Afghan and ISAF officials attended a foundation stone-laying ceremony for a new women’s business centre yesterday in Herat Province.

The new €200,000 centre will have four levels with a total area of about 510 square meters (5,489 square feet). The centre will have a total of 36 stores, a conference room, and space for recreational activities and gymnastics on the top floor.

The centre was donated by the Italian Ministry of Defence and is in cooperation with the Department for Women Affairs, which supports the establishment of a business area dedicated to female entrepreneurship. This will further the role of women as entrepreneurs in the Herat Province.

The Italian Cooperation for Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will supply all furniture and necessary equipment for the centre as well as launch a microcredit project, which is an economic tool for development that will provide affected families access to financial services and, in particular, to women.

“Through this project we will provide financial support for the initiation of individual businesses and boost their natural development,” said Brig. Gen. Alessandro Veltri, Regional Command-West commander. “It will also promote the presence of female personnel into the local entrepreneurial system promoting a role of women as a central element and factor of progress in Afghan society.”

Those attending the ceremony included Asiludim Jani, vice governor of Herat province; Salim Trak, mayor of the city; Manija Sadiqu, Department for Women Affairs chief; Col. Claudio Dei, Italian Provincial Reconstruction Team chief; Dr. Marco Urago, Italian Cooperation for Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs executive; along with several other province authorities and Nazifa Noor Ahmed, an 8-year-old girl who recently returned to Afghanistan after spending 19 months at the General Hospital “S. Orsola-Malpighi” in Bologna where she was treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Add a comment

KABUL, Afghanistan (March 6) - A young Afghan boy severely burned five months ago has undergone extensive surgery by Afghan and coalition doctors that could help him recover from a tragic home accident.

Abdul Rahman, who is 8 years old and the youngest of six children, is being treated for third-degree burns suffered at his home in Nimroz province. While transferring gasoline from one container to another, some leaked and dripped onto his chest. Nearly two hours later, Abdul struck a match in his family's kitchen and his chest was scorched immediately.

"I carried my son to the Nimroz public hospital, but I did not have enough money to pay for his treatment," explained Abdul's father, Abdul Fatah. "I work as a mechanic making 100 Afghanis per day. My wife is dead and there is no one else to help."

After hearing of a Special Forces clinic in Helmand Province, Abdul and his injured son walked three days from Kang Village to the firebase to request help. Unable to provide the necessary treatment at the firebase clinic, Special Forces medics spoke with the Afghan National Army about the situation. The ANA volunteered to escort the child and father to the ANA hospital in Kandahar province for surgery.

Before departing, ANA doctors reviewed his file and requested support from a coalition doctor experienced in skin trauma. Dr. Yama and Dr. Steinberg greeted the boy and his father, Feb. 28, and the combined medical team prepared the boy for surgery.

Unable to rotate his head because scar tissue fused his chin to his chest during healing, Abdul was extremely malnourished and in too much pain to swallow whole foods.
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