After 23 years in exile, some two million refugees have returned from Iran and Pakistan, despite the totally unstable and dangerous situation in Afghanistan, especially outside Kabul. UNHCR and the Pakistani authorities have been instrumental in pressurizing frequently reticent refugees homewards, but it has to be said that the living conditions of the Pakistani region (NWFP) where most refugee camps are situated are desperate for all. Money from world powers is spent on lavish military projects on the border, not on the poor, be they Afghan or Pakistani.

It is likely that many of the orphans we have been helping will be going back to uncles and aunts, in remote villages in a not too distant future. This is why, we decided to sponsor vocational training: wood work for boys and tailoring for girls. We are hoping that they will be able to achieve some kind of economic independence this way. This course has been running since January 2004, through your help and sponsorship.

The first course which ran from January until late August is now finishing. If donations allow it, we hope to pursue these courses and buy each girl a manual sewing machine for her to take home.