theleaven.com | vol. 34, no. 23 | january 25, 2013
SISTER ACT
NATIVITY family raise funds TO Bring afghan girl to america | Story by Laurie Ghigliotti
L
EAWOOD — When Katie Kranz returned to her Leawood home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, she had 1,001 stories to tell, said her sister Eileen. But to only one did she keep coming back: The story of a 14-year-old girl whom the 32-year-old Katie met in a children’s shelter in Kabul. The story of a girl who had been forced into prostitution by her mother and her brother for three years from the age of seven. The story of a girl who desired an education, a home, a voice in a country ravaged by poverty, war, and injustice. The story of Laila.
Laila had been living in a shelter operated by Women for Afghan Women since being rescued from her abusive home by police four years ago. Katie met her while working with the NATO Rule of Law Field Force in 2011. Most of the children in the Laila shelter live and attend school there until reunited with their families, according to Katie. But because of the abusive home situation, Laila cannot return
to her family. She also, however, cannot stay at the shelter indefinitely. When Katie returned home from Afghanistan, she told her sisters Eileen, Meghan and Lisa the story of Laila. “The more I thought about it and the more Katie talked about it, the more I found my empathy building,” said Eileen. “What if that was me? What if that was my sister? My daughter?” The sisters, all of whom grew up in Church of the Nativity in Leawood, have not only found the answers to these questions; they >> See “LAILA” on page 5
Internally displaced Afghan children shield themselves from dust picked up by wind at a refugee camp in Kabul. The Women for Afghan Women work to make life better for girls in Afghanistan who have nowhere else to turn. CNS photo/Omar Sobhani, Reuters
Calling all fish fries
Because of space constraints, The Leaven does not list Lenten fish fries in the calendar during Lent. However, a full page of archdiocesan fish fries will appear — all ready to be clipped and saved — in the Feb. 8 edition of The Leaven. Fish fry notices should be emailed to: todd@theleaven.com. The deadline is Jan. 29. Keep notices to less than 40 words. Please do not include full menus.
Looking for recipes
Do you have a favorite meatless soup, sandwich, budget meal or mac-and-cheese recipe you’d like to share with our readers for Lent? Please send your favorite recipe, along with your name and parish, as soon as possible to reporter Jessica Langdon at: jessica@theleaven.com. Or mail them to: Jessica Langdon, The Leaven, 12615 Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, KS 66109. An assortment of recipes will appear in upcoming issues of The Leaven and more will be available online at: www.the leaven.com.