Hello COAR community,

My name is Wendy Zupac, and I will be COAR’s Programs Director for the 2008-2009 year. I am currently pursuing a master’s degree in Political Science at Arizona State University, and my work with COAR ties in with my academic interests in public policy and international relations. I am very excited to work with next year’s interns who will be running COAR’s three programs. Short bios of each leader will be posted to the “Who We Are” section of the website in the coming months.

A little over a year ago, we were approached by NiJeL with the hope of providing an easier way for refugees and refugee service providers to find resources which were near the places that refugees live and work.

After months of development, we have finally rolled out a usable version of the map, which can be found at

http://maps.nijel.org/coar/

After entering an address, all it takes is checking the boxes to see which resources are nearby.

Please, check it out and be sure to offer some feedback so we can continue to make it better!

This past May, COAR co-founder Jessica Wanke joined our former client, Dost Mohammad, for his first return to Afghanistan since fleeing in 2001. This is a guest post from Jessica about her friendship with Dost and their journey back to his home.

-Cara

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It was 2003 the first time I met Dost Mohammad Fahim Khairy.

COAR Supporters,

Welcome to COAR’s blog.

Here you will find regular updates on programs and other goodies. In the coming weeks, COAR co-founder Jessica Wanke will be blogging as she travels to Afghanistan with former COAR client Mohammad Khairy. This will be the first time he will return to his home country since he and his family fled from Taliban violence. Jessica will be documenting her travels and posting them here.

Thanks!
-Justin