The many faces of the diaspora

It's a Saturday afternoon in San Francisco's Haight District, and Afghan Friends Network's (AFN) board members have gathered to do an important job. An Afghan spread of roat, nuts and raisins is set before them. The refreshing aroma of cardamom-flavoured green tea travels from the kitchen of the four-story Victorian house to the dining area, where they work on the large circular table. Teenage girls sit around the kitchen table singing American pop songs.

Humaira Ghilzai is the co-founder of AFN, a tiny nonprofit manned by an all-volunteer team which funds three schools in Ghazni, Afghanistan that provide education to about 750 students. The group also employs teachers and administrators, teaches 80 women to read, and provides scholarships to students to further their education. They do this with $78,000 a year, 90 percent of which is spent on projects in Afghanistan (the other 10 percent pays a lawyer to look after their taxes, marketing and online presence). On this foggy Saturday, the board members are here to plan the theme of their next annual fundraiser. They also discuss activities in the Ghazni schools while Ghilzai's teenage daughter Aria and her friends do the old-fashioned but important task of stuffing envelopes with letters to donors asking for money to support the organisation's work.