Afghan Relief Network -- About Us

Afghan Relief Network (ARN) is a not-for-profit organization that identifies, qualifies and supports specific relief projects in Afghanistan in the areas of education, health care, cultural restoration. ARN helps the people of Afghanistan work toward a stable, peaceful future through directing funds to outstanding NGOs—organizations we know personally through having worked with them in-country. In addition, ARN is assisting with public awareness about Afghanistan’s history, culture, and current humanitarian needs.

Every penny that is donated to Afghan Relief Network goes directly to project execution. Because all of our activities are underwritten, we have no administrative costs, no travel expenses, and no salaries. All of our staff are volunteers.

Our current list of benefiting organizations includes:

-- Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project (maternity & newborn care)
-- A Little Help ( projects to aid women and children)
-- Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University (cultural restoration and preservation)

Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project
www.kabulmaternity.org

The Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project was started in July, 2003 to improve conditions at Rabia Balkhi Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. Since then the project has expanded to include other clinics and hospitals in Kabul and outside the capital. The entire emphasis is to provide medical supplies and medicines in order to improve maternity care and decrease infant mortality.

Finding out from the doctors at each participating hospital what is needed to improve patient care, then providing those items, has been the first goal of the project. Secondly, all money donated has been used towards these efforts. The financial sponsor of the Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project is the Society of Afghan Engineers (SAE), an IRS 501 (c) 3 organization, which has provided support and guidance in the start-up of this project.

A Little Help
www.stasek.com/alittlehelp/

A Little Help is a charitable organization registered in the US IRS 501(c)3 and Afghanistan working to improve the lives of women and girls. Donation recipients so far have included schools, clinics, maternity wards, vocational classes and women in prison. Current projects include grassroots efforts to help women and girls impacted by the continuing instability in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University (ACKU)
www.ackuaf.org

ACKU is proud to be integrally involved in the noteworthy steps Afghanistan is taking toward nation building. It provides access to organized, often unique, high-quality knowledge and information on which to build an understanding of the social, economic, political, and cultural dynamics of the Afghan society in the past, present and future. This is particularly crucial at a time when Afghanistan is rebuilding after 30 years of war, occupation, destruction of its physical assets and institutions, and assault on its culture.

ACKU acquires, collects and preserves information from a wide variety sources on every aspect of Afghanistan, with a special emphasis on rare documents from the traumatic years of Soviet occupation, the Mujahideen period, and onwards. To prevent destruction during the war years, this collection was moved to Peshawar, Pakistan. The collection has now been repatriated to Kabul and is housed on the campus of Kabul University. The Centre also provides an environment in which Afghan and international scholars can meet to exchange knowledge and ideas, thus raising international understanding of Afghanistan, its culture, and its aspirations.

In addition to the collection and services that support and utilize the collection, the Centre sponsors a community outreach program. This program sources, produces, and distributes local language library materials to schools, community facilities, and libraries throughout the country, helping restore literacy and education to all of Afghanistan.