Benefit for Afghan schools raises almost enough for a well

Amina Shah, Shorecrest student, stands next to her project display board

Amina Shah is thrilled with the success of her Afghan dinner on March 9, a benefit for schools for girls in Afghanistan. (See previous story)

120 people signed up for tickets online but 150 showed up at the door. Amina and her crew of volunteers were ready for them.

I had a good amount of volunteers helping me. Thanks to them everything went smoothly during the dinner. My volunteers and I had to set up a few extra tables to seat people and they all filled up, but there was room for everyone.

Amina's sister-in-law Hassiba Popal holding Amina's nephew Hamza Akil Kakar (9 months). He is wearing Afghan dress.

Was there enough food for all those guests?

I was scared that the food wouldn't be enough but it was and we even had left overs and I had asked people to take some home with them and yet we still had a whole bunch of trays full of food.

I want to thank Wali from the Kabul Afghan Cuisine for donating so much food.

Julia Bolz, head of Ayni Education International, presents Amina with a gift from Afghan school girls.

The funds raised were for Ayni Education International, a Seattle based group that supports schools for girls in Afghanistan.

My goal was to raise $1,000, Amina said, Counting the pre-sales and door sales, I raised $3,465.08. On the Ayni website, it says that $3,700 will drill a deep-water well to supply a school. I have almost that much - I hope that people will feel moved to donate more. No matter how Ayni uses the money, it would be a good end note to be able to say "We raised enough money to drill a deep-water well."

You may donate directly to Ayni, with credit going to Amina, by using the Building Blocks of Education website.