ACT

Special Forces Veterans Employ Unconventional Strategy to Promote Afghanistan Based Humanitarian Organization

HARTFORD, CT, June 6, 2009 –U.S. Special Forces veteran, TV personality and best selling author of The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast, Myke Hawke, has just released his second book – Myke Hawke’s Green Beret Survival Manual. Hawke is a member of Afghan Care Today, or ACT, a recently established non-profit organization comprised of Special Forces veterans who specialize in delivering humanitarian aid to remote areas of Afghanistan.

At a time when attacks and abductions of humanitarian workers are choking-off aid efforts throughout the country and U.S. troop levels are on the rise, these former Green Berets are employing a different strategy for a successful U.S. withdrawl from the war-torn country.

According to Laval Simons, Founder and CEO of Afghan Care Today, "We believe that the only lasting exit strategy from Afghanistan will come from building self-sustaining communities through agriculture, clean water, health care, a balanced education and employment opportunities."

Simons believes that non-government organizations (NGO's) will be successful in Afghanistan only if they join forces, share resources and bring prosperity to one village and community at a time. NGO’s are focused on a common goal – providing aid to the Afghan people. We believe the best way to reach our individual goals is through collective teamwork – by pooling our assets," says Simons.

Indeed, the network’s current membership includes a number of diverse organizations, each with a unique though complementary mission. Examples include teaching farmers to grow soy beans instead of poppies, training women to become tailors, drilling water wells, training midwives and providing orphan care.

In conjunction with the release of Hawke’s survival book, the group’s strategy is to use unconventional means to promote an organization that pulls together the political left and right for a common humanitarian cause. The goal is to not only bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, but to bring U.S. troops home.

ACT draws awareness to the organization through unique fundraising and promotional events by sharing with everyday citizens their diverse skills and knowledge acquired through years of service in the Special Forces. According to Simons "Sharing our knowledge is also a way to give back to the people of our country at a time when we need it most."

Upcoming promotional events include instruction on packing specially designed survival vests at sporting goods outlets and book signings with survival instruction at major books stores across the U.S. The group also offers tax deductible adventure vacations and team-building events in the U.S. and Costa Rica through Specops; Hawke’s adventure vacations company, which has been conducting extreme and educational adventures since 1995.

ACT’s former Special Forces medics and engineers make this holistic "team" approach possible. Their unique skill set – honed through years of arduous training and real life experience – gives them the ability to train health care providers and build wells and schools. While other NGOs might pay hundreds of thousands of dollars per month for protective services, ACT team members hire local security forces they trained while traveling throughout Afghanistan enabling more money to flow through the local economy. According to Simons "There’s a lot we can do with the money saved that will directly help the Afghan people bring stability to their own country."

Contact: Afghan Care Today

Phone: (860) 881-5052

Email: info@afghancaretoday.org