FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 14, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Acts of Kindness
Local charity organization helps Afghan girls gain access to education
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRYSCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
QNS
A Fresh Meadows-based organization is
refusing to turn its back on the more than
2.2 million Afghan girls who are excluded
from education as their brothers return to
school under the Taliban.
Women for Afghan Women, the eastern
Queens charity dedicated to protecting the
rights of women and girls in the war-torn nation
through access to education and training,
has announced a new partnership with
BookBlocks.io to create exclusive artwork
inspired by iconic author Louisa May Alcott.
Th e collaboration will raise funds for the
education of Afghan schoolgirls through a
non-fungible token (NFT). BookBlocks.io
will turn over 100% of the income generated
from this NFT to Women for Afghan
Women, to help schoolgirls gain access to
education.
“Th e Taliban announced only male teachers
and students should return to schools,
leaving the future of millions of girls across
Afghanistan uncertain. Th is is a generation
that grew up hopeful and dreaming about
their future through educational opportunities,”
Women for Afghan Women U.S.
Country Director Naheed Samadi Bahram
said. “Women for Afghan Women has been
working on the ground for 20 years to improve
the lives of women and girls. We are
committed to serving Afghan women and
girls in Afghanistan and Afghan refugees
arriving in the United States.”
A non-fungible token is best described
as a fully unique digital asset that cannot
be copied. NFTs began with art, but can
also be used to certify the uniqueness of
many other collectibles. NFTs are stored
on the blockchain, which is a digital ledger
that certifi es every piece of data on that
ledger to be fully unique and not interchangeable
with any other piece of data
on the ledger.
“Th e work Women for Afghan Women
has done for the last 20 years in Afghanistan
is incredibly inspiring. To have the
opportunity to contribute in a small way
toward the continuation of that work
that so powerfully benefi ts the lives of
Afghan women and girls is an honor,
especially as they face this most recent
attempt to severely restrict their access to
education,” BookBlocks.io’s Co-Founder
Gordon McClellan said. “BookBlocks for
this NFT fundraiser and hope it will raise
signifi cant amounts of money to support
the ongoing eff orts to provide a better
future for Afghan women and girls.”
Since the Taliban returned to power as
the U.S. military withdrew in September,
Afghan women have risked death, beatings
and imprisonment as they protest
on behalf of Afghan girls who have been
trapped in their homes.
BookBlocks.io has chosen to mint
2,200 copies of this NFT to signify the
2.2 million girls currently excluded from
school in Afghanistan.
Th e background colors of each NFT are
also diff erent, signifying the diversity of
backgrounds that make up the women
and girls that Women for Afghan Women
serve. And they chose to commission four
diff erent versions of this illustration to
represent the 40% of Afghan children
who suff er from malnutrition.
Th e aim of this NFT is to present WAW
with valuable fi nancial resources to help
provide new hope and a better future for
countless Afghan women and girls.
“Th ank you, BookBlocks, for standing
with the Afghan people at this critical
time,” Bahram said. “We encourage you
all o support this inspiring campaign and
support our Afghan sisters.”
For more information or to make a donation,
visit the Women for Afghan Women
website at womenforafghanwomen.org.
Photo by Omar Sobhani/REUTERS
Schoolgirls listen to a speech by Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a ceremony marking the
start of the school year in Kabul in 2012.
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