Urgent support for our translators in Afghanistan
This is Leila Lorenzo, Respond’s Iranian Languages Lead. I am reaching out with an urgent update from some of our Pashto and Dari translators based in Kabul and with ways we can support them.
From our translators:
“I can't sleep well. We are running out of money and might be cashless and without food for days. I have a family of 15 members. We immediately need money to go through this hardship. I am still available for any translation projects as I have to feed my family.”
“Everyone is crying, everyone is hopeless. We have lost Afghanistan and have to restart from nothing.”
“My female relative is a medical doctor. The Taliban has announced that women shouldn't work. She is scared for her future.”
There is currently a dire need for access to money and cash in order to have a semblance of stability in these uncertain times. We are working on fundraising in order to send financial support to our translators based in Afghanistan and their families. If you are interested in supporting, please feel free to make a donation with note “Supporting translators in Afghanistan” at any of the following links:
Respond donate page Venmo: @respondcrisis Cashapp: $respondcrisis
We will send these funds directly to our translators in Kabul.
(Also feel free to reach out if you have any questions!)
For anyone interested in supporting in other ways, I also plan to host phone and email banking sessions to urge our government representatives to recognize that the U.S. is partially responsible for this crisis and has a moral responsibility to provide asylum to the Afghan people. If you are interested in participating, please sign up here so I can get in touch and we can coordinate dates.
I have also put together this memo for the Respond community with more resources, info, a script for emails and phone calls to representatives, and ways to support.
Thank you all for your support and please feel free to email me (or anyone on the Respond team) with questions and ideas. It is heartening to see our community of language activists and allies band together in solidarity in times like these.
In solidarity,
Leila Lorenzo
