Afghanistan

Mariam will speak on how Afghans can be supported now and also how she supports needed environmental revitalization.  She will join us via Zoom.

Mariam graduated from Wells College and earned her doctorate in Law, Policy & Society from Northeastern University. 

She is the founder and director of Afghanistan Samsortya, a nonprofit organization based in Massachusetts and Jalalabad, Afghanistan that implements grassroots reforestation and orchard development programs in eastern Afghanistan. Samsortya is a Pashtu word which translates to "revitalization of the environment." 

Since its founding, Afghanistan Samsortya has planted more than one hundred thousand trees along the Afghan countryside in an environment that has been devastated by more than 40 years of war, poverty, and environmental degradation. In addition to planting trees, the organization establishes and manages nurseries, cultivates saplings, distributes the sapling in the community, and coordinates family gardens in accordance with the needs of the community. The wells in the nurseries, two of which are operated using solar energy, also provide surrounding communities with clean drinking water. 

Afghanistan Samsortya utilizes a comprehensive, community empowerment approach to carry out its work. Since its founding, the organization has developed a diverse and widespread network of partners in the community who play the primary role in the development and implementation of its programs. For example, in response to requests from its local partners, the organization recently incorporated a program to raise livestock and poultry to provide eggs, milk, and fertilizer to families in their networks in an effort to establish food sovereignty for local communities. 

The organization also relies on a diverse group of international supporters and collaborators to provide resources and expertise on tree cultivation, agricultural development, animal husbandry, and renewable energy. 

Mariam travels to Afghanistan regularly to connect and communicate with the communities developing and implementing Afghanistan Samsortya’s projects.