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HolsumAZ.com > About Us > Holsum in the Community

A New Afghanistan

You may recall that--from the time the former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 until the fall of the Taliban in 2002--Afghanistan was in constant turmoil. As a result, most of the country's infrastructure was basically destroyed. It was with this in mind that Edward Eisele began thinking about using the same model he used in the Republic of Hungary in the early 1990's--donating good used bakery equipment--to help jump-start any agency in Afghanistan that was dedicated to helping the destitute, the orphans, etc. Knowing that Afghan 'flat bread' is a very major part of the current diet in today's Afghanistan, and knowing that it was still being made-up by hand served as a strong stimulus to explore the possibility of gifting an automated alternative to a very proud and deserving people who were basically down-and-out.

A quick trip to view a small bake shop in Hayward, California (where the largest Afghani population in the USA resides) allowed Edward to see--first-hand--the type of equipment being used to make the flat bread for that constituency. With that knowledge, and with the help of a baking industry friend, a beautiful (used and renovated) dough mixer and two pizza-style ovens were located. Also, due to the fact there is no reliable electric power in Afghanistan, a diesel power generator was found and made a part of this gift.

A very long exploration ensued, in an effort to identify an organization that was serving large numbers of people in need, to which this equipment could be given. After untold numbers of telephone calls and e-mails, the (currently working on this) was selected as the best option, since this agency's constituency included (currently working on this).

Next, Edward learned about a U. S. government-run program named the Denton Program, which is set-up to help transport gifts such as this on a space-available basis to destinations all over the world. Once all of the Denton Program's requirements had been met, the equipment was palletized and staged at (currently working on this) where it awaited shipment on one of our C-130's aircraft. The equipment was finally shipped from (currently working on this) to Bagram AFB (just north of Kabul) on (currently working on this).

There were two reasons for including this story on our website. First, we are very happy and proud to help people we will never meet who are in need of our help. Second, and more-important: might you have--or might you know someone who has--good used equipment that might be of value to someone else some place in the world that can be donated and shipped? Here is the point: you do not need to know WHO has the need. All you need to know is WHO HAS EQUIPMENT THAT IS STILL VERY FUNCTIONAL THAT CAN BE PUT BACK INTO PRODUCTIVE USE somewhere else in the world. Having (or knowing about) the equipment then allows you to begin searching for an appropriate person or group to which your donation can be made, and that can be done in a variety of ways on the internet. USAID comes to mind, yet there are many others like the U. S. Red Cross and the Salvation Army that may be able to help you in the identification of a worthy recipient. We will bet that--once you begin to think about this--you will identify something that will truly make a difference in the lives of others who are not as well-off as we Americans.

We wish you the very best in this endeavor!