Dear friends,

We have breakthroughs to share. Against enormous odds, two courageous Afghan women have finally found safety in Brazil.

• Freshta Yaqubi, a women’s and human rights activist, was originally scheduled to travel on August 7. Her flight was cancelled by the Islamabad airport authorities, leaving her in limbo. After two months of waiting, she arrived in Brazil on September 24.


• Sara Latifi, another women’s rights activist also scheduled to travel on August 7, had her flight cancelled as well. On September 24, she finally reached Brazil together with Freshta.



Their photos are included here to show you the impact of your solidarity. These two lives are now safe because of the support you’ve already given. 
Please support us in bringing more people to safety and helping to rebuild their lives in Brazil. 

🏥 Critical medical support: a costly spinal surgery and high-risk pregnancy

In recent weeks we also supported an extremely complex spinal surgery for another woman who had already endured Taliban beatings during several weeks of arbitrary detention. 
Complications after the first operation required a second surgery to correctly set sutures next to her surgical implants. This was an expensive procedure, and the after-care has also stretched our limited resources.

We are also supporting the mother of 3-year-old Rahil, who suffers frequent seizures. The little one is currently in hospital under brainwave monitoring in Pakistan. Her mother is in the last stages of a high-risk pregnancy, enduring severe leg pain day and night while caring for Rahil.

The mother shared with us:
“At night, I hold my daughter in my arms until morning so she does not disturb the other people in the shelter, as she often screams, cries, and has seizures during the night. It’s now 6:30 in the morning and I still haven’t been able to sleep. My daughter cries a lot, and if I don’t do exactly what she wants, she sometimes has seizures, like when I try to change her diaper.”

This is the reality our group is living in every day. We included a photo of Rahil in hospital to remind ourselves of the human faces behind these words. 

🫀 More people need our help

Beyond these emergencies, many more women, men and children are struggling with severe medical conditions. Here are just a few examples (names anonymised for protection):

• Banoo (28) – Memory loss, panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, depression.
• Naima (56) – Diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure, severe joint problems.


• Mohammad (60) – Chest pain, fainting due to low blood pressure.


• Shabnam  (30) – Hormonal imbalance, stomach inflammation, joint and muscle pain, neurological symptoms including depression.


• Shafiqa (19) – Chronic stomach infection, hormonal disorder causing missed periods, depression, panic attacks.



Each of these cases represents a person whose life could be saved or stabilised with timely medical support.

How you can help

Every donation you make goes directly to keeping these women and their families alive, safe, and healthy enough to reach resettlement.

💸 Donation Details
Name: HeartWork Stichting
 https://heartwork.earth/peacework


💙 Your role: standing with them

As autumn sets in and we wrap ourselves in warmth and safety of our cozy homes here in Europe, please remember: any of us could have been born as a woman in Afghanistan. Your donation is not abstract — it is food, medicine, surgery, shelter, and hope.

We invite you to give generously to fill the funding gap for the spinal surgery, support Rahil and her mother, and help more people of our group to stay alive to settle safely in Brazil.

“All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
 
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
 
I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that,
 and I intend to end up there.

Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?
 
I cannot stop asking.
 
If I could taste one sip of an answer,

I could break out of this prison for drunks.

I didn’t come here of my own accord, and I can’t leave that way.

Whoever brought me here, will have to take me home.” 

— Rumi

Your support helps us bring people home to safety.

With gratitude,


Nadja & HeartWork team