Update on Status of Afghan Staff & Operations
The Free to Run team is currently regrouping after the most chaotic month imaginable. We wanted to update you on the latest developments.
Our Afghan staff, program officers and the hundreds of women and girls who were in our programs are currently scattered across numerous locations, inside and outside of Afghanistan. As we recently shared, we were able to successfully evacuate our highest-risk team members and some of their immediate family members. We are so relieved and beyond grateful that they’re out of harm’s way. At the same time, these families are now sitting in foreign countries awaiting visa processing and facing daily uncertainty.
Zakia, a Free to Run Program Officer, exercising in the quarantine facility in the Ukraine.
When we started our JustGiving campaign, we were completely focused on the goal of getting those who were in imminent danger out of the country. Now, as our staff go through the grueling process of being resettled, we can share more specifics about the costs of their relocation:
Relocation flights: estimated $1,000 per person
Humanitarian parole applications: $575 per person
Employment Authorization Document (EAD) applications: $410 per person
Biometrics: $85 per person
Asylum application: $50 per person
Individual support in transit: $200 per person
Accommodation in Ukraine for a group of female staff relocating to Canada: $1,900
Bilal, the Free to Run Finance Officer, at a processing center in Qatar.
We have two main objectives for our campaign. One, we will do everything we can to support the relocation of the team members who were evacuated. Two, we have to ensure that we’re able to continue our ground-breaking programs, now and in the future, and this certainly includes our Afghanistan program.
We will not turn our back on the hundreds of women and girls of Afghanistan who participated in Free to Run programs. Our team has worked for the last seven years to help increase the visibility of women and girls through outdoor sports and education, which allowed them to boldly reclaim public space. We’re watching these gains being rolled back almost overnight. When women and girls are no longer seen, it becomes easier to deny that they exist, and to ignore their rights.
The first job is to stay connected with as many of our participants as we can. From there, we will look at every possible opportunity to restart our programs, safely and securely. The future ahead remains uncertain, particularly for women and girls, but what is clear is that there will never be peace without the full and complete participation of women in Afghan society.
In this spirit, our Founder Stephanie Case, is running one of the world’s most challenging ultramarathons in honour of the women and girls of Afghanistan. The race is called Tor Des Glaciers and it’s a gruelling 450KM with 32,000 meters of climb. The race started on Friday, September 10 and will go a full week, ending on September 17. As of Monday morning, she was in 3rd place overall.
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to our campaign. Your generosity and kind messages have been so encouraging. We’re more than half way to our goal so please continue to spread the word. We have a big hill to climb, but with your support… we will get there.