Afghans Empowered

Afghans Empowered speaks with Dr. Waheed Momand, President of the Executive Committee of the Grand National Movement of Afghanistan. GNMA is a grassroot movement that unites a number of  political parties, tribal councils, socio-cultural organizations, civil societies, women's and youth organizations, national, religious and tribal leaders, scientists, cultural and other independent figures, to advocate for the voice of all Afghan people. Through this movement, these groups have drafted and created the Afghan Road Map for Peace, a plan that has been decades in the making. Dr. Momand takes us through an oracle journey of GNMA’s history and its gradual inception since 2001. GNMA envisions a future republic where the voice of the people, not the strongmen, drive change for the democracy. GNMA will be releasing the Afghan Road Map to Peace shortly, and invites the international community to support the work of GNMA, and to become actively engaged in supporting a peaceful future of reconciliation in Afghanistan. 

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Afghans Empowered is back with its first Q+A episode in a while! We chat with Maryam, admin of Humans of Afghanistan, who talks to us about the incredible mission of this online community space. Humans of Afghanistan was inspired by the “Humans of…” movement that seeks to highlight the stories of everyday people from different communities. Launched in 2015, Humans of Afghanistan highlights the diversity of the Afghan people by sharing the stories of their struggles and triumphs through trying times. Maryam talks to us about the power of story telling, and its ability to address and debunk stereotypes and stigmas.  Using the Afghan heritage as the common denominator, Humans of Afghanistan creates dialogue around pressing issues within the global Afghan community, by capturing the image of daily life in Afghanistan and the life of Afghans abroad with stories that transcend generations. Each story is unique in its own way, and inspires us to learn more about the diverse experiences of Afghans worldwide. We thank the entire team of Humans of Afghanistan for their dedication to represent and uplift voices, and look forward to new stories!

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On behalf of Afghans Empowered, we wish you all a blessed Eid! Thank you for continuing to support our podcast platform and organization, as we work to empower our communities. In this episode, we give an update on what we’re working on, and ask our followers to check out our ongoing fundraising campaign. Help us send essential aid and care packages to refugees in North Western Turkey. These refugees faced extreme hardship, neglect, and abuse at the hands of European officials and police. They’ve been forcibly pushed back to the Turkish border, and during their deportation, their personal belongings have been confiscated. Our fundraiser will restore personal hygiene products, clothing, and food to support the push-backs who struggle to find resources in North Western Turkey. For full details on the fundraiser, please visit www.afghansempowered.org . 
We also want to take a moment to express our condolences to the families and communities affected by the senseless attack in Dashte-Barchi. We call on our Afghan community to advocate for Hazara rights. We also extend our condolences to our Palestinian brothers and sisters who’ve faced extreme hardship in the face of Israeli aggression, occupation, apartheid, and oppression. 
Our solidarity within our community, and extended across other communities, is vital to our growth as individuals and societies. We have the power to demand a better future, one where we all live in peaceful coexistence. 
During this blessed Eid, please take care of yourself and your families, and extend your love and support to all those who need our support, worldwide. 

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In this special episode, Afghans Empowered sits with Natalia, cofounder of Josoor International Solidarity. Josoor is a non profit organization that currently operates in Turkey. We discuss some of the many operations the organization manages, including their advocacy initiatives to document abuses and violations of human rights. This conversation is pretty topic heavy; we talk about the systemic issues that perpetuate the conditions of migrants who are now residing in Turkey. We also discuss how “pushbacks”- individuals and families who’ve been sent back to Turkey from Greece- face extreme challenges caused by the unlawful and negligent treatment by Greek authorities. As the conversation uncovers, I remember thinking to myself: “this is why we’ve embarked on this campaign”. Our current campaign “It’s Personal: Reframing the ‘EU’ Refugee Crisis” has been inspired by the likes of Josoor. These organizations work tirelessly to gather evidence of human rights abuses in order to present it to national governments and the EU. Josoor’s work is a prime example of why we need to continue speaking about the policies and actions of EU member states.

Afghans Empowered x Full Potential has launched a joint fundraising campaign with Josoor International to provide basic care packages for refugees in Turkey.  To learn about our fundraiser, visit our GoFundMe: gf.me/u/zmk5v6

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Afghans Empowered chats with Gulmakai Saleh, a children’s book author, educator, and mentor, based in the USA. Born in Kandahar, and raised in the US, Gulmakai draws from her own unique stories of upbringing as inspiration for her work as an author. In her books, she portrays stories of children that address a wide variety of themes and topics such as fairness, equality, diversity, tolerance, and respect. She takes her message further through her wide variety of educational mentorship courses that she offers. Through these courses, Gulmakai teaches the core messages of her books to both adults and children, in order to facilitate a space for conversations about the kinds of values children can learn through leadership and example. Her latest book, “The Broken Smile” is currently out now! Gulmakai has teamed up with a plethora of resources for her awareness initiative on the condition of cleft lip and palate. “The Broken Smile” is inspired by her own personal life, and seeks to bring power to the act of smiling, an action that so many of us sometimes forget to do. She is currently working on a project to make her books accessible in Dari and Pashto for children in Afghanistan. Tune in as we discuss additional projects that Gulmakai is working on, and learn about ways to support her work!

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Afghans Empowered chats again with the talented Meral  Alizada: author of the upcoming poetry book, Daughter of Rumi. In this two-part episode, we talk all things identity, mental health, spirituality, and inner connection. In Part Two, we take a deep dive into our upbringings, exploring the meanings of love, family, sacrifice, protection, and more. We find comfort in our commonalities, and share our experiences with growing up and sorting through the challenges faced by children of immigrants. We circle back around to our discussions about Meral's upcoming book, bringing up major themes and reflecting on she portrays the journey of self discovery and spiritual oneness.  With respect to individual perceptions of faith, we encourage our listeners to welcome a view on exploring life’s challenges to one’s inner self and encourage an open mind. Meral’s book Daughter of Rumi will be available for purchase in November 2020. For more information, visit www.meralalizada.com

Afghans Empowered chats with Jamil Sherzad, founder and pioneer of Afghanistan’s first parkour team. We explore the history of Jamil’s discovery for his love of parkour, and from there, discuss the visions Jamil has for the growth of the sport. As Jamil explains, his journey has met many challenges: environmental, social, and financial challenges that he views as part of the obstacles in life that parkour prepares one for. For him, parkour is not only a sport; it’s an art, and a mirror of real life. He sets out to expand the accessibility of the sport to a diverse audience, and now has a team of over 50 parkour athletes. Training on the principles of discipline, inclusion, tolerance, and diversity, Jamil’s team learns skills that are applicable beyond the training course. With the recent national and international recognitions for the team, Jamil hopes to continue expanding awareness and acceptance of the sport, while seeking to open a permanent gym that will allow for athletes, students, adults, and children, to practice parkour. We’re committed to helping out Jamil through a connection of resources that will provide funding to support the team in the country. We look forward to working with Kabul Boys Parkour as they continue to grow!

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Afghans Empowered chats with Meena Nezami, president and founder of the Girl Up Afghanistan chapter. After her experiences with Girl Up India, Meena set out to appeal to the international Girl Up Campaign to support the opening of a chapter in Afghanistan. From there, she embarked on a mission to promoting the ideals and visions of Girl Up. This organization provides young women and girls with life-long skills in organizing, fundraising, campaigning,  advocacy, education, and more. Though Covid-19 has impacted much of the physical operations for the chapter, Girl Up continues to promote gender equality, and women’s rights through its presence on social media, and usage of digital tools. Girl Up invites students from all grade levels to join the club, and provides resources for the social and political participation for young women in society. As we discuss the current Afghan-Taliban peace process, we analyze the potential impacts that these discussions may have on the future of women in the country. Meena emphasizes the progress that’s been made in the recent decade, and reassures the work thats been done by the Afghan government to account for women’s participation and consideration in the negotiations. We transition over to the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, an internationally recognized event that ended on Human Rights Day, December 10th. For more information on the campaign, and to read more about Girl Up, visit GirlUp.org!

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According to various outlets and election officials, Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States. Afghans Empowered reflects upon this news and shares what we believe will be some of the most important political, economic, and social developments in the next administration. We talk about the country’s pandemic response, immigration reform, civil rights, and healthcare. The conversation itself is definitely incomplete. There’s so much going on in the US that we could be speaking on it for hours on end. But we hope that a brief reflection on atleast some of the issues will remind our followers to keep pushing to make their votes count. Election campaigns and promises have to turn into real results. We expect for all our votes to count in a meaningful manner because we envision a future in this country that includes civil liberties, economic prosperity and opportunity, and social welfare. We know the results wont happen over night but with such a historical event unfolding in the 2020 election results, Afghans Empowered urges followers to continue using their voices for longterm social change. Join the conversation and share what you think about the recent US elections. 

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Afghans Empowered chats with the talented Meral  Alizada: author of the upcoming poetry book, Daughter of Rumi. In this two-part episode, we talk all things identity, mental health, spirituality, and inner connection. We take a journey through the book, listening to a recitation of several beautiful poems. Meral guides the audience through what she believes is the natural process of finding spirituality in one self. The journey of self discovery, channeled through an ascension of oneness with a higher power, provides a holistic representation of the challenges in individual spirituality felt by many Afghans in the diaspora. With respect to individual perceptions of faith, we encourage our listeners to welcome a view on exploring life’s challenges to one’s inner self and encourage an open mind. Meral’s book Daughter of Rumi will be available for purchase in November 2020. For more information, visit www.meralalizada.com