9News Interview

Cheryl Preheim speaks with Hassina for a story examining the escalation of violence in Afghanistan.

9News story here.

DENVER – A woman in Colorado is helping the youngest victims of the war in Afghanistan. Hassina Omar just returned from Kabul and says the need is greater than ever.

She says the Taliban used to target embassies and government buildings, but is now more often targeting civilian buildings like airports and schools.

There is no single official figure for the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan since the war started in 2001. The United Nations Assistance Mission puts the number between 12,000 and 32,000.

It says the number of injured is significantly greater.

Omar has hundreds of pictures from her recent trip. When she sees the faces of the children she sees that the story of their lives could have been the story of hers.

“I was 12 years old when the Russians invaded and my family fled,” she said.

That was about 30 years ago, but Omar has never forgotten her native country and the children who don’t have a way out.

“That is the whole point of going back every year. You see all they are suffering and just want to help,” she said. “When the kids are just outside, just trying to get through the day and they are stepping on a land mine and they don’t have any limbs. What is the future of that child and what did that child do to deserve that?”

Coloradans are helping. Nearly $27,000 in donations helped Omar deliver needed supplies to Afghanistan.

She is carrying on the work of her late mother through an organization called Handicapped Children of Afghanistan.

In September, she took crutches, wheelchairs and walkers to children recovering at hospitals in Kabul. She also went to schools and handed out 900 bags of rice.

One bag of rice can feed a family of five for two months.

This trip Omar says she noticed a difference. When a bomb exploded at the Kabul Airport on Sept. 17, she felt the walls of a school shake.

She says Kabul isn’t as safe as it used to be and says it’s hard to see the country in its current state.

“It’s become this hub of terror this little country that didn’t have much,” she said.

It is the only life these children have ever known.

“If you look at their little faces they are smiling and happy and you think, ‘In a war zone how can that be?’ They are just trying to make the best out of every day,” Omar said.

Omar hopes one day they will know peace.

Edited by Caleb Cross | Denver