Posted on 10/9/2007, 9:03:48 PM by Clive
BRANDON, Manitoba — Most Canadians are aware that we have troops in Afghanistan but have little understanding of the environment or people of that country. As the conflict continues, Canadians are beginning to ask for more information on a country that is rarely described well by the media, which focus on casualties and deaths.
The Military Wives Sisterhood is a Brandon-based non-profit organization comprised of women whose husbands serve at Canadian Forces Base Shilo. The group has taken the lead in providing a close-up look at Afghanistan to residents of western Manitoba.
Slide presentations, traveling displays and school visits kicked off Afghan Awareness Week, which ran from September 17 to 22, and culminated with a two-day Afghan Marketplace at East Port Hall in Brandon. The week was capped-off by a sold-out Afghan feast which attracted 130 guests at the end of the second market day.
The guests enjoyed traditional dishes prepared by local Afghans. Sally Armstrong, a noted author and producer of documentaries on Afghanistan, was the keynote speaker. She gave a very heartfelt presentation. Based on her many trips to Afghanistan, she highlighted the need to provide security in the war-torn country as a precondition for re-building and reconstruction, and openly praised soldiers for doing a marvelous job under difficult circumstances.
"Many of our members have partners that have deployed, or will soon," said Gayle Raynor, founder and chairperson of the Military Wives Sisterhood. "With that in mind, we really saw a need to complement the existing perspective of Afghanistan. Past the combat and politics. We put the marketplace together so that people could wander around and get a really clear idea of what Afghanistan is like and understand the lifestyle of the people."
Ms. Raynor attributes much of the success of the marketplace to other organizations coming on board to help, notably Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WAfghan), a Calgary-based volunteer organization founded to support the empowerment of Afghan women and girls. CW4WAfghan, which has had a strong presence in Afghanistan since 1996, was eager to assist in providing knowledge and display materials to ensure the success of the marketplace.
"We were in Afghanistan while the Taliban were still in control and we've grown in each of the 11 years since then," stated Janice Rapchuk who volunteers with CW4WAfghan and has been to Afghanistan. "We have a number of projects on the go," she continued. "We have schools, libraries, and teacher training programs. We also have an orphanage and programs where women make products that we sell in Canada. In the schools we run the kids are all fed lunch, that way we know they are getting at least one meal a day."
It would be hard to find an organization better qualified to tap for knowledge about Afghanistan than CW4WAfghan. It is worth noting that 100 percent of the funds raised to support CW4WAfghan initiatives are spent in Afghanistan and many of the areas where the organization operates could not be described as secure.
Earlier in the week, Deborah Ellis, the award-winning author of a trilogy of books on life in Afghanistan, visited a number of local schools. Many school children are familiar with Ms. Ellis' young-adult novels of The Breadwinner Trilogy consisting of The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey and Mud City. They were thrilled to meet the author in person.
Brandon is a small town where many people are connected to the mission in Afghanistan through family relations or friendships with soldiers serving at CFB Shilo. Most soldiers in Shilo have already deployed or will be deploying soon. Many will be returning for second and third tours. The stated mission of Afghan Awareness Week was to raise awareness and that objective was clearly met, providing a very well rounded view of life in Afghanistan.
"I'm so glad this market was put on," commented one mother going through the marketplace with her children. "Their father is a soldier who will be deploying after Christmas and it's so good for them to be able to see some of what he is going to experience while he's over there. Now they understand why he's going."
If you would like to learn more about the Military Wives Sisterhood, please visit their Web site at http://www.militarywivessisterhood.com/. For additional information on Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, click on this link: http://www.w4wafghan.ca/
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Wait til they find out how the goats are treated........
Point your fellow Canadians to two sites the liberal dominated media absolutely fear; FreeDominion and FreeRepublic.
FR WAR NEWS!
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