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1. What is
the Rábia Balkhi Hospital Project?
The Rábia Balkhi Hospital Project is a fundraising
drive to initially raise $30,000 to buy surgical and other equipment
for Rábia Balkhi Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. The supplies
needed have been asked for specifically by doctors who work at the
hospital. Rábia Balkhi Hospital is a maternity hospital that
delivers up to 50 babies per day. Conditions are very bad there, and
this project is meant to improve the conditions at the hospital and
save lives by consulting with doctors in the hospital to provide what
they most need and want.
2. What does the name Rábia
Balkhi mean?
Rábia Balkhi was a famous woman poet in Afghanistan.
Her first name was Rábia Her last name comes from the town
she came from: Balkh. She took the name of this town as her last name,
hence, Rábia Balkhi.
3. How can I give money
to the project?
One can donate by a) sending a check or b) donating
via PayPal using the internet
Make checks out to: Society of Afghan Engineers
Mail to: Jane Sinense
505 Cypress Point Dr. #135
Mountain View, CA 94043
PayPal users email your donation to: jsinense@kabulmaternity.org
4. Can my donation be a tax
deduction?
Yes. Your donations will be forwarded to the Society
of Afghan Engineers. They are a 501(c)(3) organization. The treasurer
will hold the donations until the goal amount is raised, then the
medical supplies will be purchased and shipped to Kabul. The goal
of $30,000 is only the first goal of the project, the hospital requires
much more and, as more money is raised the doctors there will be consulted
and the supplies they need will be purchased.
5. Who started the project
and why?
The project was started by myself,
Jane Sinense, after I watched a documentary about the hospital. The
conditions were so bad I made the decision to do something about it.
The next day I contacted the Society of Afghan Engineers (SAE) who
helped get the doctors at the hospital interviewed. While the Society
of Afghan Engineers has the goal of rebuilding Afghanistan, they agreed
to assist me in this vital project.
This is a grass roots movement. All money raised will go directly
to purchasing and shipping of these supplies. The goal is to keep
things simple: find out what the hospital needs, raise the money for
it, and ship to Kabul. Find out more things the hospital needs, raise
the money for it and ship it.
6. How bad are conditions
for maternity care in Afghanistan?
After watching the documentary on TV I saw for myself
how bad conditions were. Further research showed that Afghanistan
has the highest maternal death rate in the world. Enough said. The
point of this project is to use the goodwill of people and their inclination
to help to raise money and change this situation.
7. How do I know my money
will go to this project?
I have devoted the last several weeks to setting
up the operation and the donations will go to a 501(c)(3) organization,
the Society of Afghan Engineers. You will receive a receipt on their
letterhead which can be used as a tax deduction.
One goal is to ship the supplies in the least expensive manner possible,
and there are few ways to go about this. In the last few weeks I have
developed a network of people I can work with to be sure the supplies
arrive at the hospital. In other words, I will be coordinating with
people who have experience getting supplies to Afghanistan and will
do all that is needed to ensure the supplies get to the hospital.
After all, we're all putting a lot of effort into this, and I want
to be sure the supplies arrive at their intended destination.
The pluspoint to this project is ALL money donated will go towards
the purchasing and shipping of these supplies, i.e. all of your donation
money goes to direct help rather than overhead.
8. What if I don't have
any money to donate, what else can I do?
This project will work if people tell their
family, friends and coworkers about this project. So if you don't
have any spare dollars, order some brochures (they are free) and/or
tell your friends about this website and follow up with them. Spread
the word!
9. What are the goals of
the Rábia Balkhi Hospital project?
The overall goal is to bring Rábia Balkhi Hospital
to a higher standard of medical care. This will be done in steps and
upon the advice of the doctors at Rábia Balkhi. In this first
step the doctors were asked what they most needed for the hospital
and their response was a list of surgical equipment. So the first
goal is to raise $30,000 to buy and ship these supplies.
After that we will ask the doctors what else they need and provide
that. By doing these steps the hospital will be able to operate at
a higher standard and this will directly effect the lives of women
and babies.
I do hope to expand this project into one that improves maternity
care in all parts of the world. But I decided to start in Afghanistan.
10. What if I live in another
country and I want to donate?
If you have a PayPal account its online payment service
is available in Euros and Pounds Sterling. It's called "Multiple
Currencies" and enables users to send, receive, and hold funds
in Euros, Pounds Sterling, or US Dollars. So if you want to donate
and you live outside the US go to www.paypal.com
and open up an account. It's so easy even I did it.
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