Afghan Women across the United States need your support.

Here at UC Berkeley, the Afghan Student Association (simply known as CalASA) is the central hub for connecting Afghan students to life here at UC Berkeley! Our organization works by establishing a space for Afghan students to hold onto their culture as they come from all walks of life. Likewise, ASA also extends Afghan culture to all non-Afghan individuals within the UC Berkeley community. As we continue to advocate for the mental and physical well-being of Afghans at UC Berkeley, we sought to extend our help to Afghans who are not UC Berkeley students. This year, our biggest advocacy is for mental health across Middle Eastern students and women's rights. Our first project this year, Women for a Better Tomorrow works to directly establish a relationship between ASA, Afghan Women, and Women's rights. As a team of first generation Afghan students, we continue to honor our internal promises of advocacy for all!

Displaced Families, Fall of Kabul August 2021

Following the fall of Kabul last summer, the United States saw an influx of Afghan refugees coming in with little to no resources during a time of extreme humanitarian crisis. While these refugees are processed within the DHS-hosted facilities, they lack access to necessities for their hygiene and health—making them prone to infections and diseases that can be easily prevented. Our primary interest is helping Afghan women inside these facilities. Due to the negative stigma (induced culturally) these women fear asking for support when it comes to their reproductive and sexual health.

Our initiative is to create menstrual kits including necessities and disperse them across the State of California's processing facilities. We intend to include pads, pantyliners, hair ties, dental necessities, and flyers (in English, Persian, and Pashto) explaining the different resources available here in the State of California and the United States for them to access. 

Given the unstable status of recently arrived Afghan refugees, we need urgent assistance for these groups—especially Afghan women—who are at an additional risk of discrimination due to their marginalization. Supporting us is a step towards fulfilling the American promise to the Afghan people.

Afghan Families Arriving to US based air fields, 2021

 These Families are taken from airports to various processing facilities that the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) hosts, sometimes families face being separated.

Should you have any questions, concerns, or comments, our team is more than happy to help! Please reach out to finance[at]calasa[dot]berkeley[dot]edu; we thank you for your interest and help to tackling period poverty amongst Afghan refugee women! 

*You can also visit us at www.asaucb.org.

Below is the breakdown of the cost we anticipate on achieving. Our ACPU looks at individual item costs per kit, and our breakdown by the number of kits associated to overall achieved funding. 

By supplying each kit with seven pads, seven pantyliners, a tooth brush, toothpaste, and seven hair ties, our kits will cost less than $5.50. Our kits are designed to tackle period poverty at an affordable price to help those in need. Every five dollars donated will help a refugee woman manage her menstrual health for a month. We will also supply each kit with resources across their local region, as well as resources for both sexual health & violence. These come at no cost to our kit-making process.

Our financial operations have estimated that approximately 849 kits can be made with the help of $4,500. Even as low as $1,000 can provide 188 kits, meaning 188 women will have access to a month's worth of supplies. By finding a primal optimized allocation per item, we've been able to offer our help starting with just a few cents!

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Your help dedicates a future for Afghan women, a future for which they have yearned for. Help us by helping change the outcome for hundreds of Afghan women!