Dear friends and supporters,
Thank you for staying with us. This update is an account of where things stand and a window into the very real human story behind the work we continue to do with your support.
Why on-the-ground operations have become impossible
Over the past months, conditions in Pakistan have become so dangerous and so unpredictable that we have had to make the difficult decision to cease our on-the-ground operations in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. We effectively stopped with operations on the ground in January of this year.
This was not a choice we made lightly. People we worked with directly faced personal persecution. They lived under Taliban surveillance. And we have reached a point where transferring funds into the country without being monitored by Pakistani authorities is simply no longer possible.
The situation for Afghan people in Pakistan has also become untenable from a legal standpoint. Unless someone has lived in Pakistan for 15 years or more and has become a nationalised citizen, they are now considered illegal, regardless of long-term residency. The only exceptions are extraordinarily expensive visas that, in practice, are rarely granted.
We have had to face these realities and adapt.
What we are focused on now
Our energy and resources are now concentrated on two things: online trauma resilience and personal leadership training for women still in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and direct support for a couple of women who have been relocated to other countries and are navigating the deeply difficult journey of building a new life.
One story that stayed with us
We want to tell you about one woman, a mother who arrived in France with her two children, full of hope and full of exhaustion at the end of December.
At the reception centre in Paris, conditions were hard. They had a roof over their heads and food was provided, but beyond that, there was nothing. No allowance. Not even enough to buy stationery so her children could write and keep learning. No books. No clothing. Nothing extra.
That is where HeartWork stepped in. We provided practical materials and a small monthly allowance to help them meet basic needs, including food.
Then they were placed in housing in the south of France. They were supposed to receive a monthly card with around 400 euros to cover living costs. But the card was never activated. For days, this family went hungry. And it was only when this mother finally told us what was happening that we transferred emergency funds so they could buy food.
We also supported them for Eid, with some clothing and a little extra. And when the girls finally started school — which was an exalted moment of joy — they had nothing. We helped with school bags, drinking bottles, lunch boxes, shoes, and clothing, because everything they owned was winter gear and nothing more.
This is one story. But it is not one rare story. It is the story of what asylum looks like, in practice, for many of the women we support.
Your donations are doing this
Every contribution to this petition is helping women like her and others like her. Not in the abstract, but in the most concrete and immediate ways: food, school supplies, a little stability while the system catches up.
Donate here: https://heartwork.earth/peacework/
We are not where we hoped to be. We have not been able to support all 60 women we originally set out to reach. But we are still here, still standing with those we can, and still building something lasting through the training we offer.
Thank you for being part of this.
With gratitude,
Nadja & the HeartWork team