Let Us Focus on What We Can Do… (Newsletter May 11, 2021)

by | May 13, 2021

*This post is  a newsletter update that went out to MEPO’s mailing list on May 11, 2021. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please email us at mepo.hope@gmail.com.

Let Us Focus On What We Can Do,
Not on What We Can’t

By now, the heavy news from Afghanistan is reaching us all and our outrage grows, intensified by the sense of powerlessness we all have in the face of such agony. This is why we in MEPO are determined to focus our energy on what we can do. We can’t help 30 million people, but we can certainly help 30.
First, we can say that all are safe and sound with MEPO in Kabul. At the newly relocated Garden of Flowers Montessori Preschool, the thriving children live very close to their new school and all are well. That being said, our teachers and staff have to take public transportation every day. In addition, about 80% of the families come from the Hazara minority, the group targeted in the recent attacks. So the stress is far from minimal.
But thankfully everyone is fine, and somehow each weekend during our video chats, the tight-knit staff laughs and smiles together. Always positive and inspiring, our head teacher Fatima-jan, in light of recent events declared : “If the Taliban come back, we will just put on our burkas and keep going.” She is reminding us that we need to look to the future, not the past, nor get stuck in the present.
MEPO Has a NEW Website! 

MEPO’s fresh new website is live! It’s loaded with new videos and photos and recent updates from the Garden of Flowers, past stories from the House of Flowers, lots of archival photos from MEPO’s first years in health camps and work in other countries, and more.

Want to go on a scavenger hunt? See if you can find these things in the new website:

– Two boys giving each other a hug
-The kind of seeds that Fatima is giving the children in the picture above
– A video of children putting on a puppet show
– The story of why the Garden of Flowers had to relocate
– A picture of a Bangladeshi woman holding her child
– How long Fatima-jan commutes to the Garden of Flowers each day
-The rent for the Garden of Flowers Preschool
– A picture of Mostafa standing with students at a girls school in an Afghan refugee camp
– A quote from Maria Montessori about gardens…Please share with us your ideas and feedback about our new website. We look forward to having your continuous support in our challenging endeavor ahead of us.
Commitment

We in MEPO, no matter what happens on the political scene, will continue supporting the children and the message of education for the sake of peace. We are determined to focus on what we CAN do, no matter how small, rather than dwell on what we cannot change.

We would like to invite you also to stand behind the children of Afghanistan and keep the positive attitude that there are brave and strong-willed people like our teachers and staff who teach, make food, clean, and make life happen on a daily basis – moving forward without looking back.

-The MEPO Team

 

—