An ASU group known for making blankets for Afghanis has turned to building huts.
Afghan Action, a subgroup of an ASU service group called University Career Women, launched a program called "Bricks for Afghanistan" on Thursday, said project leader Kay Pealstrom. The program runs through the end of October.
The project will raise money to build new homes for people in Afghanistan.
Afghan Action is best known for creating a program called "Afghans for Afghans," in which volunteers make blankets to send to the country.
Pealstrom said those who participate in the bricks program are asked to make $5 donations.
More than half of the homes in Afghanistan have been destroyed through poverty and war, Pealstrom said.
About 200 of the $5 donations are required to raise $1,000, which Pealstrom said is necessary to build one new house.
About 120 donations will fix a house, and about 240 donations will build a water well.
"[If] you don't go to Einstein's Bagels for breakfast one day, and you can [help] buy a house," Pealstrom said. "You might have to do without two cups of Starbucks' [coffee]."
Heather Millican, a Russian and East European studies senior said she thought the idea was a good one and a noble cause.
"A non-profit group to become involved in rebuilding civilian facilities in Afghanistan is a wonderful idea," she said. "I believe they will receive a lot of support from ASU students and faculty members."
Pealstrom, who works as an administrative assistant in the geography department, said her office and other department offices will have envelopes available for people to donate to the cause.
The money will go to Habitat for Humanity, Pealstrom said.
Housing for single mothers is especially important for women in Afghanistan because it helps to empower them to take care of their families, said Hemalata Dandekar, director of ASU's School of Planning.
"Even in relatively stable societies like ours, you can see how much more important it is to have a stable house in a war-torn region," Dandekar said.
Habitat for Humanity International formed a task force to explore the need for housing in Afghanistan in February 2002, said Duane Bates, a Habitat for Humanity International spokesman.
The organization has built more than 335 houses in Afghanistan since July 2002.
The houses are traditional, round huts and are owned by the people who participate in the program in Afghanistan, Bates said.
Reach the reporter at nicole.saidi@asu.edu.
