Thursday, November 11, 2010
Dear "Flowers and Bombs" readers in the world,
More than six years have passed since "Flowers and Bombs," my tiny little charity book of poems for peace, was first published in 2004. With the help of people wishing for peace, the book has raised more than 1.3 million yen to help children in Afghanistan and Iraq where "War on Terror" still goes on and innocent people and children are suffering.
The proceeds of the book have been donated to:
Peshawar-kai
Dr. Tetsu Nakamura has been working in Afghanistan since 1984, first as a medical doctor and recently also as the organizer of many precious projects of Peshawar-kai, such as Water Supply and Canal Construction Projects and Agriculture Project. All of the projects conducted by Dr. Nakamura and Peshawar-kai are planned to help Afghan people to stand on their own feet again, so Water Supply and Canal Construction Projects turned "desert" into wheat fields, and are reviving farming villages just as they used to be before. Dr. Nakamura received the 2003 Ramon Magsaysay Award.
Takarazuka Afghanistan Friendship Association
Ms. Keiko Nishigaki, the representative of TAFA, has visited Afghanistan dozens of times and been working especially for women and children in Afghanistan since 1994. She finds real needs in refugee camps, orphans' homes or local schools, then supply them by purchasing the goods in Afghanistan or Pakistan with the money donated by supporters in Japan. Ms. Nishigaki received Mainichi Newspaper International Community Award in 2006. Most importantly, she is my ideal woman and one of my best friends.
Japan Volunteer Center - Iraq Fund
The fund has been helping people in Iraq by supplying water since 1991 and medicines for children suffering from leukemia since 2003. Unfortunately this NGO does not have an English website, but it is one of the biggest organizations in Japan which has been working for people in war and poverty all over the world.
Every September the proceeds from the book of the last one year are donated mainly to the three organizations above, and at times to some small but beautiful projects done by young and brave people who need help.
Thank you very much, my readers. This can never be done without your help and hope for peace. With some help from more and more friends, let the hope for peace spread in the world just like a small ripple created by a cast stone spreading on a quiet lake.
November/11/2010
Kaoru Kobashi
