Local Video
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| Student starts fundraiser to help Afghani families |
By: DAVID HENKE, Staff Writer
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Posted: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 8:10 pm
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NORTHFIELD — For 17-year-old Sarah Tiano, turning a blind eye to the war in Afghanistan and its effects was no longer an option.
Last summer, Tiano got involved with Dina Fesler’s Children’s Culture Connection, the non-profit behind the War Kids Relief program — an initiative that benefits children living in war-torn environments.
War Kids Relief introduced Tiano to Iraqi War veteran Gunnar Swanson, who walked 1,000 miles from Texas to Northfield last summer to benefit the children in Iraq and Afghanistan. The plight of those children and families motivated Tiano to start her own fundraising program, Peace by Piece.
Tiano hopes to receive a sponsorship from a local business for $2,500 — money that would be funneled through War Kids Relief to train and employ one Afghani adult and help raise that person and his or her family out of poverty.
That sponsorship, Tiano says, will eventually be reimbursed through her Peace by Piece program. As part of the fundraising campaign, Tiano is planning to host a number of bracelet-making sessions where local youth in grades six through 12 can construct hemp bracelets with peace charms — crafts that Tiano will later sell at local businesses in Northfield for $5 apiece.
“Whenever you see something in the paper, or you see something on the news, you turn your head because it’s too uncomfortable to hear about,” Tiano said. “It doesn’t matter your political view on the war … it’s just a matter of helping people.”
Tiano’s philanthropy was inspired by Fesler, a Dennison resident who recently returned from a visit to Afghanistan. Ostensibly visiting Kabul, Afghanistan, to produce an educational video for use in Cannon Falls schools, Fesler visited a refugee camp for internally displaced Afghani families. Struck by the squalor, poverty and health problems at the camp, Fesler redirected her efforts to address the needs of the desperate families in the camp.
The money Tiano raises, Fesler said, will be used to put an adult refugee at the camp through a training program so that the refugee can work in a small briquette factory. Briquettes, a fuel source made from scrap paper, water, leaves and sawdust, cost almost nothing to make, Fesler said, and can be used by other refugees to cook or stay warm. Steady employment for that person will have a ripple effect for his or her family, Fesler added, and could pull them out of a cycle of poverty and prevent them from joining the ranks of new Taliban recruits.
But both Tiano and Fesler hope that Tiano’s fundraiser will also open the eyes of youth in Northfield.
“The whole point of Children’s Culture Connection is to help American kids become global citizens and have a connectedness to volunteerism,” Fesler said.
— David Henke covers city, business and youth issues. He can be reached at dhenke@northfieldnews.com or 645-1100.
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It's encouraging to see young people doing things like this. I met a few Afghans (not Afghanis...that is their currency) and they were good men. Brave and dedicated to their families and friends, helpful to us military folks there. For a country ravaged by decades of war I think that hope is one of the things that they need the most.
I've also been to Afghanistan, and I stand together with my fellow veteran in praising these young people. They've identified a need and are doing something about it. I'm proud to know I'm a member of the same community as people like these.