As we say farewell and good riddance to 2020, we’re looking forward to the growth that the new year signifies.
But that’s not to say that 2020 hasn‘t given us any positivity to reflect upon. Afghans Empowered launched officially April, and from there, we’ve been working on strengthening our foundation. With over 18 episodes uploaded since our inception, our podcast platform continues to be a central part of our mission to uplift our communities through representation.
From Women for Afghan Women to Kabul Boys Parkour, our podcast guests enlightened us about the triumphs and challenges faced by resilient communities in Afghanistan. Some of our conversations get pretty serious; Afghanistan faces extreme violence that has worsened during the current peace process. Yet, among the stories of the terrible instability faced by everyday Afghans, we share stories about social progress in the country. Reaching abroad from the homeland, we shared the experiences, stories, and projects from diaspora communities. We invite our followers to take a listen to every incredible journey that we uncover in our conversations with individuals and organizations, in both Afghanistan and the diaspora.
This year taught us many things. Community building isn’t easy, but it’s very rewarding. We didn’t expect to receive the amount of love that’s poured in over social media. At the same time, we’ve learned a valuable lesson that not everyone in our community would receive our vision well. Unknown to many, we faced some turmoil during our collaboration with some community members to organize the #stopkillingAfghans protest in SoCal. Our followup meeting with the group uncovered something unhinging (at the time): sometimes you can’t expect everyone to agree because of certain types of religious and cultural ideologies that try to determine the Afghan identity. You can only embrace the differences and respect the disagreements. Regardless, we continued to move forward independently on the principles of our own mission. We expect to do the same this year, by learning from the impact of certain setbacks, while keeping ourselves motivated and driven to move forward.
Amplifying diverse voices is the first and most important step to us building a foundation for a series of projects and campaigns that we look forward to initiating this year. Putting us on track to operate as a non profit for the fiscal year, we’re working on goals that’ll provide substantial support and impact for communities facing ranges of issues, worldwide. We’ll continue to invite our communities to share their stories on our podcast, and we’re dedicated to uncovering the true essence of being Afghan and empowered.
To everyone who’s looked us up on social media, listened to an episode or several, and follows our journey, thank you for your support. We look forward to continuing our growth this year, with much more to come!
Join us this year as we launch projects, podcasts, fundraisers, and more! We’re always looking to expand our team to welcome passionate members who will propel our visions into concrete solutions to the problems our communities face. To join us, visit our Volunteer tab and fill out our Google Form.