Dear friends,

We have some incredible news to share. Thanks to your support and the outpouring of generosity from the Avaaz fundraising campaign, we’ve received another $374,500 grant. This means we can now bring the next group of 50 Afghan women and their families to safety in Brazil. This is nothing short of a miracle — and a sign of what we can achieve together.

Yet at the same time, we’re facing serious setbacks.

🔒 Pakistani visa costs are rising, and they’re harder than ever to obtain. Our people — already sick, traumatized, and without livelihood — are stuck in a broken system. Visas expire before they’re processed. Refugees are trapped in an endless waiting loop with no safety net.

📄 The biggest hurdle remains the criminal record requirement. The Brazilian government insists that each adult obtain this document from the Taliban-controlled embassy in Pakistan. Yes, the same regime that these women and human rights defenders are fleeing from. The same regime that has jailed, tortured, and persecuted them.

We had criminal record clearances from Tajikistan — issued by representatives of the former government — but they were rejected.

45 people went to the embassy for interviews. None received a visa. And now, we wait in limbo, while the Pakistani visas they do have are about to expire — again.

We’ve submitted detailed legal justifications for the absence of this document and asked the UNHCR in Brazil to intervene on our behalf.

For those who dare to go to the Taliban embassy in Pakistan, the cost has now risen to $300 per person. To give you a comparison: average monthly rent is $80. And every adult in the family must have this document.

It’s heartbreaking. And maddening. The system in Pakistan is deeply predatory — especially towards refugees who are poor, ill, and have already lost everything.

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Let me make this real for you with the story of two sisters I spoke yesterday night.

One is 19. The other is only 14.

Their mother protected them when their father tried to sell them to a Taliban fighter. She fled with her daughters and now survives by sewing clothing, day and night, without rest. The older sister teaches. The younger one — just a child — is writing a book in perfect English about the violence she’s lived through. She kept saying to me on the phone, “Miss Nadja, I can’t do this anymore. I feel like the only alternative is the grave.”

They were crying. They don’t know how they’ll pay rent this month. They are scared, brilliant, and full of love. And they are exactly why we must continue.

💔 We cannot abandon them.

⏳ The time to act is now. With our new funds, we can cover resettlement — but the increasing costs of visas and criminal records, plus the delays, mean we urgently need your continued help.

🎥 https://youtube.com/shorts/BRYZFMR-8-w

We've put together a short video clip featuring the voice of their story. Please take a moment to listen — and share it if it moves you.

🙏 If you can, please donate — every bit helps us bring more people to safety.

If everyone who reads this message gives EUR 3 to 10, we can bring them home.

 💸 Donations:

 Name: HeartWork Stichting

https://heartwork.earth/peacework/

 IBAN: NL19TRIO 0320270416
 SWIFT/ BIC: TRIONL2UXXX
Reference: SaveAfghanWomen

📩 Include your email address in the description if you’d like a donation receipt.

_____________________

And let me share these words from Rumi:

“Try not to resist the changes that come your way.
 Instead, let life live through you.
 And do not worry that your life is turning upside down.
 How do you know that the side you are used to
 is better than the one to come?”

I chose this verse from Rumi because it speaks to the very heart of what we are witnessing. Lives turned upside down. Families broken. Futures uncertain. And yet — through all the pain — something deeper is asking to emerge.

This poem is a quiet invitation to trust in the transformation that comes from hardship. The women and girls we are supporting embody that transformation. Despite all they have lost, they still carry love, wisdom, and courage. They show us what really matters in life.

May we find the strength to meet their turning world with open hearts — and help shape the side to come.

With love and gratitude,
Nadja & team