Greetings!  

On August 13th, I wired $9,180 to our bank account in Kabul to pay the expenses we'd incurred in July. Included in that amount were payments for fifty-six children sponsored by families and organizations in the United States and wages for our twenty-two Afghan employees. The Taliban seized control of Kabul the following day.

After numerous frustrating attempts to reach Wells Fargo, I was told I would need to go into my branch office Monday morning and submit a cancellation request. It couldn't be cancelled over the phone. I was at the door when the bank opened and signed the request that morning. I've had no response and the funds are not back in our US account. How likely is it that the Taliban in charge of our bank in Kabul will return the money I wired?

Ten days ago Nabi found a way to get money to Kabul. I sent enough to provide the monthly support payments for 29 of the sponsored children, a test run. Photos of a few of the happy recipients are below. The number, labeled code, is their contract number. The numbers make it easy to identify who they are as they grow older. 

I will be sending enough to pay what's owed to the 22 employees and the other sponsored children. It will take time. The person in Kabul distributing the money understandably doesn't want to attract attention to his location.

We finally have a system for getting money to a trustworthy "someone" willing to distribute what we send in accordance with our instructions.  Our support of Afghan children and families can now continue!!!

Immediately following the Taliban takeover, I began telling all who offered to not send me any money. I didn't know whether we'd be able to continue our work in Afghanistan. I put checks that arrived in the mail in a drawer, hoping the day would come when they could be deposited. That day has arrived.

The 8 libraries we were funding closed and will remain closed until they're safe to open. Before closing, over 600 children were using them a day, 60% of whom were girls. They know we will continue supporting the libraries once they open. I anticipate boys and girls will be required to use the libraries at different times and the educational videos we downloaded into the computers will be scrutinized.

The news out of Afghanistan, although inconsistent, is better than I thought it would be. Mass killings of people who worked for our military, the US State Department, and American non-profit organizations have not occurred. One Taliban leader announced that there is "amnesty for all" and urged Afghans to not flee the country. They don't want the "brain drain" that occurred following their takeover in 1996 to occur again.

Boys and male teachers have returned to school. Taliban leaders have publicly announced on more than one occasion that girls and female teachers will return to school, once they "work out security issues".

Afghan women continue to demonstrate publicly and daily for women's rights. Pressure from the United Nations, the United States, and other countries willing to provide aid will likely condition their support on what rights Afghan women will have.

The Afghan women's soccer team was allowed to leave the country and is training in Portugal. Members of an Afghan choir who performed in the United States and elsewhere were allowed to go to Budapest.

A department has been created within the Taliban government to prosecute those who violate directives they issue. This includes arresting and punishing members of the Taliban who violate their directives.

The unanswered question in everyone's mind is what will become sharia law in Afghanistan.

Economic conditions within Afghanistan are dire. Food prices are substantially higher, prohibitively expensive for an increasing number of people. Recently it was announced that for the first time in its history Afghanistan, people have died of starvation.

Jobs were lost and eliminated. Thousands of women are not being allowed or asked to return to work and are no longer qualified applicants for jobs because of their sex.

Money is in short supply, literally. The banks, overrun with long lines of customers, attempting to withdraw their money, were limited to $200 a week.

 Afghans, once again, live in an extreme state of fear and anxiety, not knowing what the future will bring.

I appreciate the emails I received expressing concern about what impact the current circumstances are having on me. It has been very troubling knowing what I know and not being in a position to help.

When I saw the photos of the children holding their money, that was a make my day moment that will last for a long time. Mimi was vacationing in Hawaii when the photos arrived. Nonetheless, she worked on this newsletter, knowing as I do, the impact these photos and this news will have on you. We've been at this for 18 years and it looked like our work might be coming to an end. It's not.

Budd