Bringing Peace and Prosperity to a War-Torn People
The Heart: Culture of Peace
If you look at the work of Village of Peace in Afghanistan from the outside, you first see the chickens, the gardens, the sewing machines and dresses, the peanuts and saffron.
But that is not really what it’s all about. It’s about a fundamental change in the country, a change in culture. That is precisely why we train all our people in our corporate culture.
It is based on five core values: seek peace, have compassion, be generous, pass on the good, and be a good leader. These values are reasonably at odds with generally accepted standards in Afghan society, where violence and jealousy determine mutual communication.
“It doesn’t matter what question is asked,” a training participant once said, “in our society the answer is always violence.” We notice that our ‘Philosophy of Peace’ is popular with people. They are fed up with violence and want to build a future. Village of Peace is a cooperative organization in partnership between a group of caring leaders in business, entrepreneurship, and educators from the West, and Afghan nationals who desire to actively rebuild their communities and war torn country for peace, prosperity, and self-reliance.
Short Background Information
Village of Peace has existed for almost five years. During that time, the foundation has been built thoroughly: the basis on which the Afghans can now continue to rebuild themselves. We now have four well-functioning centers in the country: in Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Bamyan and Herat. These centers form the DNA of the organization. Here Afghans can receive training, projects are started, and they experience the organizational culture and core values in practice.
The Programs
This year, we purchased two plots of land. Those plots are the key to developing ownership, a principle that is of paramount importance at Village of Peace. After all, by making Afghan orphans the owners of land, they will build their own future and that of Afghanistan.
With the Food Security Program we combat malnutrition in Afghanistan. We have been experimenting with a variety of crops that are conducive to Afghan soil, and which nutrients need to be added for a healthy crop. The peanut harvest failed, so we are learning from our mistakes and researching why and how to improve our methods. The saffron growth, on the other hand, has been very successful. As we learn, the team teaches the local farmers how to expand their agriculture and bring them in as partners.
An important part of this program is High Diversity Gardening, in which the women learn to grow vegetables in their gardens which strengthen their immune system and combat malnutrition-related diseases. And it works: the women have more energy and their anemia has disappeared.
What started less than two years ago as a modest Chicken Farm has now grown into a large social enterprise with healthy revenue, growth and profits. The impact is already noticeable: a genuine chicken industry is emerging in Bamyan. There is good contact with the local government and farmers from the area. Almost naturally, cooperative methods arise that strengthen the position of farmers, for example when it comes to purchasing of raw materials.
Please click on this link and watch the Chicken Farm operations, run by and for Afghans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-54ElwE1v4&feature=youtu.be
The dozen or so women who work at the Sewing Workshop in Kabul, have reason to celebrate—they have achieved very good results after a difficult start. They began by sewing traditional dresser for women, and would travel to their homes to do the measuring and fitting, as few had transportation. That became very labor intensive, and it was difficult for them to make a profit. Then, they came up with the idea of expending into designing and sewing dresses for young, professional women in the city who can afford to pay decently for a modern dress. They work tirelessly in a positive, joyful atmosphere to meet the needs of clothing for their community, and they have become a well known business for the quality and service to their customers. Last year, they sewed and sold 2000 home-made items of clothing! Here, you watch them celebrate their success with their Manager with a chocolate cake!
Last year we established several small-scale Bakeries in Mazar. Based on the women’s feedback, the groups are a bit smaller and there is extra support toward the sale and promotion of the bread loaves. The women are proud of what they have achieved and eager to create and plan improvements for the future.
Our first Community Center opened in 2019! We had a long wait time before for the government approved all official documents, but our patience is rewarded. The four local supervisors have been living on the site since the summer, and the first orphans were selected in mid-December and moved to Sarpanah. More children will follow this year.
It is an exciting process: the design and form of Sarpanah will serve as a blueprint for future communities. The intention is that the widows also take care of one or more homeless orphans. In this manner we stimulate new social structures, so that women and children – who no longer enjoy protection and care from their biological family – can experience the safety and security of a family.
The Human Development Training – our basic training course, teaches the core values and practices in an Afghan context of compassion, generosity, transparency, leadership and peace is becoming increasingly popular. Some men attend, and many women who attend bring their adolescence daughters to the classes to learn this new way of thinking and living which give them hope to achieve their dreams of doing great things! A new generation is emerging with a new, fresh vision for their people and their country!
Helping Corona Virus Victims—Food Parcels to 500 Families
Our campaign for emergency relief to Afghanistan was launched at the end of April. The outbreak of the Corona virus had an enormous impact on Afghanistan. The people were already living under severe circumstances and these measures only made it worse. Many people lost their homes or jobs and have no income to take care of their families.
In the past month, we discovered that many of you care about the fate of the Afghans and are willing to support them financially. That is heartwarming for us, and especially for our Afghan teams. All the responses and gifts greatly encouraged them. Our Afghan teams have to date been able to distribute more than five hundred food parcels in several cities, and they plan to continue. Working in close consultation with the local authorities, they researched which families were eligible for the emergency aid. Here, we show you how the parcels were distributed among the families in need.
In March, far-reaching measures were taken around the world to contain the spread of the Corona virus. This was also the case in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. Many Afghan men, who worked in factories in Iran, returned en mass, about 700,000! Fleeing from Corona, they came looking for new work. Many families ended up in refugee camps. The concern is, that as they return to their towns and villages, they will spread the Corona virus to all corners of Afghanistan and overwhelm the few existing medical facilities.
To help the poorest families hardest hit, our Afghan teams suggested handing out food parcels. These packages would contain essential and long-lasting food products, such as flour, rice, chickpeas and oil. They would be supplemented with hygiene products, such as soap and disinfectant. Thanks to all the generous donations, the team was able to get started within two weeks., and plan to continue their efforts. Here you see the courtyard of our office in Mazar.
In close cooperation with the local authorities, it was determined which families were the first to receive help. In this way it was ensured that the various aid projects of other organizations worked well together. During the registration process, information is also given about Corona. The women are also given a flyer in which hygiene measures are explained. After registration, the women receive the food package. Because it is too much to carry themselves, they wait in the shade for their lift – at social distancing of 5 ft!
In Kabul there are several small camps at great distances from each other. There is a shop at the camp where we place our order for the packages. In this way we also help support the business of the local middle class family.
In Herat, smart use was made of the empty space next to the school where normally English lessons are given. All packages were prepared early in the morning. About a hundred packages were distributed that day.
In total, our teams were able to distribute about five hundred emergency packages. An Afghan family consists of an average of seven people. This means we were able to provide food to a total of 3,500 Afghan men, women and children.
Please mark Your Donation Village of Peace!
From R.K.’s Corner
Have you been following the news media’s coverage of the eruption of unrest in the streets in some of the large U.S. cities? The unlawful death of a black man by a police officer, caused protesters marching in the streets against what they deem systematic racism and police brutality, calling for reform in the way police handles law enforcement among Afro Americans. Regretfully, several militant Marxist revolutionary anarchist groups were embedded in the crowds. They helped create mayhem, egging on mobs who began looting, burning their own black neighborhoods and assaulting the public and the police. The unrest is growing in the streets, calling for police reform with demands for equal treatment by law enforcement, while leaders are calling for law and order in the streets and endeavoring to unite lawmakers across the political aisle in Congress for more equitable legislation. There are sentiments, especially among segments of the younger generation, to abolish the American Constitution, which is based on the bedrock of the Biblical Judeo-Christian worldview, which declares: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
As a young man, our longstanding friend and partner behind the vision and development of The Village of Peace, PW, received a call to move with his young family to Afghanistan to share the Good News with the people there. The Soviet Army’s 1979 invasion of the country, and subsequent continual wars derailed his plans—but he never lost the vision. Four years ago, almost 40 years later, the dream came true, but differently than planned. In the last five years, he has successfully mobilized an international group of western professionals and volunteers who are working hand in hand with Afghan men and women to forge fundamental cultural change in the country based on five core values: peace, compassion, generosity, transparency, good leadership! The irony is – young Afghans are successfully incorporating the values of Western civilization into their lives which many young people in America are walking away from and rejecting! Perhaps they have somethings to teach us?