It’s often we hear of Afghanistan in the news these days, but the focus is rarely on the children of the impoverished country and the lack of education they receive.
But Khris Nedam, director of Kids 4 Afghan Kids, is coming to Clarkston to share her ministry to educate people in a small village in Afghanistan void of educational opportunities for the past 20 years.
Nedam will tell her story at a breakfast Saturday, March 8 from 9-11 a.m. at St. Daniel Catholic Church.
A teacher at Amerman Elementary in Northville, Nedam, with the help of students in her school district, initiated Kids 4 Afghan Kids in 1998.
“It’s a way to connect kids with kids and help them grow to accept and love diversity,” Nedam said.
To date, the program has raised more than $100,000 to build a school for first through sixth graders and a medical clinic on 10 acres of land donated by village elders in Afghanistan. The facility also includes a guesthouse, bakery and kitchen to provide school lunches for the children during the week.
“I guess I believe all kids have the right to a future,” Nedam said, of her work. “And part of that is education.”
Nedam first realized her desire to help improve education in Afghanistan shortly after receiving her teaching degree in the early 1990s. She had known for much of her life she wanted to become a teacher, and felt led to teach in areas where instructors were desperately needed. The calling took her to teach in Afghanistan.
There she would also meet her husband, Rajab, a doctor.
But life for Americans in Afghanistan was becoming very dangerous with the growth of the Taliban government. With fear of how the Taliban would react to an American woman being married to an Afghan man and pregnant with his child, Nedam and her husband left the country after three and a half years there.
Back in the United States, Rajab, a day before taking his medical board exams, was involved in a traffic accident with a semi-truck. Suffering a closed head injury, he spent a long span of time in a coma, and now lives in a group home. There is little hope he will ever become fully functional again, Nedam said.
She raises their two little girls alone, ages eight and five, but somehow has found time to teach, speak across the state and country on behalf of Kids 4 Afghan Kids, and even pursue a doctoral degree.
Her dedication has always remained strong to the Afghan children, even in 1999 when an earthquake leveled the construction of the Afghan school.
After reconstruction, the school opened early 2001 to 465 students, although it was built to house less than half that number. And the numbers continue to grow immensely. There are hopes to build a second elementary school as well as a middle and high school.
Jean Rawe, coordinator for Family Intergenerational Religious Education (F.I.R.E.) at St. Dan’s, said it was important to bring Nedam to the church.
Sponsored by F.I.R.E. and the Christian Services Commission, the breakfast, Rawe hopes, will bring a better understanding of this culture and other cultures, so we, as Americans, can better relations with different ethnic groups through growth and love.
“It’s a question of social justice; seeing people’s basic needs are met in the world. Especially with the climate of the world today. There is less and less understanding of different cultures and what it is to live without basic needs that we take for granted here.”
Rawe said Nedam’s story helps us realize there is nothing too big to handle.
“She is so committed to (Kids 4 Afghan Kids). We are all called to do these things. That is what is so beautiful. She is such an example in helping us find what our calling should be,” Rawe said.
St. Daniel Catholic Church is located at 7010 Valley Park. Although a reservation is not required, please RSVP to the Faith Formation Office for an accurate count for food preparations. Call (248) 625-1750.
A free will offering will be made with all donations going to Kids 4 Afghan Kids.
For more information on Kids 4 Afghan Kids visit www.kids4afghankids.com, e-mail kids4afghankids@yahoo.com, or call Nedam at Amerman Elementary at (248) 344-8405.