Oprah’s Angel Network

Suraya Sadeed, executive director and founder of Help the Afghan Children, had it all—twice. But the forces of history and a family tragedy brought new meaning to having it all, and sparked a new purpose in her life.

Raised in Kabul’s ruling class in the 1960s, Suraya’s family lived a rare, privileged life in Afghanistan. That all changed when she traveled to Beirut, Lebanon in 1977 with her husband to study at the American University for his master’s degree. It was then that the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, and the couple suddenly became refugees without a country. They decided to relocate to the United States, where after a re-adjustment period, Suraya eventually started a successful real estate company. Soon enough they were living the American Dream.

Suraya Sadeed founded Help the Afghan Children in 1993 to bring educational opportunities to children in the country where she grew up.

Photo courtesy of Help the Afghan Children

Finding New Meaning

But Suraya’s life would take another unexpected turn when her husband passed away in 1993. Suraya again found herself at a crossroads with no guidebook. In order to cope with the loss, she decided to visit her homeland, which was in the midst of a civil war after the Soviets had given up on their imperial ambitions.

An experience at the border city of Peshawar, Pakistan changed Suraya’s life forever. It was there where she witnessed two million displaced, suffering Afghans, and was overwhelmed by the sight of an old acquaintance who had been reduced to begging. Suraya returned to the United States determined to help. That same year she founded Help the Afghan Children (HTAC), an organization that provides emergency relief and creates educational opportunities for children.

Since 1993, Suraya has raised millions of dollars for refugees. Two of her harrowing journeys to provide aid were chronicled in a 2002 documentary, “Inshallah: Diary of an Afghan Women”, in which she delivered 300 tons of food and thousands of blankets to the Takhar Province. Over the years, she estimates she has delivered aid to more than two million Afghans.

“I personally have traveled to the most difficult places in Afghanistan to deliver humanitarian aid to the most desperate people,” she recounted in an email interview. “I have traveled by horses, donkeys and by foot for days at a time. Delivering aid is very difficult and challenging, however, rescuing hundreds of thousands of children and their families is very rewarding and worth taking the risk.”

In 2003—a year after the fall of the Taliban—she teamed up with The Oprah Winfrey Foundation to build four high schools in the northern Afghan province of Samangan. The partnership not only built schools, but highlighted to the world the woeful educational conditions under which students there had been forced to learn. Together, the Foundation and HTAC have built seven schools serving 18,000 students.

In 2003, students stand outside of a school built by Help the Afghan Children through a partnership with The Oprah Winfrey Foundation.

Photo courtesy of Help the Afghan Children

In partnership with many other organizations, HTAC has helped construct 15 schools and pioneered promoting peace education and computer literacy in Afghan schools. A 2007 Angel Network grant to HTAC sponsored computer-skills training for 12th-grade girls at four schools in Kabul.

Bridging the Cultural Divide

Suraya runs her organization just outside of Washington, D.C., but returns to Afghanistan at least three times a year to check on the schools and push for curriculum reform. She advocates for the implementation of peace and environmental education programs as a way to counteract the violence and environmental degradation that have become entrenched in a country ravaged by war.

She also promotes cross-cultural exchange between schools in the United States and Afghanistan, hoping to create better understanding here about Afghanistan’s unique situation.

“Americans need to know that democracy can’t flourish in Afghanistan unless it is implemented within the context of the culture,” said Suraya, who noted that despite the many ethnic groups in Afghanistan, the country is unified when foreigners threaten their way of life, even as they work to combat extremism from within.

Tragically, a school in Kandahar where she implements her programs felt the effects of this extremism last year when a Taliban tossed a grenade into the school and killed a teacher. The school has since been rebuilt and additional guards hired, but she has pulled her teachers and programs from the school because she felt it was too dangerous.

Indeed, despite progress, the situation in Afghanistan remains unstable. It is Suraya’s hope that the educational programs her team provides will be important tools to counteract the violence and enlighten the impressionable, so that children there may be able to find peace and prosper.

Watch a YouTube video about HTAC