So who are we?
We’re just a few friends who met in college in the United States and have, since then, been trying to think of creative ways to improve our communities, connect with others, and bring happiness to the people and homelands (Iran, Pakistan, America) we love. As a group, we have been involved in many projects, activities and experiences that have both challenged us and have enabled us to help come up with solutions to some of the problems that our communities face. And as we continue on our journey, we have come to believe, as cliche as it may sound, in the enormous healing and empowering power of dialogue. This blog is our way of starting this dialogue by sharing our own experiences, thoughts, and ideas and hearing yours. And just in case you were wondering, we call ourselves Asheyan, meaning “home” in Farsi. Welcome to our home.
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Manata
Manata is currently a PhD student in Sociology at UC Berkeley interested in international development. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling to the Caspian Sea (near her family home), and learning classical Persian dance.
email Manata at: manata@asheyan.org
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Fatima
Fatima holds a master’s degree in Finance and a bachelor’s degree in Applied Economics and Management. In her free time she enjoys traveling and sipping chai (preferably at the same time).
email Fatima at: fatima@asheyan.org
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Shawhin
Shawhin is an engineer working in infrastructure design and program management with an interest in public transit, urban planning, and architecture. Shawhin’s into history, architecture, philosophy, music, sanshou, and nature.
email Shawhin at: shawhin@asheyan.org
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Shideh
Shideh is currently a PhD student in geotechnical earthquake engineering at UC Berkeley. She plans to be involved in an international seismic hazard reduction program and keep up with her other passions: cooking, dancing, political philosophy, public policy, near eastern history and society.
email Shideh at: shideh@asheyan.org
3 Comments
May 8, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Dear Asheyan,
Thank you for your beautiful website, and the work you are doing, it is incredible.
My name is Nooshin and I am a pediatrician/mother and am embarking on a dream to develop an intervention for opium use among young people in the “Golden Crescent” (the countries surrounding Afghanistan). In my past research I found that average age for starting opium use was 16, heroin was 18. For that reason, I will likely be targeting 13 and 14 year olds. My intervention will likely be nature-and environmental-based, but the final idea will come from the people.
I would love to have your organization on my Community Advisory Board and to hear your thoughts. Please let me know if any/all of you are available for discussions.
With respect,
Nooshin
May 13, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Dear Nooshin,
Thank you so much for your comment. This sounds like an amazing project. We look forward to speaking with you further and finding out more about the project.
All best,
Manata
May 11, 2009 at 10:46 pm
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