Stuck in Afghanistan

Not literally, of course. At least not me (maybe our military).

I figure I must be the last person on the planet to read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, which is mostly about his building schools in Pakistan, not Afghanistan. But reading it made me immediately read his second book, Stones into Schools, which is about Afghanistan. Then because the foreward to that was written by Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner (another book I must be the last to read) and A Thousand Splendid Suns, I got those two to read. 

I'm still reading the first and haven't started the second, but I'm already thinking I want to buy Jeanette Windle's book Veiled Freedom, which is also set in Afghanistan and was a finalist for both 2010 ECPA Christian Book Award in fiction and the Christy Award. I've heard great things about it, but I originally thought I wouldn't be interested in a book on Afghanistan. Obviously I was wrong.

Mortenson's charity, Central Asia Institute, builds schools, primarily for girls, in some of the hardest to reach places in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His miracle producing team of rogue agents accomplish amazing things on minimal resources and are worthy of support, or at least prayers.

Then I read about the following way to help Afghanistan in Shelf Awareness:  "Penguin Group's Riverhead Trade Paperbacks is launching the Picture a Book Changing Lives campaign to raise money for the Khaled Hosseini Foundation, which was founded by the author to aid the people of Afghanistan. The Foundation supports projects that provide shelter to refugee families and economic and educational opportunities for women and children. The Foundation also awards scholarships to students who have migrated to the U.S. under refugee status and women pursuing higher education in Afghanistan.


Under the Picture a Book Changing Lives campaign, people may submit one or two still photos of themselves reading or holding a copy of Hosseini's The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns. For each such photo uploaded to the Hosseini group page of Penguin, Riverhead is donating $2 to the Foundation, up to $25,000. The campaign runs through August 31.

Geoffrey Kloske, v-p and publisher of Riverhead, commented, 'Khaled Hosseini's books have changed the way many around the world picture Afghanistan, so it's a great opportunity to give his readers a way to help raise money that will benefit the people of that country.'"

Here are the photos I posted, one for each book:

(And yes, that's what I currently look like; the professional shot was taken a few years ago with my hair was done by a professional.)


You don't have to own the books to upload your photos. So borrow them from the library or a friend and  make a difference in Afghanistan. More schools and help for the people there contributes to a more stable country and just might mean our soldiers can come home sooner. And that would make everyone happy.