Glasgow Afghan United in plea for support

Glasgow Afghan United (GAU) was formed17 years ago as war in Afghanistan saw people seek safety in the UK.

Now there is a new Afghan crisis seeing people suffer hunger and freezing winter cold - and Glasgow is sending help.

As well as supporting newly-evacuated Afghan households to settle around Scotland, which is a major extension of its work, GAU has also expanded to deliver large packs of lifeline food supplies to impoverished families in Afghanistan.

And unlike many other charities, GAU is focusing on the hardest-to-reach areas of the country.

GAU director Abdul Bostani, who arrived in Scotland as a refugee at the age of 18, said: “When the UK and US left Afghanistan last summer and the Taliban took over, we at GAU were busier than we had ever been.

"We were working flat-out to try to answer people’s calls, provide them with information and set-up emergency supports.

"At that time we knew that we would be responding to this emergency for a long time and we began planning for a long-term response.

“We are very proud of all that we have achieved so far.

"We are a small team and we have rapidly adapted our services to help more and more people.

"It is no exaggeration to say that the help we are providing to families in Afghanistan can save them from the worst extremes of poverty - hunger, malnutrition, starvation, even selling organs or their children."

The Andarab District, in Baghlan Province, and Panjshir Province are areas of resistance to the Taliban where communities have been cut off.

After so many years of conflict, there are many widows left looking after large numbers of children with no husband.

That makes them extremely vulnerable because they cannot travel around freely without a male family member and they cannot work.

GAU is helping these families living in northern areas deep winter conditions, with freezing temperatures and snow.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator has officially accepted a change in the GAU constitution to allow this work.

Fundraising has paid for emergency packs designed for larger households and to last for eight weeks.

Large sacks of rice, grains, vegetables, meats and cooking oils are included - items that are increasingly expensive and hard to buy in a crippled economy where foreign aid funding has largely dried up in the wake of the UK and US withdrawal of troops.

Drought has also contributed to widespread hunger and millions of people left with not enough to eat.

Abdul added: "It is horrifying, but this is the reality for many people pushed to the brink of survival today and it is impossible for us to stay in safety here in Scotland without doing everything in our ability to help them.

“The support we can give to people newly-arrived in Scotland, who are dealing with a different language, culture and system, is also extremely important and because the GAU team has experience of asylum and immigration, we can understand how they feel and what they need and provide real solidarity.

“But of course we are very aware that this has to be ongoing work.

"For how long, we do not know, but we anticipate that it will be years."

The charity has accepted funding from individuals and companies in Scotland, and from the Linda Norgrove Foundation, which works in memory of Scottish aid worker Linda.

A fundraising auction at a recent cross-cultural Burns & Rumi Supper, which celebrated the national poets of Scotland and Afghanistan, also generated around £3000 for this work.

The GAU School, which is run by experienced female teachers, continues to bring online lessons to children and young people to help them with attainment in schools and with learning in their first languages of Dari and Pashto.

And the Women’s Empowerment Project is supporting women with mental health and wellbeing, skill-building and support with parenting and adapting to life in Scotland.

The charity is creating sporting and social opportunities for men to come together, create friendships and make the connections they need to start their new lives and integrate successfully.

Abdul said: "Time and time again, Glasgow and Scotland have shown their solidarity with the Afghan people.

"We urge them to please keep doing this - make your new neighbours feel welcome and, if you can, donate to our crowdfunder so that we can continue to bring lifeline help to people who desperately need it.”

To donate see: www.gofundme.com/f/the-afghan-crisis