The New Hope Presbyterian Church Men's Group in Castle Rock is making sure medical, educational and other supplies get to those in need in Afghanistan.

Four shipments have completed the process and been delivered to the recipients in Afghanistan. Shipment 5 was delivered to Peterson AFB on April 5 and is in the Air Force transportation system on its way to Afghanistan.

The major portion of the fifth New Hope Men's Fellowship shipment to Afghanistan was medical equipment. Denverite Hassina Omar, an associate of KOA radio, spearheaded a drive to raise money for the buying of wheelchairs to be sent to Afghanistan for the children who can't get around, let alone to school, unless someone carries them. Many lost limbs stepping on buried land mines left by the warring parties. Now, there will be 187 who do it on their own. Sun Medical, Inc. in Longmont stepped up and provided them at cost with some extras freely given. Friends and persons throughout Colorado contributed money for the project.

The wheelchairs and other gifts poured in. This shipment (number 5) finally weighed in at 13,802 pounds, was packed in 436 boxes and valued at $144,319. It consisted of humanitarian items -187 wheelchairs for children with limbs lost, blankets, quilts, diet supplements to help halt rampant diarrhea and toys as well as equipment for schools including seeds for survival gardens, school books (preschool to university-level reading), fabric and sewing equipment for vocational training, papers and pencils, computers, printers, as well as clothes and shoes for all ages - boys, girls, men and women.

The excitement and pleasure experienced by NHMF upon receiving these great gifts soon turned to dismay when seeing how many and how much space was needed. NHMF had nowhere to store a shipment of this size. It had to find a place of shelter to store the material until the day they would be shipped to Peterson AFB. Finding this much warehouse space at an affordable price appeared to be futile.

A government-required content inspection was performed by a Denton official, Bill Ford. Once we received his approval, it was only a few weeks before Denton gave the Air Force authorization to receive and transport the shipment to Afghanistan. The Aerial Port organization at Peterson AFB calls for the shipment to be delivered there once an Air Force flight has been identified to more the material to from Peterson AFB on the first leg of its journey to Afghanistan.

Jon Larson of NHMF is in charge of a transport group for the Men's Fellowship {NHMF}. Instead of lining up trucks and trailers from members as in the past like this picture shows, he did something great. He contacted the U.S. Army Reserves to see if they would help move shipment five.

Upon arrival of a shipment at Bagram AFB, Afghanistan, shipments are downloaded and then transported to A4T headquarters in Kabul. Often, the amount of goods to be transported has turned out to be more than A4T was able to transport as they have no trucks. The cost of hiring trucks and drivers is also prohibitive. However, U.S. Air Force personnel at Bagram have stepped up and provided transportation and security at no cost. How great that is and so much appreciated.

The U.S. Congress has authorized the Denton Program to transport privately donated humanitarian aid from individuals in the United States to selected countries oversees. The Denton Program is administered by the United States Agency for International Development.

The New Hope Presbyterian Church Men's Group mission has taken form as a volunteer shipping agency for goods donated out of the Denver -Boulder area as well some from other parts of the U.S. Many groups and individuals want to send help, but have found this difficult to accomplish for reasons such as the cost of private shipping, the length of time it takes and the uncertainty of delivery. Consequently, upon learning of the Men's Group's service, they seek it out. Upon approval, their items are shipped to Castle Rock where they are inventoried, warehoused and then taken to Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs.

In order to participate in the USAID/Denton program there has to be an agency or a qualified individual in the recipient country, in this case Afghanistan, to receive and distribute the goods being shipped. Afghans For Tomorrow (A4T) a qualified organization doing relief, and rebuilding education in Afghanistan needed supplies donated in the United States to support their programs. Their membership mainly consists of native Afghanis dispersed throughout the world, principally because of wars being fought in their home country. A4T was formed by them as a way to rebuild their nation. Professor Wahid Omar, a professor at Colorado University In Boulder, is A4T's Education Director. He travels between Denver and Kabul on a regular basis to oversee the program and assure that supplies and materials go to the intended organizations and individuals. A4T has a very effective and growing educational program in Afghanistan. A4T is a licensed program under the Afghan government with focus on educating girls ages up to age 20 in grades 1 through 7. Some boys with handicaps are included. (The state and religious schools teach the boys.) Upon completion, the students are eligible to matriculate to regular government schools.

Chairs and desks would be nice but until they arrive, if ever, the students are eager to get on with their schooling. Because of war and the Taliban, most girls were kept out of school for a period 20 years. Upon coming to school few could read or write, even at the most elementary level, but it soon became evident they are quick learners. The school's have a two-part curriculum, one focuses on traditional subjects: math, reading, writing, etc., and the other on learning vocational skills. The latter is done to give the girls marketable skills such as embroidery and carpet weaving. Even a little bit of income by our standards, is found to be a great help to families, many of which are returned refugees and destitute often with one parent, the other having been lost in war.

A4T not only provides books and teachers but it also may include building the school itself as was done for a community called Sheik Yassin in the Province of Wardak. Now finished, it was built with help from the community and friends of A4T including a Denverite, Dr. George Nez. They were built from inexpensive materials and have proven to be strong and durable in all kinds of weather. Such a roof may be a great asset to third world countries worldwide where weather- and insect-proof roofs are rare. Some of the materials used were sent to Afghanistan through the Denton Program by New Hope Men's Fellowship.

In addition to building schools it may also becomes necessary to provide a source of fresh water. In the rural villages, especially, obtaining clean water is a problem. Wells are often located near outhouses. Consequently, the water becomes polluted and causes various diseases including intestinal/diarrhea. This is especially serious amongst the children. "Sick kids don't learn well" states a truism that has implications for students and for the success of the school's program. Therefore A4T was happy to receive a NHMF shipment containing a gift of 50 water cones from a German company, named DISCOBED, which produces pure water from polluted water by means of evaporation. This is an answer to the problem until fresh water can be made available by other means-such as drilling deeper wells (if and when the drills can brought there) and/or aqueducts can be built bringing fresh water from the mountains. A4T and Engineers Without Borders are working on the problem.

Where does the aid come from?

A variety of organizations and people contribute aid including individuals, church groups, businesses, school classes and clubs. Girl Scout Troop # 11, located in Castle Pines North under the guidance of parent Wendy Storey. brought collected clothes, shoes and school supplies to the warehouse to be stored until shipment to Peterson AFB. For shipment 4 the Rotary Club of Denver Southeast provided 7,000 student backpacks filled with individual school supplies. Well able to handle small shipments of goods, NHMF found itself in a predicament when requests to ship large loads started coming in. The storage facility was simply too small for what was about to happen. Lori Rafferty and Jeffrey McGonegal (CFO) of AspenBio Pharma, Inc. in Castle Rock, donated warehouse storage space. We are truly grateful for their generosity.

Joe Howard is the NHMF's Afghan Project director.