Afghanistan Zamin Education and Development Assistance (AFZENDA) AFGHANISTAN ZENDABAD was established October 15, 2007 as a non-governmental and non-profit organization registered in Afghanistan as a national NGO and in the United States as a 501-C3 nonprofit organization located in District 10, Shahr-e-Now Fanoos University Compound, Kabul, Afghanistan.
AFZENDA’s mission is to train and develop the next generation of leaders to support Afghan communities and civil society by providing impactful programs for innovative solutions to support women and girls who have limited access to such opportunities. Our assistance is through education and training.
One example is the production and marketing of clothing and with a wool weaving and embroidery project in Bamiyan province. The traditions and resources natural to this region and dating back for centuries are being revived after decades of war. Afghan embroidery and traditional rugs are well known worldwide and we intend to develop this market locally and worldwide. With the income from these products families can provide support for themselves and their communities.
Mary Macmakin transferred all responsibility for AFZENDA to Mohammad Yasin Farid.
On August 27, 2023 Moh Yasin Farid and Said Ab Hashimi re-established and registered the organization with Ministry of Economy of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as National NGO under registration number 5895 and dated 10/22/2023.
Robert and Mary MacMakin moved to Afghanistan in 1961 from California, USA. Mary MacMakin founded PARSA, the organization for Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation in Support of Afghanistan in 1996.
Yasin Farid was born in Kabul, Afghanistan he was 3 years old when the Afghan- Soviet war began. At 12 years old family circumstances changed so that Yasin the oldest son of his family assumed responsibility for earning an income for his mother, brothers and sisters. Between the age of 5 and 18 Yasin attended school and worked to support his family. In 1992 he met Mary MacMakin, an American physiotherapist, and she encouraged him to register at the Physiotherapy Institute (PTI) to become a physiotherapist. Yasin worked as her assistant for two years when she worked with the Swedish Committee and Sandy Gall NGO.
In 1996 Yasin registered at PTI and received a certificate in 1998 as a physiotherapist.
In 1996 Yasin assisted Mary MacMakin in creating PARSA (Physiotherapy and Reconstruction Support for Afghanistan).
In 2006 Yasin was promoted to Country Director. Yasin has been instrumental in developing programs that are now in the process of being instituted at a national level. A deeply compassionate man, Yasin has been featured in a documentary along with his deputy director, Palwasha Farwad, called “Between Darkness and Light”. In the film, Yasin says, “PARSA is a very small organization. But we have a very big vision.” At the age of 40, Yasin is one of the young emerging leaders of Afghanistan who is dedicated to have his work make a difference for this war torn region.
PARSA Country Director 2006-2020
PARSA Physiotherapy Training Program Director 1996-2006 Yasin managed the physiotherapy clinic including training. Physiotherapists.
President of National Physiotherapy Association 1999.
