A dance to raise funds and awareness to help families in Afghanistan to buy life-saving food.

Afghanistan is a country with an extraordinarily rich cultural heritage, but it is now a place where music and dancing are banned. Even weddings and other traditional celebrations must now remain silent and still. These bans crush opportunities to express joy through movement and music. And this, in a country where the entire population, especially women and girls, are already suffering under the combined weight of a raft of deeply oppressive restrictions, that affect nearly every aspect of their lives.

In the year since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, this already very poor country has slid towards an economic and humanitarian catastrophe. With the severe Afghan winter approaching, 92% of families are going hungry right now, with this expected to rise to 98% as winter sets in. This includes nearly 13 million children.

Join us either 22^nd or 23^rd October for this 2 hour online dance gathering. We will begin with a 30 minute question and answer space with Sharon & Elias who have been supporting over 50 Afghan families since the Taliban took control.  Following this we will be invited to move our bodies as a dancing prayer for those families who are without the nourishment of food, music and dance. Your moving presence and contribution will keep hope alive amongst the families being supported.  

We will have 2 dances to cover the world time zones

Saturday 22^nd October – In collaboration with Michael Molin-Skelton

9am – 11am PDT (Los Angeles)

Other times zones include:
6pm – 8pm CET (Paris)
5pm – 7pm BST (London) 

&

Sunday 23^rd October – In Collaboration with Meredith Davis

10-12pm CET (Paris )

Other time zones include:
9am – 11am BST (London)
5-7pm AEST (Sydney)
3pm – 5pm AWST (Perth)

Who will be managing the funds raised?

Sharon, is an Australian dancing friend, who was working for a charity in Afghanistan up until July 2021,  just before the Taliban seized power. She fled the country with her Afghan partner, Elias, and over the last year they have been supporting over 50 families, most of whom are friends and former colleagues. Many lost their work and all income with the takeover. Many have already suffered direct persecution and live in constant fear. Sharon and Elias are trying to help as many of these families as possible to reach safety in Australia, by supporting their humanitarian visa applications (nine adults and two small children have made it so far), but as this winter approaches, their main focus will be simply keeping these families alive. Your contribution will help them continue this life-saving work.

How will the funds get to the families?

All money raised will go directly to families in need, in Kabul, Mazar-I-Sharif, and Bamyan, to help them buy food and cooking fuel. Family situations are constantly re-assessed to make sure that those in most urgent need always receive donations first. The only administration costs will be the transfer agent fees for getting the money to the families. This is usually around US$10 per transfer.

To Donate:

Please visit our fundraising page and donate what you can, all will be received with gratitude, as every bit helps. It costs approximately AUS$200 to feed a family of 6 people for a month.

Australian dollars:

$100 = Will feed a family of 6 for two weeks

$50 = 50kg sack of flour + 7 kg dried beans

$20 = 10kg rice

Click here to donate: https://www.trybooking.com/au/donate/foodfundsforfamilies

Your dancing prayer can also be your contribution towards keeping hope alive for families struggling to survive in Afghanistan, so please, please join us.

How & when to join the dance?

If you donate, we will automatically send you the zoom link. For those who participate as their donation then a zoom link will be posted on the FB event the day before or you can email Kate-Marie and she will send you the details via email directly.

Please email her on: inbodymovement@gmail.com

(Top image by bess.hamiti@gmail.com from Pixabay)