Afghanistan Archives • Love Does

Afghan Resilience and Support

Love Does — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 16:06:04 +0000

Three years ago, on August 15th, the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Today, we reflect on the experiences of our teachers and students in Afghanistan, as well as the families who have resettled here in San Diego. The bravery and resilience shown is truly remarkable.

Over the last three years, our efforts to support Afghan refugees in San Diego have included becoming the largest food and diaper distributor in San Diego County, distributing dozens of bikes, sewing machines, and children’s toys to refugees, resettling over 40 families by providing them with furniture and rental stipends, and providing driving lessons to assist with their driver’s license tests. Additionally, we have hosted quarterly events including trips to Disneyland, the Pumpkin Patch, the beach, Sea World, and the zoo! We have connected Afghan refugees with numerous job opportunities in San Diego County, sponsored educational and certificate programs, and evacuated families to safety in Brazil and the United States.

We are deeply grateful for their hearts and stories, and we cherish the opportunity to know them. Their courage, resilience, and determination in the face of adversity inspire us daily. As we reflect on the third anniversary of the fall of Afghanistan, we are reminded of their incredible journeys, we honor their past struggles, and we celebrate their achievements.

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-The Love Does Team

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Celebrating our New Playground in Afghanistan!

Love Does — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 14:08:11 +0000

At our primary school in Afghanistan, we completed an exciting construction project: a playground! The playground has had a significant impact on the kids attending our school. Teachers have reported higher levels of enthusiasm among students to attend school, and students are now more motivated to complete their classwork promptly and efficiently to enjoy the playground. The playground has extensive equipment, including swings, slides, pull-up bars, and chess boards. The students love it!

We believe in the importance of providing spaces for fun and play in areas where conflict is prevalent, allowing children to experience moments of joy against challenging circumstances. We are deeply grateful to our generous donors whose support made this playground possible. Together, we are creating brighter futures for these young minds!

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-The Love Does Team

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Afghanistan Update

Love Does — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 16:04:58 +0000

As we come up on the 2 year anniversary of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, we reflect on the bravery we’ve witnessed both in our teachers and students in the country, and the refugees we’ve met in San Diego. Their determination to move forward with their lives despite all the chaos they’ve faced is inspiring. We’ve done our best to support this community any way we can, and we’re so grateful for the beautiful friendships we’ve built along the way.

Two of the Afghan women we’ve met in San Diego are currently working on getting their driver’s license for the first time ever. Many of the Love Does community has helped support these efforts with their time and resources so we thank you!

Our school in Afghanistan is continuing to grow in numbers as the need for education rises. And one 5th grader named Salma is doing something about it. Salma attends the Love Does Primary School in Afghanistan, and has a strong desire to become a teacher. Six years ago, she and her brother collected plastic bottles from garbage dumps and helped her father make “yakhak,” a local inexpensive ice-cream sold to street children. Salma’s family has three brothers and one sister, with one brother having an intellectual disability.

Salma has recently started teaching six children from her neighborhood, providing the space in her father’s rental mud-house for them to gather in the late afternoon. She believes she can become a teacher formally one day and hopes to provide education to children who have not had a chance for a better life. She believes in her future and those of her peers, and said poetically, “I am a little sprout from this school and I hope to grow up like a fruitful tree in the future.”

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Thanks for supporting girls like Salma.

-The Love Does Team

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Disneyland with our Afghan and Ukrainian friends!

Love Does — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 05:00:31 +0000

With everything our friends from Afghanistan and Ukraine have been through the last year, we wanted to invite them to a day devoted to fun. What better way to have fun than a day at Disneyland?

In fact, one of the Afghan families told us that when they found out they had to leave their country and go to America, the kids dreamt of the day they could go to “the happiest place on earth”.

And last week, that dream was made a reality.

Thank you for supporting our neighbors and friends.

-The Love Does Team

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One Year Later in Afghanistan

Love Does — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 16:51:55 +0000

It’s been one year since the Taliban took over Afghanistan. As we look back on last year, we’re incredibly grateful we were able to reopen the Love Does primary school after a brief hiatus as families were forced to figure out their best course of action. We’ve worked hard to support our incredibly courageous teachers, staff and students who have remained in the country.

They have dealt with new and ever changing policies from the local regime which often disrupted their classes. For example, all schools were once instructed to separate girls and boys timing of when they were at school. This stretched our teachers and challenged the staff to manage the logistics of getting everyone to class safely and in a timely manner. Fortunately, this directive was reversed and now all students can come to the school at the same time.

Despite the restrictive atmosphere in the country, staff have shown resilience and flexibility to adapt. They have reported their vision for a hopeful future for the kids and seeing them grow outweigh the challenges they face. In the same manner, students have kept a positive outlook. They are so grateful for the opportunity to study and play together each day.

Thank you to the Love Does community for supporting not only our school in Afghanistan this past year, but the many Afghan refugees we’ve welcomed in San Diego county.

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An Update On Our Friends from Afghanistan

Love Does — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 10:00:12 +0000

As many of you know, we’ve been helping over 100 Afghan Refugee families in San Diego since they arrived last fall. And recently, we moved multiple of those families into more permanent housing.

Last week we visited them to catch up, and they expressed their gratitude to the greater Love Does community for all you did to help them in their transition. We enjoyed many cups of tea and delicious Afghan food to celebrate their courageous journeys from Afghanistan to where they are now.

They truly feel loved and supported, and we want to say thank you for playing a large part in that.

Contact us at hello@lovedoes.org if you’d like to support our resettlement efforts for the remaining Afghan families and newly arrived Ukrainian parolees.

Let’s continue to love our neighbors near and far.

– The Love Does Team

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Afghanistan Update

Love Does — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 00:09:45 +0000

Dear Friends,

For the past several weeks, the entire world’s been watching the events unfolding in Afghanistan. We know you’ve been praying and care as much as we do. As you probably remember, several years ago we had the tremendous opportunity to build a school for kids in Afghanistan. The school has been an incredible bright spot both in our hearts and for families in Afghanistan.

We have been in constant communication with our staff and friends in Afghanistan these past few weeks, unfortunately, the school had to be temporarily closed for everyone’s safety. The situation there has remained dynamic but we continue to stand with our staff, the kids and their families.

The questions many of you have wrestled with are these: What can we do? How can we help? How would love respond?

In short, kids in Afghanistan need hope, and the school is a source of hope for them. So, our plan is to reopen the school. That means boys and girls (6th grade and under) can return and start learning again.

As we are sure you are aware, there are refugees from Afghanistan who are being resettled all across the country. Many of them are finding their way to San Diego, close to the headquarters of Love Does. Others will arrive in different cities. Our commitment is to welcome the needy with arms wide open. We are currently working with several agencies to support them in their transition as they resettle to a new country. If you’d like to be specifically involved in our work with our school in Afghanistan as well as the resettlement efforts here locally, click here.

Thank you for all that you do every day to love your neighbors both near and far away.

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