lessons in translation...

My wife, Marnie, also runs an NGO called PARSA. We have been collaborating on a few projects including PARSA's work at the Allhuaddin orphanage here in Kabul. They too have an exchange program going on between the kids here and students in the US. A very extraordinary young woman of 16 named Anoosha has been translating letters between the orphans and their pen pals. I just want to share with all of you an email we received from Anoosha:

My opinion about the letter exchanging process

Through the last months I have been exchanging letters between American children and Afghan orphans which is one of the most (felt) experiencing works in my life. I came to know through this process what these children think. Many of them really do care about other's happiness. For example in her letter Carly said to her pen pal “always remember that there is hope for you in life and that you are being heard by people”. Even Blake a 12 year old American girl said to her 8 year old pen pal Shabana “I think what we can really do about the war in Iraq is to stop killing to make our point” . Sally, because of a problem she couldn’t get her pen pal’s mails, so she was really worried and she said in her letter to her pen pal” I couldn’t write because of a problem; don’t think that I am not interested in writing to you.” This means that these children really do care about other's happiness.

When I read letters to the orphans they listen carefully and think how different things are in the U.S and Afghanistan and how the American children have lots of opportunities in life. As one of the kids, Jon, said in his letter. ” I really don’t know what I wish to be in the future because there are lots of possibilities in life.”

I think that exchanging letters is one of the ways to exchange thoughts, ideas and imaginations with which we can promote the orphans to think about themselves and the others and how to use opportunities in life so that they can be assured of a secure future.

Anoosha Wahidi
Kabul, June 2007