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Kabul, July 10, 2005


A letter from Kabul


Dear friends,

For the past four years, Aïna has trained several hundred men and
women in eight media and culture centres in the Afghan provinces and
Kabul, supporting independent local media in fields such as video
documentary, photojournalism, radio, press, and taking travelling
educational cinema to the more isolated provinces. Our trainees have
taken part in the production of films, radio shows, photo reporting,
and magazines, reaching an audience of a millions of listeners,
spectators and readers.

But now, because the world's interest has gone elsewhere, the entire
endeavour is in danger of extinction: The international aid upon which
Aïna has been dependent has dried up.

I'm writing to you so that the enthusiasm of the reporters, who lost
jobs and some of their hopes to share in the emergence of a peaceful,
free Afghanistan, will not be betrayed because of lack of funds.

For the past 25 years I have covered many conflicts throughout the
world, knowing that the invisible wounds are those of the soul, knowing
that wars shatter the cultural identity of a people, knowing that
repression imprisons freedom of speech and of thought. I understood
this when I created Aïna, an humanitarian organisation. A third
generation NGO, it shares in the development of independent media
sources and cultural expression, the foundations of democracy and the
emergence of civil society.

As for the free magazine 'Parvaz'(To soar), a jewel of the Afghan
press, the only children's magazine launched by Aïna, a window on
the world, both educational and recreational; This pillar in the
architecture of a future Afghanistan where the actors of tomorrow - the
children of today - are taught to be open minded, tolerant, and
believe in democracy, will need a new base if we have to close the
Media Centre.

What will happen to the rebuilt houses, the newly paved roads, the new
schools and hospitals, without a civil society led by a people marching
towards democracy and educated with peace in mind? My greatest fear is
that, without institutions like Aïna, there will be a return to
darkness in Afghanistan, Not only Afghans will suffer as a result, but
the broader international community will be endangered,

A moral obligation towards the Afghan people, in the name of the
citizens of the free world that we are, forces me to tell of this
alarming, even desperate, situation..

Today the entire Aina Team is fighting to preserve the light of
liberty... and hoping to spread it.

I'm writing to you from Kabul because today you are the only ones who
can help Aïna with your commitment and involvement.

We need you because our projects are trying to heal a people wounded by
years of unrest and whose only desire is to live in a new peaceful and
united society.

Many roads lead to Kabul, symbolic city of a country that you cannot
quit without leaving part of your heart behind. There is some peculiar
attraction on this Afghan road that I have travelled these past 25
years and where I have witnessed the struggle of a people caught in the
turmoil of war and repression. Help us avoid a repetition of the
tragedies of the past which brought so much violence to the World -
from Kabul to New York.

We need your help today;


Reza.


Help Aïna by addressing this letter to all your friends and asking
them to spread it around too.


Support Aïna by addressing your donations:
http://www.ainaworld.org/statiques/en/cheque_en.php

www.ainaworld.org