Books for Afghanistan Program

In 2006 we received official permission from Afghanistan's Minister of Education in Kabul authorizing us to provide Hoopoe books and complementary teaching materials to schools and children in Afghanistan.

Many of these remarkable Teaching-Stories have been told by campfire and candlelight in this part of the world for more than 1,000 years. We plan to provide bilingual Dari and Pashto Hoopoe titles for distribution to schools, orphanages and libraries throughout Afghanistan.

The need there is desperate. Our aim is to provide as many children as possible with their very own books. Certainly, for at least 95% of them, these will be the first books they own, and they may well be tales that their grandparents recognize from their own childhood. For the older, more conservative Afghans, we hope that repatriating these stories in book form will be a comforting bridge to literacy and the development of skills that the younger generations will need in order to survive and contribute in the modern

Dari-Pashto Editions

We have raised funds to cover the translation and layout of five titles as bilingual Dari-Pashto editions, and for Teacher Guides in both languages to accompany each title. We continue to translate additional titles as we can.

We have signed a Partnership Agreement with Ms. Fatima Gailani, President of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS). ARCS will assist us with receiving, transporting and distributing future books. ARCS has a youth program in 24 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces which is supported by the organization's network of 41,000 volunteers including school teachers and government employees.

We have an Agreement with Dr. Farid Bazger, Founder and Director of Khatiz Organization for Rehabilitation (KOR). KOR will print all our books and will liaise with ARCS to arrange distribution to schools and orphanages who have ordered and continue to order books from us. KOR have been printing and distributing illustrated books to schools in Afghanistan for the Afghan Reading Project for some time now.

We have an Agreement with International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL) who will make all language editions of Hoopoe Books available on their site. Dari and Pashto editions of the five titles we have to date will readable there in the very near future.

250,000 copies of the Dari-Pashto bilingual paperback edition of THE LION WHO SAW HIMSELF IN THE WATER by Idries Shah were printed and distributed by ISAF - NATO. The photos opposite show Afghan girls reading this new translation.

We have donated 4,000 English paperbacks to International Orphan Care, whose US office is in Laguna Beach and who will handle shipping themselves.

We are in communication with a number of schools and orphanages inside Afghanistan who have placed orders. Our hope is to provide at least 250,000 of all five titles.

YOU CAN HELP:
By making a tax-deductible donation to this effort, please click here.

By purchasing Hoopoe Books online, click here.

By holding a storytelling event as a fundraiser for this project. For more information, email hoopoebooks @ aol.com.

IN ADDITION, WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

• Organizations (schools, orphanages, libraries, etc.) in Afghanistan that might need these books and teacher guides
• Nonprofit organizations serving the Afghan community that might wish to purchase Dari-Pashto translations of these books for use in the USA and Canada

Please email Sally Mallam, Director, at hoopoebooks @ aol.com or by fax at 650-948-9546 if you can help with the above.

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