Shelter For Life - A Sustainable Cause

Shelter For Life - A Sustainable Cause

Shelter For Life

When I think of Afghanistan the first thing that comes to mind is the Taliban, of course this is what has been the story for the past 10 years since our nation was attacked. I have become so accustomed to hearing about this bombing here and that bombing there that I guess I never thought there was anything else too Afghanistan. Recently thinking to myself the questions came to my mind what about the people who live there? The people who are not military combatant’s who's taking care of them while there country is at war? After a little research it easy to find many eager and willing to help. One of those agencies is Shelter For Life.Which focuses their attention on countries with refugee and returnee populations like Afghanistan.

I wanted to learn a little more about how Shelter for Life worked so I called their Headquarters located in Wayzata, MN and spoke with Allison who is the Program Officer there. She explained to me what her role was their as the Program Officer. She explained she primarily works with donations, contracts, and the day to day operation including working with and negotiating with other countries of the world in which they are working. She explained that they their efforts are focused on refugee and returnee populations and work to help the nations in which they are working build a sustainable community by offering services like building homes and city buildings, building roads and city services, and offering small financial assistance to small businesses. They seek for sustainable opportunities that would help the they work in be capable to sustain themselves once Shelter for Life is done helping. She also explained that they receive about 85% of their operating funds actually come from government grants and the rest of their operating funds come from private donations. Allison stated that they are always looking for help and they often post openings as internships for those looking to participate in their cause.

There are many ways one can help Shelter For Life in their cause. We can make a cash donations to help, we can volunteer at there office in Wayzata, and we can simply pray for them. Shelter For Life is a faith based organization and ask for whatever we can offer if we share the faith of prayer. Here is a link to there support page for those looking to help. Partner With Us

There are many examples of success stories of how Shelter For Life has helped to improve the communities in which they work. The Link Below tells the story of Murad Ali and how Shelter For Life helped him to become an independent shop owner and in turn help his community.

Murad Ali's Story

This is a strong example on how Shelter for Life is working to help people like Murad get a start to be able to offer a service to provide to his community that is sustainable. We may wonder how much assistance is needed. In this case for Murad he received only 416$ this translated to about 20,000 AFS which is the local currency in Afghanistan. With this money he was able to buy the necessary components and provides a service to the community in which he lives by opening his own store for goods. The Picture below is of Murad Ali in his shop shelter for life help his start. Here is a link to many other success stories in Afghanistan Success Stories.

To contact Shelter For Life or to learn more about Shelter For Life Just visit their website or the link I have listed below for the Contact Us portion of their website.

Contact Us

As I was spending time on Shelter For Life's website I found this very cool slide show of the people and scenery of Afghanistan.  

Peoples Portraits - By Bill Kish

This is a neat video showing a little of the culture in Afghanistan.