Seven months ago I had a ten-second idea: For the Idries Shah Foundation to send 33,000 books about Eastern folklore and culture to Afghanistan, and have them distributed free to schools and libraries there. It was an idea which has taken seven months to achieve. The container filled with books left the UK before the summer. First, it got stuck in the Karachi port for months because we wouldnt pay bribes. Then it got stuck on the Pakistan/Afghan border because we wouldnt pay yet more bribes. After that, the truck navigated the Hindu Kush -- most dangerous stretch of roadway on the planet. After breaking down endlessly on some of the worst roads in the world, it got stuck at the road block outside Kabul (by now you can guess the reasons). But, last night, I am proud to say that the container reached our depot in Kabul. The books are now being labelled and stamped by volunteers, and will be distributed across the country in the coming days and weeks. I want to thank everyone who pulled strings, woke contacts up in the middle of the night, begged, bullied, and willed our orange container on. Thank you to everyone who helped, and to everyone who has supported The Idries Shah Foundation to make this donation possible!
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 17:24:14 +0000
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