The Salem Award Foundation presents Fahima Vorgetts on November 5

FAHIMA VORGETTS

REPORT FROM AFGHANISTAN

Women, Children and War 

Presented by

The Salem Award Foundation for Human Rights and Social Justice

& The Salem Athenæum

 

Friday, November 5, 2010  ·   7:00 PM  

At the Tabernacle Church, 50 Washington Street, Salem, MA 

 

Fahima Vorgetts, winner of the 2004 Salem Award for Human Rights & Social Justice, returns to Salem to share her experiences from a life's work spent helping to improve the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan.  The lecture will be followed by a reception.

 

Fahima walks a path beset with obstacles to her work.  She faces personal security threats in Afghanistan, as well as threats to the women and girls with whom she works.  Several times each year Fahima travels to Afghanistan where she has opened new schools for girls and literacy classes for women; created income-generating projects for widows, helping them become self-sufficient; and arranged for the shipment of medical supplies to Herat's women's hospital. She has distributed clothing and school supplies to refugees in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Her efforts have touched the lives of thousands of women of all ages and ethnicities.

  

She has committed her life to improving the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan.   In her own words, "Afghanistan haunts me. It is my country, and my heart breaks for my sisters who undergo daily oppression and hardship...My passion and life's work is to reclaim and rebuild the country so that women can be free and equal, and can live a life of dignity, literacy, and financial stability."  

Fahima Vorgetts heads the Afghan Women's Fund, a program of Women for Afghan Women womenforafghanwomen.org. She is an honorary member of Afghanistan Organization for Human Rights and Environmental Protection.  She has addressed the United Nations and traveled widely speaking to university conferences and religious organizations. She has appeared on national and international television and radio stations, including BBC and NPR.

  

Tickets 

$15 for adults; $5 for students; $10 for Salem Award donors, Salem Athenaeum & Tabernacle Church members. The Tabernacle Church is located at 50 Washington Street and is handicapped accessible.

Reservations

Online:  salemaward.org or by mail: The Salem Award Foundation, PO Box 8484, Salem MA, 01971.  For more information, call the Salem Athenaeum at 978-744-2540