A Message from the Trustees of the Afghan Training Foundation and Directors of Afghan Action

The global economic recession, depressed consumer spending and the weakness of the British Pound against the US Dollar (in which everything in Afghanistan is denominated) made it very difficult for us last winter and we had to drastically reduce the scale of our operation in Kabul. We are delighted to say that we have now raised enough money to restart the training school and workshop. We are emphasising the training of young men and women in carpet weaving rather than focusing on carpet production. We will continue to provide food, health and education services. We expect roughly half of our costs to be met by the sale of carpets.

The lecture given by Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles at the Royal Geographical Society in March, sponsored by McInroy & Wood, was a great success and raised £15,000; our profound thanks to Sir Sherard for an outstanding presentation. We have also had generous support in sponsoring trainees from Group4Securicor and are most grateful to them and to other supporters who have made it possible for us to continue our work in Afghanistan.