Imagine If It Was Your Child!

Sending your child off to school, to find out that they have been attacked by thugs throwing acid.

KABUL (AFP) — An Afghan teenager -- whose face was burned in an acid attack by suspected Islamic extremists -- vowed on Saturday to continue going to school even if it put her life in danger.

Men on motorbikes used a water pistol to spray acid into the faces of Shamsia and around dozen other girls as they arrived at school wearing all-covering burqas in the southern city of Kandahar on Wednesday.

Shamsia, 17, was the most badly wounded and had some acid enter her eyes. She was transferred to a military hospital in Kabul where she was visited Saturday by other schoolgirls, accompanied by media.

"I will go to my school even if they kill me," she told reporters. "My message for the enemies is that if they do this 100 times, I am still going to continue my studies."

What courage! Back at home, we have teenagers complaining about homework.

Imagine sending your child off to school without winter clothing. You wrap their feet in rags so they can walk through the snow.

Try it. Tell your kids to walk to school in a t-shirt in minus 10 weather, with rags on their feet, instead of shoes. Could you?

Angelina Jolie Sees 'Real Suffering' in Afghanistan

Jolie, a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency, met refugees who have returned to their post-Taliban homeland to rebuild their lives after fleeing in 2001. She also visited projects by Afghan Hands, an organization helping women and children, inspired by her work with refugees. "After seeing real suffering," she tells PEOPLE, "you never complain anymore."

Imagine, telling your kids that they can't play their Xbox until they have done their homework. Homework is now cruel punishment inflicted by schools and teachers to make sure kids can't play on the computer as much as they want.

Imagine, telling your kids that, today, they should drink a lot of water to make them feel full, because there is no food.

Imagine, yourself living in Afghanistan, with your family as it is today. No computers, no power, no I pods, no hope, no food, and it's cold, but there is no heat.

Imagine, thinking that education is a "right" that should be free, while others are only hoping that their school will let them, as a female, learn to read and write.

Imagine, worrying about not having a family Doctor, while many Afghanistan's never get any medical attention.

Imagine, the difference our troops are making, in a land that needs a hand up. Is it any wonder why our troops are so supportive of this mission?
Can any Canadian seriously say that not helping Afghanistan's will make our world better? Or is this female ghost what we want?


Imagine, all opposition parties supporting the government so that little girls going to school will not have to fear acid in their faces.

Imagine, that this little girl was yours. How would you feel? Would you not be heartbroken? Would you not want revenge? Is an Afghan child less worthy of support than a Canadian child? Is a Canadian Mom's love better or more intense than an Afghan Mother's?

Imagine, your life in Afghanistan. Makes you appreciate Canada.