When Afghan children returned to school this year — many of them for the first time in their young lives — some of them received boxes of supplies or "school chests," sent from children in the United States: freshly sharpened yellow wooden pencils; spiral notebooks, pencil sharpeners and plastic rulers in green, red and blue; pastel-colored chalk; Crayola crayons; compasses, jump ropes, soccer balls and other items.
The supplies were sent as part of America's Fund for Afghan Children (AFAC). The fund was launched by President Bush when he called for U.S. children to donate a dollar to help children suffering from the effects of war, drought and poverty in Afghanistan. The American Red Cross is using AFAC funds to set up desperately needed programs for Afghan children, with the help of several partnering organizations, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Afghan Red Crescent Society, the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations.
Wendolyn Heiges of American Red Cross International Services, recently visited the country to assess how AFAC can continue to meet the most pressing needs of Afghan children. While there, she went on a tour of Afghan schools, talking to children, teachers and administrators about the conditions, and documenting her findings with notes and photographs. She visited both those who had received school chests and those still in dire need. She walked down dimly lit corridors inside deteriorating stone buildings, peeked into dusty classrooms where students huddled together on stools without desks — still eager to learn — and watched teachers continue their jobs without books or other supplies.
Wherever she went, she was greeted by smiling youthful faces full of life and energy and happy to see the Red Cross. "Despite the conditions, it was hopeful because the schools were still functioning," Heiges said. "The administrators, teachers and students were making do and they were glad to be there."
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