In Washington DC from the USAWC meeting

The former first lady and honorary co-chair Laura Bush along with members of the USAWC

This past week, I had the distinct pleasure of attending the US Afghan Women’s Council Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.  It happened to also be the launch of “We Are Afghan Women”,  a wonderful narrative by Former First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush.  

I won’t go into a book review because I think you all should read it for yourselves. It’s divided into sections entitled Living, Learning, Working, Surviving, and Challenging, and it truly does depict these women (and men) as overcoming insurmountable barriers to improving their own lives and those around them. Its an inspiration at any point in our lives to be witness to people who are truly putting themselves in the line of fire for the sake of change; especially in a country as culturally and politically complex as Afghanistan, so I encourage everyone to read it.

I also won’t go into too much detail about the women, men, artists, activists and all around amazing people that I met. From candid talks about why aid and development needs innovative models in order to be truly successful in Afghanistan, to seeing the inspiring work of the Turquoise Mountain exhibitors at the Smithsonian’s Freer Sackler Museum, I will just say that every person, organization or program that I encountered left me humbled by what our country can accomplish when we take our struggled and learn from our past and push forward towards a better future.

HEEDA is proud to be part of the efforts at the US Afghan Women’s Council.   We are committed to working with other organizations to support the development efforts in Afghanistan.