Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi travelled from New Zealand to Afghanistan to establish 51 micro businesses in Kabul, honouring the 51 lives lost in the 2019 attack on a Christchurch mosque Photo: Davina Zimmer
Project 51 changed lives in Afghanistan, in the name of the 51 victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks. Now a documentary follows the story.
It has been six years since a lone gunman opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch, killing 51 people, shattering the country's innocence and changing lives forever.
Now a young Afghan-Kiwi couple, who were praying in another mosque in the Garden City that fateful day, is releasing a film in remembrance of the 51 victims. The film documents their travel from New Zealand to Afghanistan to establish 51 micro businesses in Kabul, aiming to empower some of the city's most impoverished residents.
Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi say that their humanitarian mission not only transformed recipients' lives, but also deeply impacted their own perspectives.
"It all started from March 15 and the horrors that befell our community in Christchurch," Shah said. "And because we were there, and we were involved in the burials and the process of the healing of the community as well... we knew we had to do something.
"You cannot have an event like that just pass you by, and [not] think about it deeply and be moved in some way... and so we wanted to take some kind of action.
"We said, 'What are we going to do?' and we decided to use the negative energy and use it as fuel for positive change. And that's how we decided to create and honour 51 micro businesses and uplift 51 lives."
The couple raised $20,000 to establish the businesses, and provided tools like sewing machines and portable food carts, enabling recipients to achieve self-sufficiency.
"There were some creative ideas," says Afrasyabi. "We met a 70-year-old woman who knew how to sew fabrics, she wanted to make reusable bags - there is a lot of need for this in the market, she wanted to give them to the bakeries. It makes a big difference.
"It was inspiring and the energy there was amazing."
Shah has since returned to Afghanistan to check on the businesses' progress.
"Some of the transformations are so moving... it's life changing. We were so, so pleased that we could create something to change the trajectory of a family... they were just day-to-day surviving but now they can invest in their future and do long-term planning for their children."
The couple's personal narratives as Muslim refugees in the Western world are interwoven throughout the documentary, highlighting their choice to counter hate with love.
"It was a beautiful experience for us," says Shah. "We thought we are well off, we are going there to help these people, and we went there, and we learnt manners, we learnt character, we learnt resilience, not giving up.
"People are in difficult situations but they weren't complaining but they were [saying] 'thank God'. We came back more empowered."
The couple don't want to focus on the racism they've endured personally in New Zealand but acknowledge it's still happening.
"It does happen here, of course there is systematic racism," Afrasyabi said. "But we hope, over time, it will get better, and people face and embrace the reality that there are different coloured people living in this country... the more people accept this, the better it is for this country.
"We did research on the March 15 terrorist, this person lived a horrible life, he hadn't seen love in his life... so, he wanted a solution, something to blame. And for him that blame was the Muslim community, he wanted to see us as the enemy so he could feel better.
"He didn't have support systems; he was alone and sad.
"Maybe if we were more aware of who our neighbours are, have better interaction, so we can understand who is around us, it could make a difference."
The couple's film will have its worldwide premiere in Christchurch on 3 April.
"We wanted to change lives, make a documentary and come back and show New Zealand - bring that energy from Afghanistan," Shah said.
"It's crazy but we did it."
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