Today’s
Good People, Good Works
will be presented
in Dari and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Indonesian, Japanese,
Korean, Malay,
Mongolian, Persian,
Portuguese, Russian,
Spanish and Thai.
I want Afghanistan
to be a peaceful country.
We have
wonderful hospitality
in Afghanistan.
We have good customs.
We have a good culture.
I have a dream for
Afghanistan to have
a good educational system,
good health services and
for all to live in peace
in Afghanistan.
Welcome,
gracious viewers,
to another edition of
Good People, Good Works.
Today we are delighted
to introduce
Mr. Najaf Mazari,
the altruistic
Afghan founder of
the compassionate
Mazar Development Fund,
a grassroots non-profit
organization based in
Melbourne, Australia.
The Fund,
created in 2007, seeks
to financially support
those non-governmental
organizations providing
health services and
educational opportunities
to residents of
Mr. Mazari’s hometown
of Mazar-e-Sharif,
the fourth largest city
in Afghanistan.
Mazar-e-Sharif is famous
in the country for being
the site of the revered
Shrine of Hazrat Ali
or the Blue Mosque
which was built
in the 15th century.
Let us now meet
the friendly Mr. Mazari
who has lived in Australia
since 2001.
I come from
northern Afghanistan,
the name of the city
is Mazar-e-Sharif.
It is very mountainous
around it and I remember
when I was child,
there was about
one meter and a half
of snow in our village.
Yes, there is a lot of snow
and it’s very cold.
We have
four different seasons.
When I came here
I didn’t have any friends,
I didn’t have a family,
I didn’t have a cousin
here, nobody.
And the first thing
(I thought) is
can I help myself or not?
If I can help myself,
then I can help my family.
If I can help my family
then I can help my people
in Afghanistan.
I did help my family
financially
and I sent the children
for education and
pushed them to study.
Due to a rich
and diverse history,
Afghanistan is
a multi-ethnic and
multi-lingual society.
The majority of
the population practices
Islam, a faith of peace.
The harmonious
Afghan people
share strong family bonds
and enjoy close and
supportive relationships
with their relatives
and neighbors.
In Afghanistan you know
all your neighbors,
your family, your friends.
Every Friday
we have a cup of tea
together with friends
and have some fun.
It’s good to
have neighbors, relations
with the neighbors,
because if you get sick,
the first thing is that
the neighbor can help you,
if you have any trouble.
If someone becomes
your neighbor,
we cook some food and
go to the person’s house
and say,
"I'm your neighbor"
and welcome them
to this street.
Mr. Mazari belongs to
one of the wonderful
ethnic groups
of Afghanistan
called the Hazaras
who have close relations
with other peoples
of the greater region.
Afghanistan
borders the country
called Uzbekistan.
The people who live there
are called Uzbeks.
And we have Uzbeks
in Afghanistan as well.
The Uzbeks and my tribe,
called the Hazaras,
are almost the same,
but different religion.
And we have
very good relations
in northern Afghanistan,
Uzbeks and Hazaras.
Uzbek peoples are
a very skilled people
and they are a very
hard working people.
Thanks to
his loving family, when
Najaf Mazari left home
in 2000, his wife and
his daughter Maria were
taken care of very well.
My wife was with my family
in Afghanistan
and I was lucky enough
to have my family
over there - my mother
and my brother.
My sister is there, she was
living with my family.
Until I settled in
a little bit my family
took care of my wife.
Because we have a custom
in Afghanistan: if one is
not with the family –
like I was not there –
then the rest of the family
would support my wife.
As he was a rug weaver
in Afghanistan,
Najaf Mazari decided to
open a rug store in 2002.
He sells and restores
beautiful traditional
Afghan hand-knotted rugs
in Melbourne.
I kept working very hard
from six o'clock
in the morning
until one o'clock at night
to support the family and
to support myself as well.
I love to work hard and eat;
it doesn't matter if it's
just one piece of bread;
it's still tasty for me
because it's the money
that comes from
my hard work
to buy the food.
I sent money for my wife
and the rest of the family
as well.
Because I was
the youngest person
in the family, I have to
provide more support
for the rest of the family.
I was supporting Maria
and also my wife as well
and I also was supporting
my older brother.
The other older brother,
they have a child and
I was sending money
for education
and the other
family members’ children.
The farsighted Mr. Mazari
values education
tremendously and wishes
his family’s children
are all academically
successful so that
they may become
good tools to help
society in the future.
I push, really push
very hard to send them
for education,
because I explained, "If
you don't have education,
you are like a blind [person].
If you want to do
something for yourself
or for the community,
you have to
have an education.”
I said, “You're the future
for the country.
You're the child.
You can do the best thing.”
When Good People,
Good Works returns,
we’ll learn about how the
Mazar Development Fund
is helping to transform
lives in Mazar-e-Sharif,
Afghanistan.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
When I came Australia
I said, “Okay now
I did support my family
and I did support myself,
now I have to support
the rest of the people
who need really help.”
Welcome back to
Good People, Good Works.
Our program today
features Mr. Najaf Mazari
of Afghanistan
who is the founder
of the Mazar
Development Fund
which is based in
Melbourne, Australia.
The Fund seeks
to uplift Mazar-e-Sharif,
Mr. Mazari’s birth city
by providing residents there
with enhanced access
to education and
healthcare services.
Currently Najaf Mazari
owns a successful rug store
in Melbourne
which sells many
splendid Afghan rugs.
He has worked with rugs
for much of his life.
Fortunately
I have an older brother,
and my older brother
moved to the city.
When they moved
to the city, in the beginning
they took me
to the welding shop
to learn welding.
And I couldn’t learn
welding because
I don’t like welding
to be honest with you.
And then I met my friend
and he took me
to the rug factory.
At the rug factory,
I loved this job,
and I learned this trade
for a long time.
And fortunately,
this skill helped me
when I came to Australia,
finding a job for me
was easy.
Mr. Mazari has always
desired the best
for his people
and tried to find ways
to improve their lives.
I started thinking
of people who
cannot afford something.
Especially now
from Australia
anyone who is going
to Afghanistan, especially
Mazar-e-Sharif, my city,
I’m sending from here
a lot of medicine, and
I’m buying this medicine
from a chemist
in Australia.
Their lives
have improved a lot
fortunately, especially
from the medicine
I’m sending from here
for pain, back pain,
shoulder or leg pain.
When I have last been
to Afghanistan,
a lot of people were praying
and said, “This is
wonderful medicine.
It is very real medicine.
Before I could not
walk properly;
now I can walk properly
and the pain is almost gone
when I use this medicine.”
And they said to me,
“Thanks for your support.”
In 2006,
Najaf Mazari’s wife
Hakeema and
his daughter Maria
came to stay in Australia.
The following year, with
the help of his friends,
Mr. Mazari started the
Mazar Development Fund
to help his homeland.
I said, “What can I do
for my village?”
I spoke to one of
my Australian friends,
and I said,
“We have a village
in northern Afghanistan,
it is in the high mountains,
and they don’t have
any healthcare
or services there
like ambulances and
big hospitals, those things.
And it is comprised of
about 76 small villages
all in an area
called Charkent.
In most places, they’re
using donkeys and horses
which take 12 to 14 hours
to reach the city.
I especially feel bad not just
for the injured people,
I am thinking,
“What happens to women
who are pregnant and
traveling with horses and
donkeys to get to the city
for the hospital.”
I spoke to my other
Australian friend and
then we came together
to establish the
Mazar Development Fund.
We’re starting
with an ambulance.
Hopefully soon
our first ambulance
will be on the road
and then after that we
will also be supporting
education as well.
Now around Australia
we have more than
a hundred members
and the first ambulance
will be ready and
hopefully very soon
be serving my village.
Really this makes me
very happy because
with the ambulance,
people will only
take four hours to bring
the patient to the city.
It will be a free service
and it is to help someone,
to save their life.
In 2008,
with the assistance of
Melbourne-based writer
Robert Hillman,
Najaf Mazari co-authored
the book “The Rugmaker
of Mazar-e-Sharif,”
an autobiography
of his amazing life.
A lot of Australians said
“Thank you
for writing this book,”
and “We didn’t know
anything before because
we were just hearing it
in the news
but what you mentioned
about Afghanistan, now
we know what is going on
in Afghanistan
thanks to you
writing this book.”
Mr. Mazari now shares
his heartfelt message
for the people
of his homeland.
Hallo,
I thank my countrymen.
I now live in Australia
in Melbourne.
I want to tell you one thing;
when I arrived
in Australia in 2001,
I did not have anyone
in Australia.
I did hard work
from 6 am to 11 pm.
Today, thanks to God,
here I have set up
my own business,
I have gotten a rug store...
and it is
a very nice country.
In English, they call it
“multi- cultural,”
which means people from
every part of the world
have come here,
from every religion,
every tribe and live in
peace and harmony.
They are advanced people,
educated people. Thanks.
We salute Najaf Mazari’s
deep care for the people
of Afghanistan and
for his great determination
to better the lives
of the residents
of Mazar-e-Sharif.
May this wonderful city
and the rest
of Afghanistan enjoy
ever brighter days ahead.
For more details
on the Mazar
Development Fund,
please visit:
www.MazarDevelopmentFund.org.au
“The Rugmaker
of Mazar-e-Sharif”
is available at
www.Amazon.com
Kind-hearted viewers,
thank you for joining us
today on
Good People, Good Works.
Next up is
The World Around Us,
after Noteworthy News.
May peace always be
with the warm and loving
Afghan people.
Roger Coley is a British
veterinary surgeon
who truly loves animals.
He donates his time
and medical supplies
to care for sick and
injured wild animals
at the nearby Nuneaton
Warwickshire Wildlife
Sanctuary.
Well, basically what
we do is any of
the animals that come in
to them that are injured,
we deal with
on a no-charge basis.
We get all the medication
that we can use on site
at the sanctuary.
Whenever we need
anything else,
we can just give a ring
and he’s there to help us.
Please watch
“Shining World
Compassion Award:
Roger Coley –
Veterinary Surgeon
with a Heart of Gold,”
Thursday, May 20,
on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.