JRS is completing 15 years of service in Afghanistan on 28 April. It is a day of thanksgiving and rededication. On 28 April 2005, Noel Oliver, Santiago and I landed at Kabul and launched JRS programs with the support and help of CRS-Delhi. JRS was registered with the government of Afghanistan as an INGO on 14 September 2005. These two events paved the way for the future of JRS Afghanistan. Among the country programs of JRS South Asia, JRS Afghanistan alone is partnered by the Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA), which makes it unique.

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I believe that JRS Afghanistan is the handiwork of God. In the midst of painful experiences in Afghanistan, God remained with us and kept our hope alive. We experienced the reward of this hope at the release of Prem from captivity. Donors were generous. The Herat Technical Institute, attended by young boys and girls, was something radical and so too the literacy classes for women. Recalling and recapturing all these, makes us shout with wonder and joy that “it is the Lord’s doing!”

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I have been Country Director of JRS Nepal and Regional Director of JRS South Asia. As resettlement began in Nepal, the camps began to shrink and some were closed. I cried aloud at that time, “Let my people go!” When I saw multiple displacements and the final phase of the civil war at Sri Lanka, I looked up and prayed,  “Let my country awake in freedom.” Now, as I see JRS Afghanistan, I am in wonder and amazement as it is entirely managed by local volunteers with few expats. It is by Afghans, of Afghans and for Afghans. On this joyous day of its 15th anniversary, I salute JRS Afghanistan in its traditional style, keeping my right hand on my chest, against my heart. I love Afghanistan and its people!

P.S. Amal SJ,

former Regional Director

JRS South Asia