Ken Hackett with the leadership of a women’s Food Processing Center in Herat province. Photo by Matt McGarry / CRS Staff

CRS President Ken Hackett is currently traveling in Afghanistan where he’s seen behind the headlines, into the country and its people – a country where something as simple as a book can change lives.

“I have been thoroughly impressed by the vitality of the Afghan people, their ingenuity, their toughness and their desire that there be a better future than what they’ve experienced over the last 30 years.

For example, I met a man who is a leader in his particular village, where he is promoting programs for young girls and women’s education. The man had been a refugee in Iran, and when he came back a few years ago, having spent time during the Soviet occupation in Iran, his village was totally destroyed. He and his neighbors rebuilt the entire village and beautifully crafted homes, walls and compounds. They also beautifully tailored fields of wheat nearby. They worked hard, hoping for a better life for their children, and are doing great things to make that happen. And that was kind of awe-inspiring.
(more…)

Please join the next Catholics Confront Global Poverty webcast – Afghanistan: Humanitarian Assistance in the Midst of Conflict this Wednesday November, 11 from 2-3 pm.  Bill O’Keefe – Senior Director of Advocacy at Catholic Relief Services and Virginia Farris – Foreign Policy Advisor at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will discuss:

• The current situation in Afghanistan based on CRS’ on-the-ground presence there;
• The concerns over the role of the U.S. military in the delivery of humanitarian assistance;
• USCCB and CRS’ policy recommendations based on Catholic social teaching and our experience;
• How Catholics in the U.S., through the Catholics Confront Global Poverty initiative, can support long-term stability and development in Afghanistan

RSVP here to join us.

Andrew Schaefer examines vegetables growing on the CRS Ghor compound in Chaghcharan, Afghanistan. The gardens are used as demos to show farmers, and also provide food for CRS employees to eat. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

Catholic Relief Services has always fed hungry people—millions of them, over the years. More than that, we help people feed themselves by improving irrigation, encouraging innovations in farming techniques, and increasing crop yields.

But many people don’t know that, in some countries, CRS feeds its own staff using the same methods we develop with our beneficiaries. In a remote area of Afghanistan, cut off from most outside contact during the winter, vegetables grow in two plastic-sheeted greenhouses and three gardens on the CRS compound. The lettuce, onions, eggplant, squash, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and other vegetables grown there are food for 14 CRS staff people who live on the compound year-round.
(more…)

A teacher demonstrates sign language at a school in Kabul run by ANAD, the Afghanistan National Association of the Deaf. Her hands are painted with henna, a traditional decoration. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

“After Chaghcharan, Kabul seems like a metropolis–paved roads!” Dean Carolyn Woo’s first impression of Afghanistan’s capital was understandable
after four days visiting villages reachable mainly by four-wheel drive. But there are plenty of needy people in Kabul, of course, and CRS board member Woo met some of the city’s most vulnerable children on Tuesday.
(more…)

CRS board member Carolyn Woo visits women’s self-help groups in Chaghcharan, Afghanistan. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

Taste-testing cookies in remote Afghan towns: such is the life of the globetrotting CRS board member. Last weekend, Dean Carolyn Woo of Notre Dame visited a women’s self-help group in Chaghcharan, Afghanistan, and sampled items from their newly-created bakery. Her verdict: “Delicious.”

In a country where women rarely own property or control household finances, CRS organizes groups of active, entrepreneurial women who want to earn money. CRS encourages the groups—usually made up of 20 women—to pool their savings and develop plans for a small business, like raising chickens or sewing curtains.
(more…)

ErosionControl.com writes about a water program that CRS is involved in in Afghanistan.

From the story: “This three-year village-based watershed restoration program, which began in January 2007, features an agreement between the communities, which average about 100 households each, the provincial government, and CRS.
(more…)

Matthew T. McGarry, CRS country representaive for Afghanistan, is featured in a Ken Ross story posted at masslive.com

The article includes a video interview with McGarry who shares compelling insights about his life and work in Afghanistan.