Hagar New Zealand

Right now ‘The Lighthouse’ is struggling to provide the protection that these Afghan women and children who have escaped so desperately need. Here is Setera's story;

Setera came to The Lighthouse at the age of 13 having escaped from a forced marriage to a member of the Taliban. She ran away, found temporary shelter with the Human Rights Commission, but her extended family soon found her and demanded she return home. In return for being rejected, the Taliban man now demanded her 11 year old sister to be his wife instead. Setera was distraught that her sister would take her place and she begged her mother to let her come back and take her sister’s place, but her mother whispered in her ear

“Don’t come. They will stone you to death. They are going to kill you.”

Setera was brought to The Lighthouse. There Setera found a home and family with other women and children like her, determined to make a future for themselves when they had nowhere to go. After 5 years living at The Lighthouse Setera says “I now have dreams for my future. I dream of becoming a policewoman, of being able to help other girls. Soon I will start at the police academy and earn a salary to support myself.”

You can help Afghan women and children like Setera, escape and create a new life for themselves;

$50 will provide a month of food for a woman living at The Lighthouse

$100 will pay the rent for a solo mother and her children to have their own safe acommodation.