We are at a new stage:

What brought us together was a constant and relentless bombardment of headlines from our homeland with tragic and heart breaking contents. We felt powerless, but we could not swallow our dinners in comfort, remembering the headlines, and thinking 'that could have been me'. Day in and day out, while we hoped for things to improve, they only got worse.

The war continued. Our neighbors, particularly Pakistan, and to a great extent, Iran, did not relax their cold-hearted policies despite the catastrophic tragedy facing our great people. We learned that Afghan men, women and children were losing their lives unnecessarily all around the world. They are labeled "bandits" by Iranians, tortured and killed by Pakistanis, and starve and are eaten by Turkish wild dogs on their escape routes to reach hope in the West.

We learned that those that do not have the little means to pay their way out of Afghanistan resort to eating grass, or dirt.

Worst, the millions of Afghan children have never been more hopeless.

Meanwhile, the West remained "neutral" towards the conflict, while its allies continued to exercise their cold-blooded war in favor of their places and ideologies in the world, at the expense of Afghanistan.

We continued to feel powerless and became reduced to living our lives in a cage locked away from hope - in the otherwise heavenly west. Then it became unbearable. We decided to start somewhere, something, since much of what had already been plotted, and tried, had failed the test of time in front of our eyes.

In a moments notice, we decided to make our frustrations heard. Elements joined our group to taint our view of the oppressors. They told us to blame this or that Afghan, while, in fact, the majority were only pawns, whose God-given right to self-determination were ripped away from them by greater powers, under the false pretexts of a "pure" religion, future glory, and ultimate power.

They told us to hold trials on-line and condemn, when condemnation was never a choice. Rather, highlighting of the despair, call for assistance, action on the part of neutral bodies, national character and a deeper understanding of the conflict, and erasing of our culture were bigger items, and needed urgent attention.

Exactly six weeks later, we were out on the streets displaying our frustrations for 2 hours when many went about their regular days (and a couple of our "activists" disappeared). Both before and after those two hours, we slept a little better, and ate with a bit more comfort. That was not so much because we made ourselves heard to anyone. Rather, to recognize that none of us can or will live happily with the injustice being done to Afghans; that we have the courage to do what we think is right; and, more importantly, having a sound basis within us, that we are ready to do something with the strong support amongst ourselves.

We are just getting started. There is much work to be done, and much lies ahead. We recognize that there will be many who doubt us. They say we "will not be heard", "have no impact on the real situation", "lack a thorough understanding of the conflict", or represent this or that group.

We will not be swayed. We are students of knowledge, and we will find ways to be heard, learn the conflict in depth, and remain un-affiliated with any individual or group other than God, press for humane policies towards Afghanistan, and a stand for a sovereign Afghanistan.

We hope we remain objective and energized in our pursuit of reaching out to help with this tragic humanitarian and national disaster.