GOTTA SEE THIS-WarEndur.Freedom 10/11/03-Freedom in Kabul

NASA, Yahoo, AP, Reuters, the usual suspects | 10/11/03 | President George Bush, the valiant US military, and then The Armies of Good against the Axis of Evil

[jarhead64]

Way back a loooooong time ago, I was a Marine security Guard at the Embassy in Kabul. During my 13 month tour, I grew very fond of the Afghan people and seeing these photos of children smiling again does my heart good. Thank you Diogenesis for the tremendous array of photos and the hope that is generated by your positive presentation.
Semper Fidelis,
jarhead64

[blackie]

Diogenesis's quagmire-free news ~ Bump!

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

worthwhile project..........

 Toys For Iraq

  Where To Send Toys

The address is:

Chief Wiggles
CPA-C2, Debriefer
APO AE 09335

This is a US military address in Iraq, so you only have to pay domestic postage if you mail from the US.

  What Not To Send

No crayons (they'll melt in shipping in the Iraqi climate).
No violent toys. No guns, no water guns, no action heros.
No barbie dolls or skantily dressed dolls.

  Things You Can Send

Here are some suggestions:

Stuffed animals.

Art supplies: pencils, pens, paper to draw on. Washable markers, watercolor paint, finger paint, rulers, stencils, pencil sharpeners, stickers, glue sticks, construction paper, office paper, blunt-nosed scissors, chalkboards, chalk.

School supplies: pens, pencils, notebooks, looseleaf binders, paper, rulers, erasers, pencil sharpeners, compasses.

Balloons.

Legos and other building toys.

For infants: bath toys, push-button musical toys, pull toys, bubble bath.

Sunglasses.

Whistles, tambourines, harmonicas.

Frisbees, soccer balls, jump ropes, rubber balls, yoyos.

Squeeze flashlights, flashlights with batteries, glow sticks, kaleidoscopes, prisms.

Match-box cars, balsa airplanes, toy trains.

Toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, hair brushes, combs.

  How This Started

This project was started and organized by Chief Wiggles, a US soldier in Iraq. It began on September 18, 2003 when he posted the following comments on his blog:

"But during the course of the day I was forced to pause for a moment, even making my sources wait, while I attended to an issue more important than anything else. While out at the front gate I noticed a young girl crying behind the barbed wire that separates us from the throngs of people waiting for their chance to speak with someone. Her mother, only having one leg, had hobbled in on her crutches a few moments earlier. The young girl separated from the only person she was familiar with, began crying, now hiding behind the rest of the crowd, I searched through the mass to see where the crying noise was coming from.

"She was obviously very poor, in her tattered old dress, totally worn out plastic flip-flops, her hair matted against her head indicating she hadn't had a bath in a long time and her skin blistered from the dirt and weather.

"Once I saw her I quickly told the MP's to move the barbed wire back to let her in to join her mother. Her crying stopped as she darted in to grab a hold of her mother's long black dishdasha, torn and frayed from years of use. As she stood by her mother's side, grasping her dress, I moved over slowly to brush her stringy hair away from her eyes and to pat her gently on the head, as I told the guard to make sure they don't leave before I could return.

"I quickly loaded up the sources in my car and returned them to my office in the palace. I told them to wait for a moment, while I rummaged through my FedEx box full of toys sent my by my teammates back home. I grabbed a comb, a brush, a pair of new flip-flops, a whistle, a stuffed monkey whose arms hang around your neck, and a new toothbrush and tooth paste and dashed out the door, telling my interpreter to come along.

"As I made my way back over to the front gate, I saw the little girl and her mother waiting patiently anticipating my return, not knowing why I had asked them to wait. Bending down I handed her the items one by one, as I explained what each item was, to insure she knew what I was giving her, especially as I gave her the toothbrush, asking her to be sure to brush everyday.

"Her eyes lit up with such joy as I put the monkey arms over her head. She was so excited to receive everything, being somewhat shy though, not having dealt with an American before. She was so precious as her big brown eyes looked up at me, causing me to almost breakdown into tears as I walked away quickly so as to not bring too much attention to the little girl from the on looking crowd."

  For More Information

See Chief Wiggles's blog.

Copyright 2003 ToysForIraq.org

[Tamzee]

Thank you for posting this, we just signed up!

[Tamzee]

Thank you so much for posting these images and then the ping, doodlelady... I have such happy tears in my eyes after seeing the images of these children living life as they were meant to, free to learn and laugh and even just feel the sun on their faces.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[mikegi]

Anyone know what the huge building in the background is?

[Humidston]

Awesome! ....As usual.

Thanks, Dio!

[ThomasMore]

 BIG FREEDOM BUMP!

Here's a link to all the rest.

Great job Diogenesis!

Updated!! 10-11-2003

GOTTA SEE THIS - WarEndur.Freedom

A History of the War as composed by Diogenesis

on FreeRepublic

God Bless America!

[Rightly Biased]

BTTT for Freedom and Truth in Pictures

Thanks Dio for the post and ping

[Tamzee]

Thank you so much for posting the information on "Toys for Iraq", what a fantastic program!

I'm going to take my kids with me so they can join in the shopping and packaging up toys to send over. It sounds like a terrific way for us all to be a part of bringing smiles to some children in Iraq :-)

[ThomasMore]

Why We Fight!

View this Shock Wave Flash Presentation
...and see why we are still fighting Terrorism!

NEVER FORGET!

 

[nutmeg]

Wonderful, wonderful thread, Diogenesis!!! Thank you so much. I'll ping my list.

(I don't understand why those women are still wearing burqas, though!)

[Marysecretary]

thanks, Dio. Great, as always. I wonder why the women are still wearing burkhas. Are they afraid of retaliation? Those women next to the soldier were abnormally short, weren't they. Wonder if they were midgets. The child on her hip looks huge. Interesting. M

[Marysecretary]

Was Ahnold running for governor in Afghanistan, too? My,he does get around! So funny.

[nutmeg]

ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[Marysecretary]

Thanks for posting this. I went to his blog and got the 'rest of the story.' Amazing.

[MotleyGirl70]

Great pictures. Thank you for posting them.

[MissAmericanPie]

Maybe someday there will be a burqa ban. Afghanistan is going to be slow going.

[FairOpinion]

So why don't we see this on TV, instead of constantly telling us how much they hate us?

[b9]

For months we've been compiling for a huge yard sale with lots of extra art supplies and such...now I know where they should go! Thanks for the address!