Monash Urgent Appeal for Afghan Scholars

MIDP Association is organizing this fundraiser.

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The Monash International Development Practice Association (MIDPA) is seeking to raise urgent funds for Monash’s Afghan community. This includes Afghan students at Monash on temporary visas and 11 Afghan youth leaders, women's rights activists and their families that have worked closely with the Gender Peace and Security Centre, and who have been evacuated from Kabul as part of a collaborative operation involving Monash University and the Australian Government.

We have all been devastated by the crisis unfolding before us in Afghanistan and we have the opportunity and responsibility to provide support to Australia’s Afghan community. This is a way in which we can support that is both close to home and that will make a tangible difference to those that have lost so much and left loved ones behind.

Donate now and make an immediate impact. Your gift will provide Emergency Grants to fund food and basic needs, stipends, counselling and Humanitarian Scholarships, as the scholars adjust to life in Melbourne. Emergency Grants and Humanitarian Scholarships will also be provided to eligible students seeking asylum and other vulnerable groups.

MIDPA

Below is a poem by Zahra Taher, an Afghan and student at Monash University.

To the Australian people and the ADF

We have fallen again
We are in blood again
We are in fear again
We are in agony again
We are in despair again
We have lost the ability to scream
We are on the ground again
We lost everything we had achieved
At the cost of our lives once.

We have lost hope
We have lost faith
We have lost dignity
We have lost freedom
The freedom to breath
The freedom to live
We are where we were 20 years ago.

But your sacrifices shall not be forgotten
You fought for our freedom
You fought for our lives
Your words of solidarity shall be remembered
As they are the source of hope in this dire situation
16th of August 2021 shall be remembered
And this Day may be overturned one day
Your sacrifices shall not be forgotten.
~ Zahra Taher 2021