In August, ACKU signed an agreement to with US Agency for International Development (USAID) to fund general operations for three years. The contract, which totals US$2.4 million, is subcontracted through The Asia Foundation.

The USAID funding came about thanks to the timely assistance of Advisory Council Member John Gastright, who arranged our joint reception with the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce on Capitol Hill in September 2009 which featured Nancy Dupree.

Not surprisingly, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was impressed with Nancy and her work. Within days of the joint reception, Dupree Foundation Board members John Dixon, Sarah O'Hagan and Ashraf Haidari met with Henry Ensher and David Jea at the State Department to discuss possibilities for support from the US government. The Foundation then drafted an initial proposal and budget that was revised and negotiated by ACKU over the course of the past year.

As noted above, the USAID funds will provide vital support for ACKU operations for the next three years. However, many important programs such the digitization of the collection as well as ABLE, our mobile library program, fall outside of the grant.

Your support continues to make a crucial difference in our ability to help preserve the history and culture of Afghanistan, rebuilding the country one book at a time.