The Beacon of Hope for Afghan Children Society (the Society) made its fifth annual donation to the poverty stricken country, Afghanistan. We were able to continue funding the society’s existing programs and created a new and exciting project.  Froozan Jooya, the president of the society, was able to make a trip to Afghanistan and make it possible for the society to meet its mission by contributing to its programs. The following were the main activities undertaken by the society in 2010.

1. Pharmaceutical Donation: Annual pharmaceutical donation to the Indira Ghandi Children’s Hospital continued.  This year, the list of items donated were; First Aid items, such as gauze, rubbing alcohol and other items such as antibiotics, glucose serum, dettol antiseptic, etc.   After a visit to the burns ward of the hospital, Ms. Jooya was introduced to a family from a remote village in the province of Helmand.  This family had lost 5 members to an unfortunate gasoline fire and six more were badly wounded and needed extensive treatment. Their heart breaking story and their survival was unbelievable. The society donated $200 USD to the family to support them with the transportation cost to bring their badly wounded children to the hospital for treatment. 
2. School Supplies: The society was successful in making its largest school supply donation this year. School supplies were given to 1,500 students, from three different schools   (Wazir Gul e Shaheed Elementary-Middle School, Behzadi School Elementary-Middle School,   and Saeed Mir Ali Gaouhar High School).  Each student received a package containing 5 notebooks, one drawing book, 3 pens, 3 pencils, an eraser and a sharpener.   20 backpacks were also given to students who were heading on to high school.   
3. Water Pump Project:  This was our new and exciting project for 2010.  The society expanded its programs by building a water pump in one of its existing schools (Behzadi Elementay-Middle School in the district of Behzadi).  The water pump will provide fresh drinking water not only to the students, but also to the nearby residents of the district.
4. Financial Assistance: One of the society’s most successful programs, Financial Assistance to disadvantaged families was expanded. This year six additional families were added to the program. Once again a bank account for the sponsored child and their families were opened.  This brings the total of families financially supported by the society to ten families.
5.  Financial assistance to teachers: Once again, 40 teachers and staff from two of our schools were given 1,000 AFN to acknowledge their hard work and contribution to the education of Afghan children.  

The society would like to thank its donors and supporters for their continued support, encouragement and financial contribution. Without it, the society would not to be able to continue funding its programs and making a difference in the lives of children in Afghanistan.

Your Support, Our Hard Work, Another Successful Year! We thank you from the Bottom of our Hearts!

 Beacon of Hope for Afghan Children Society held its 4^th Annual Dinner on June 4^th, 2010. It was a night of music, dance, food, culture and family and friends getting together to contribute to a great cause as well as enjoy an enthralling night at the Crystal Banquet Hall in Surrey, B.C. The BOHFACS raised over $ 16,000 and is grateful for your generosity and support. It is important to emphasis that we rely on our supporters and donors to carry out this humanitarian mission successfully. Like previous years, this year a member will volunteer to travel to Afghanistan to deliver supplies to our sponsored hospital, brighten children’s experience at the schools by delivering them school supplies for the new school year and also deposit money for our families.

Beacon of Hope for Afghan Children Society is also proud to announce that this year we will be sponsoring five additional families.  With your help and support we are looking forward to supporting more and more families each year. The little that we do here makes a huge difference in many lives and definitely contributes in maintaining their hopes. Knowing that someone out there is helping them is comforting for many of these poor children and families. Each year, they look forward to receiving our help. You have done your share of work by participating in such a humanitarian cause and yes be very proud and continue to make a difference.

Beacon of Hope for Afghan Children Society team would like to take this opportunity and once again extend our gratitude to our performers who volunteered their time and talent to make the event extra exciting. The performers were from the BC Dance Academy, an Afghan all Boys Attan team (Traditional Afghan Dance), and many young and very gifted singers and musicians. We thank you for your time and effort and are looking forward to seeing you in our future events.  Please visit our picture gallery for images of their performances.

Lastly, the BOHFACS would like to leave you all with a statement from one of our guests at the Benefit Dinner: He said, “It’s so important that we embrace the idea of giving back and living generously because that is an opportunity to help humanity our way and it’s the easiest way to make difference while eating, dancing and being surrounded by beautiful people so WHY NOT!”