As our famous poet, Rumi says, “In generosity and helping others: Be like the river.”
As our famous poet, Rumi says, “In generosity and helping others: Be like the river.”
A mother pleads to a US soldier to take her child. The soldier stands behind a wall, and the mother; well she is just one in a bustling, anxious crowd.
She wants her baby to be safe, so she passes her beloved child over the wall. Her heart sinks; she may never see her child again.
The chaos & fear of people is a testament to the international community’s role in AFG’s downfall & their subsequent abandonment of Afghan people. The future for AFG has bn decided for its people without its people’s vote & now they live at the mercy of a terrorist group. #Kabul pic.twitter.com/k4bevc2eHE
— Omar Haidari (@OmarHaidari1) August 19, 2021
But with the Taliban ruling her country, it is no longer safe here, and this mother, and every other Afghan today; feels this dismay in their hearts as well.
#saveafghanchildren
We also saw Afghans desperate to evacuate Afghanistan earlier this week. Bodies hanging from an airplane in the sky. Falling, most to their deaths.
Seeing these types of videos on social media — honestly, these images are traumatizing. Not only because they are just tragic and gut-wrenching, but as an Afghan-American, you can’t help but feel some guilt, because where you grow up has a lot to do with mere luck.
The guilt is real for Afghan-Americans, and sadly the tragedy is a reality for Afghans within the country.
#solidaritywithafghans
My heart breaks as a mother, and as an Afghan-American, to see this scene of children being displaced in Afghanistan today.
Afghanistan has been troubled the last thirty years — but now, it is a humanitarian crisis, and should not be ignored.
#prayforafghanistan
But How Can I Help Afghanistan?
The first thing you can do to help Afghanistan is get informed and help spread awareness — keep posting and using these key hashtags I included in my reflections.
Donate to reputable causes, alert your local government to step up, participate in local demonstrations, and don’t give up.
I recommend: afgdiasporahub.com for information on reputable GoFundMe links, donating, hashtags to search, and you can even apply to host or help an Afghan refugee family!
#afghanlivesmatter
Taliban in Ghani’s Office
#saveafghanistan
The Afghan president, Ghani, abandoned his country. Most will agree Ghani sold Afghanistan out.
The Taliban now sits in his former office in one photo; guns loaded, ripping down the Afghan flag. It seems like a scene from a film, but it is a sick reality aired on national TV on 8/15/2021.
The Taliban didn’t change. They are as extremist and hateful as ever. Social media helps us easily expose any notion that they have changed!
Today, minorities are being targeted just as they were in the nineties by the Taliban. This means if you are Hazara, or Shia Muslim, or Christian, or Sikh, and living in Afghanistan — your chances of being gunned down by the Taliban just increased.
Disturbing and sickening as it sounds…this is what the Taliban do.
#endhazaragenocide
To refresh your memory: when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the nineties they were known for throwing acid on women, public hangings, recruiting young boys for soldiers, not allowing women education, and overall extremism and sick rules.
Where are the feminists of the world? Can we wake up for girls and women in Afghanistan? This is not Islam. This is not what the Afghan people want! This is why that mother handed over her baby!
#stoptaliban
Who is to blame? #stopproxywar
US forces snuck out in the night after twenty years. Dangerous people like the leader of the Taliban and Golbudin were released from prisons. They went from “America’s Most Wanted” to being released!
Pakistan was never sanctioned for supplying terrorists, regardless of the trending #sanctionpakistan hashtag. Ghani told Afghanistan’s soldiers to cease-fire and not fight when the Taliban came storming through the country. It is not the Afghan Army’s fault, regardless of what you hear from the western dialogue.
The Afghan Army could have fought their battle, but they were not allowed. The corruption from within the former Afghan government, to the overall effects of foreign occupation from the US, other countries, and even issues with neighboring countries like Pakistan … all of these politics jumbled together and chaos came.
Poor decisions on every front landed Afghanistan here: Black flags being lifted and the prior flag thrown down to the streets.
A darkness, much like that dark flag of hatred, flocks over the streets.
And A Glimmer of Hope
Panjshir, a Northern province, still stands sovereign and is forming the #tajikresistance. That’s because they “resisted” what the government said to do and didn’t give up to the Taliban.
Ahmad Massoud, son of legendary fighter and martyr, Ahmad Shah Massoud; is leading in the memory of his father’s footsteps, and has promised to #freekhorasan. Khorasan literally means “the land of the sun”, and refers to the earlier historic name of this land during the Persian empire.
Overall, Khorasan evokes a time of peace and hope. Seeing Massoud say he will fight for us, gives me a glimmer of hope. We also see women protesting in Afghanistan, and other small victories. Still, overall, we all remain uncertain and shaky.
Be Like the River
I hope my reflections have brought you some clarity.
Please consider following these hashtags I have incorporated to stay in the loop, as well as helping Afghanistan any way you can.
As our famous poet, Rumi says, “In generosity and helping others: Be like the river.”
