buddies

“For the price of a game of golf….”
Full Text :
As a reminder of what the Golf Day was about, read the following: Is it just me or does everyone think Afghanistan is no place for a child? Stick with me. I know that sentence might not seem that relevant to you, but don’t go yet….. It’s hard to imagine, but until the late 1970s Afghanistan was a stable, progressive country with a healthy economy. These days it’s one of the poorest in the world. No wonder, really, after 25 years of conflict. Afghanistan is landlocked, has poor infrastructure, has the largest concentration of land mines and other unexploded ordnance on earth, and the world’s largest producer of opium. Less than half its young people have ever been to school. The government of Afghanistan continues to grapple with the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and its citizens live in fear of war and drug lords. That’s right – no place for a child at all. Now cast your mind back to the story of former Siena College student Meg Foley. While still at school, Meg began sacrificing her school holidays to visit asylum seekers holed up in remote immigration detention centres. In Port Hedland one holiday, Meg met handsome young Abdul Achigzai. At that time he was Australia’s longest-serving detainee. Abdul was born into the ruling class in Afghanistan. His father was a police officer who once shot and killed a drug smuggler during a routine border patrol. It turned out the smuggler was the brother of a Taliban warlord who then hunted and killed Abdul’s father, vowing to exact revenge on the whole family. In fear for his life, 16-year-old Abdul was smuggled out of Afghanistan and arrived in Australia in 1999. He spent the next five years and nine months behind bars. While in detention, Abdul learned his mother had died of unknown causes and his little brother appeared to be lost. Can you even imagine that? At the ripe old age of 20? Anyway, back to the hopeful bit. You might remember in June 2004, Abdul and Meg made headlines when they married in Baxter Detention Centre. Later that year, Abdul was finally released and a week later, incredibly, he tracked down his little brother. Malik is 13 years old now and living with an uncle and 13 cousins in scary, deadly Kandahar. Abdul and Meg have applied for what’s called an orphan’s relative visa. The face a bureaucratic maze which involves interviews with the United Nations in Pakistan, police and medical checks. Hopefully, it will give them the chance to bring Malik safely and quickly to Australia to be with the big brother he thought he lost 10 years ago. Meg is five weeks from finishing her teaching degree; Abdul is working in retail. Between them, they just don’t have enough money to get the job done. And that’s where you come in. On Sunday, November 4, there will be a golf day at Hedland Park, raising money for Malik. Meg tells me it doesn’t even matter if you don’t like golf, because she’s never played and has plenty planned for people who just want to join the day. If you’ve got a business, corporate spots are available, too. To find out more, call Meg’s mum Barb on 5477 5307. Afghanistan might be no place for a child, but sadly we can’t save all of them. So I thought, maybe we could just start with this one. posted by Caroline Hutchinson at 6:49 AM 0 COMMENTS