion that the Club sponsor a scholarship for Nicole Heydari - a local young woman from the Humble area. Our Club arranged for a couple of Rotary District Matching Grants to assist in the costs of obtaining her Master's Degree in Advanced International Studies at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna in Austria- the oldest institute of international affairs in the world. Before visiting us, Nicole had worked in Kabul, where she met Ethan Dean, the aforementioned Army doctor. One of Ethan’s assignments was in the Kabul Prison for Women. While there, he became aware of, and got to know, an entire population of kids all living in the jail, some of them since birth. Ethan wrote to Nicole asking her if she knew someone in the United States that could send some toys to the kids.

program there. Katheryn Morgan, one of several Embassy volunteers that helped us inplement the donation sent me this e-mail few days ago: "Thanks Collie. Felipe, FYI we have collected $1500 (cash in hand) but there are 194 children in the prison with their mothers and at the JRC. That means we have approximately $7.70 per child to purchase a coat for each child right at this moment so we are waiting until we have received additional funds. We had an organizational meeting this afternoon and received some clarification from Collie that the money raised by the Humble Rotary (along with the funds from CB and Collie) were for the children and women at the prison and JRC. However, as we are also pairing up with the Toys for Tots we will first use the funds for the children. As indicated above, there are 194 children alone at the two institutions. We are starting to explore what the cost of jackets is. Kathy SBU This email is UNCLASSIFIED. " Our board approved a $1,000.00 donation. That, plus the Embassy personnel’s own donations, then became $2,900.00 - which will allow them to provide a coat and toys to 146 prison kids. I’m attaching some pictures and another e-mail about them from Kathy Morgan: "The lady with the red hair is Lisa Ficek from the GSO office, the older lady sitting on the steps with a group of 5 (?) kids is Margaret Genco from the H/R office (and the person who took the photos except for the one she is in). Sorry, no names. Any photos with women (except from Embassy) can’t be published in any formal way (i.e. No newspaper). We did have their permission to take the photo but we cannot publish so they are for internal use only. When the toys are being distributed the Embassy’s Public Affairs Office will be involved and those formal pictures will be able to be published and we will make sure you get them. I have now zipped the photos and hopefully they will go through to your private account. Merry Christmas – one more day for the check to arrive….not here yet as of Dec. 14. Kathy"

Humble Texas International Rotary Check # 462