Thank you for your messages at this sad time.
Karen was a dedicated professional who died trying to do good medical work in a difficult world whilst helping those who have very little.
Her loss is immeasurable to everyone that knew her.
She touched many people’s lives and her memory and charitable belief will live on through all of our work.
Bridge Afghanistan
43 comments:
She will be missed........
......
I went to school with Karen.
She was a beautiful girl both on the outside and inside.
My thoughts are with her family and love ones during this sad time.
How do I make a donation to Bridge Afghanistan?
I,like so many others have only known Karen through the new's,how and where she lost her life,and I'm am so deeply touched by it.
My deepest Sympathys go to Karen's Family and Friends.
I just dont understand why such good people are taken so suddenly in such sad ways,I'm just so very sorry.
Gabby
UK
I met Karen once at a fundraising musical soiree. I was so touched by her enthusiasm and passion for her work providing health care to those most in need in Afghanistan. What a tragic loss!
My deepest sympathy goes to Karen's family and friends.
Angela
UK
I too know Karen only through the news, and I salute her courage, and her dedication. Her death touches all of us, all over the world.
If there were a few more people like her, the world would have been so much of a better place. I too would like to contribute by making a donation. Please let me know how this can be done.
If there is any doubt of the intent and character of the Taliban way of life it has been removed by this tragic murder of relief workers. It is impossible to comprehend such cowardly acts on the grounds of weak religious doctrine. The Taliban philosophy is sick with cowardice and is nothing new in the history of such people who use bombs and other weapons to murder unarmed aid workers. The people of this country should use this as a rallying cry to move there country forward to a strong and democratic free country.
I´m so sorry....
She ever live´s in our heart´s
Conni from Germany
I am very much touched by Karen's dedication and the way she died. It is simply senseless to kill people whose mission is helping the most vulnerable people. After this death I am rethinking on the basis of cooperation: helping the poor and the forgotten as Karen and her colleagues were doing. All the rest is just politics and/or empty speeches. I am also a humanitarian worker and I doubt on the real usefulness of what I have been doing since almost one year (I am not in Afghanistan). After this death, I know for sure that my work here is just following politics and I really feel empty and looking forward to start a new phase of my life.
I am very much touched by Karen's dedication and the way she died. It is simply senseless to kill people whose mission is helping the most vulnerable people. After this death I am rethinking on the basis of cooperation: helping the poor and the forgotten as Karen and her colleagues were doing. All the rest is just politics and/or empty speeches. I am also a humanitarian worker and I doubt on the real usefulness of what I have been doing since almost one year (I am not in Afghanistan). After this death, I know for sure that my work here is just following politics and I really feel empty and looking forward to start a new phase of my life.
I am very much touched by Karen's dedication and the way she died. It is simply senseless to kill people whose mission is helping the most vulnerable people. After this death I am rethinking on the basis of cooperation: helping the poor and the forgotten as Karen and her colleagues were doing. All the rest is just politics and/or empty speeches. I am also a humanitarian worker and I doubt on the real usefulness of what I have been doing since almost one year (I am not in Afghanistan). After this death, I know for sure that my work here is just following politics and I really feel empty and looking forward to start a new phase of my life.
Via Con Deos, Doc.
I am very much touched by Karen's dedication and the way she died. It is simply senseless to kill people whose mission is helping the most vulnerable people. After this death I am rethinking on the basis of cooperation: helping the poor and the forgotten as Karen and her colleagues were doing. All the rest is just politics and/or empty speeches. I am also a humanitarian worker and I doubt on the real usefulness of what I have been doing since almost one year (I am not in Afghanistan). After this death, I know for sure that my work here is just following politics and I really feel empty and looking forward to start a new phase of my life.
So sorry for Karen and ALL her colleagues tragically killed in Afghanistan. You touched the lives of so many - ones that you met and ones that we could of only have been so priveledged to have met. R.I.P - Heros.
I am very much touched by Karen's dedication and the way she died. It is simply senseless to kill people whose mission is helping the most vulnerable people. After this death I am rethinking on the basis of cooperation: helping the poor and the forgotten as Karen and her colleagues were doing. All the rest is just politics and/or empty speeches. I am also a humanitarian worker and I doubt on the real usefulness of what I have been doing since almost one year (I am not in Afghanistan). After this death, I know for sure that my work here is just following politics and I really feel empty and looking forward to start a new phase of my life.
Oppose perverseness with kindness. The heavy sword will not cut soft silk; by using sweet words and gentleness you may lead an elephant with a hair.
saadi
Oppose kindness to perverseness. The heavy sword will not cut soft silk; by using sweet words and gentleness you may lead an elephant with a hair.
The bad fortune of the good turns their faces up to heaven; and the good fortune of the bad bows their heads down to the earth.
Saadi
By all accounts that we've read, Ms. Woo's life is an inspiration, her death a senseless tragedy. Our condolences.
OKJack™Group™
Middle & Working Class Disabled American Veterans
We Paid the Dues that Aren’t Required!™
I envy people like Karen for their courage and strength and wish I had a little bit of it myself.
Kind regards from Kiel, Germany.
Svenja
The taliban are cowards. They kill and maim unarmed innocent civilians. Then they run and hide in caves and Afghan slums like the flea-bitten rats that they are. They run like cockroaches when real men and women from the West march onto the battlefield. Taliban are afraid of armed westerners, but are happy to slaughter unarmed women and children. Until the taliban are exterminated and sent to the hell that surely awaits them - the carnage will continue. My thoughts and prayers are with the innocent men, women, and children that have been and will be murdered by the bloody, violent, and filthy hands of the vermin known as taliban.
The people of Afghanistan are in need of modern western medicine based on science quite beyond what the morons of the taliban can provide. They are in need of this aid because the taliban routinely attacks them via suicide bombs. Also – the taliban are fond of hiding amongst them when facing fire from western forces in hopes of inflicting casualties on the local population.
The aid workers who were murdered by the cowards of the taliban were unarmed. Despite the risks they faced - Karen and her colleagues proceeded with courage and conviction in the great tradition of men and women with western Judeo-Christian heritage. The taliban that slaughtered them were cowards who gleefully mowed down unarmed saints with AK-47s. Islam considers that a victory. In the west - we more properly classify that as murder. In the rare cases where the rats of the taliban challenge armed men and women from the west - they are justifiably exterminated like the vermin they are. My thoughts and prayers are with Karen and her colleagues. We can only hope that the criminals responsible for their murders will stumble upon NATO forces and wind up in the sights of men and women who can shoot back. If that happens - justice will prevail. The taliban are only able to kill the defenseless. Whenever they face an armed western force however - they die like insects.
Sean,
Vancouver, WA
I am shocked to hear the news of Karen's murder. She once worked for me during her summer holidays from medical school. She was a brilliant girl in every way. I am not surprised at all that she was risking her life in helping the vulnerable, that was completely in line with her character. My heartfelt condolences go out to her family, we will miss the wing-walker. We would like to support the charity that was close to her heart, please let us know how we can do so. harrysihra@msn.com
I am deeply saddened to hear the news of Karen and her Team's death at the hands of Taleban.
Clearly they were perceived as a threat to the Taleban way of life and we must eliminate this menace and their sponsors across the border.
Dr Ravindra Gokhale
UK
I did not know Karen, only through the news of her tragic death have I come upon this website. My heartfelt condolences go out to Karen's family and friends; by all accounts she was a wonderful woman and an inspiration to many, myself included (post-university, I hope to become an aid worker).
RIP Dr Woo, and your colleagues also.
My thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of Dr. Karen Woo and her fallen colleagues. Their sacrifices will not be in vain. Their work will inspire people around the world even more now that they're gone. My heartfelt condolences...
Rest in peace Miss Woo.
I knew Karen as a teenager, and had just started to get to know her again, over the last year or two via facebook and emails. She was a warm, caring, fun person as a kid and nobody ever had a bad word to say about her, and as far as I can tell – nothing has changed!
I just want to say that I found many of the comments touching, moving and heartfelt - but please, can we lay off the hatred, racism and retribution side of things...?
Her memory and legacy should be the love, enjoyment and respect she had for life, reflecting as it does the way she lived. She would be horrified to see it twisted into the hatred and callousness that caused her death. That is not who she was, that is not who she would wish us to become.
Respectfully
Iain
May she rest in peace and her murderes will die by suffering. این سگ در عذاب مردن
Thank you Iain for some sensible words. Karen proved her greatness with her actions, despite only briefly knowing her in medical school, I saw that she clearly had a shining light. I was unfortunate not to have known her better. She died at the hands of barbaric scum and I agree they should rot in hell. Please don't forget that the majority of the Afghans (whom Karen cared for so much and vice versa) are not the same and also condemn this atrocity. They also suffer from the lawlessness that prevails in those territories. For the less educated, please learn about the true Islamic teachings and principles (not the Taliban's or the tabloids' version). Most of the media believe the Taliban's admission of this was pure publicity for several reasons. It is likely that these great humanitarians were prey to brainless, murderous bandits of whom there are so many in such a lawless terrain. RIP Karen and the angels who supported you. You will be loved and remembered by so many.
Azhar Saleem
This is terrible. How can you kill unarmed medical teams who were trying to help impoverished people of your own religion? How shameless do you have to be to then blame your victims of trying to convert people to a different religion? Did some of your victims survive more than 30 years in your country (Tom Little) if they were out to convert people to Christianity? Doesn't it tell you how much some of these people (Tom Little) love your country if he had chosen to raise his daughters in your country? Have you read what Karen wrote on this very blog in July? She was seeking donations to help more of your brethren. If you stumble upon this blog and read her last entry, can we at least expect you to say a prayer for her soul? Can we expect you to be consumed by guilt even for a fleeting moment?
This is a terrible loss. I'am from Russia. We are with you.
Its a sad sad world if some people don't respect others who just want to offer help with no religious of political motives but simply as a humanitarian act to help another human being in need. We might question whether it was done as a provocation or simply as a disgusting shameless act of religious fanatics with no regard for human life.
How should we react to such acts, can we do anything to prevent this from reoccuring? People in Afghanistan and in other similar war zones still need medical help while conflicts go on...Will Karen's death scare others from following such a brave path, or will it bring more brave heroes?
Once long ago the red cross was established for such a purpose being a neutral organisation with the sole aim to bring humanitarian help and it was respected during many conflicts...
Should future humanitarian organisations have military protection? That will make their work difficult und getting help from them will be even more unacceptable by local religious fanatics...It defintely is a difficult problem with no easy answer. Especially that such brave people like Karen or Tom and everyone else who was with them are so rare.
Your effort has not been in vain. You will be loved and remembered
Dr Jarek Wisniewski
Birmingham, UK
The world needs more people like that. People who are willing to do the will of God. I think Karen got it right the order of Jesus Christ when he said: "... Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mk 16:15.
I only knew Karen from the news and I am getting very angry now. Let's support our troops in Afghanistan and eliminate the Taliban thugs!
A Chinese Canadian in Vancouver
Sorrow and Solitude
People like Karen Woo and her murdered colleagues are modern day martyrs.
I hope one day I can be as brave as her to leave behind my home for a far and dangerous land to bring help to people who are in need.
I want to express my sentiments for her family and friends, my thoughts are with you. Know that in your pain you still have memories of a truly good person who has changed the lives of many.
I hope the deeds of Karen Woo and her colleagues will inspire many to follow in her footsteps.
Murder! Wrong in any faith or belief. A tragedy, when those killed are innocents on humanitarian relief work.
Karen, and colleagues like her, are inspiration for us all in the aid of others in need regardless of background, creed or race. They were making a difference to many human lives.
I support the Afghans' right to defend their homeland. However, as a Muslim, I am ashamed that those murderers are from my religion when in Islam, a religion defined by peace and tolerance, murder is a grave sin and punished in like manner. Surely, these were carried out by people who lost any faith.
I long for the time when there is finally peace. but I don't see any end to it...if we just let things be.
longing for peace
The sunny weather should brought me a smile,
And yet inside the clouds are lingering,
The gulf between motivation and action is a mile,
Only sanity and patience can be humbling.
We read, listen and watch the many screams,
The life loss and mutilated for power and greed,
Political statements do not justify the evil dreams,
Because it will only wane when truth won’t cede.
The bigger powers have struck a deal,
To eliminate the weak but determined force,
And so they have their fate sealed,
War and destruction will be their farce.
As light sits higher in the morning sky,
I wonder when we will be at peace,
Will we not make the attempt to try?
Or wait and see until becoming deceased?
source: http://amrimuslih.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/longing-for-peace/
First of all; to who ever is editing this blog would it not be a good idea to delete some of the comments above which are just hateful and not at all in Karen’s spirit? I know we all have freedom of speech but Karen was not about hatred and anger and she wouldn’t want such things written in her name? It seems completely wrong to have those things written on here.
Secondly;
Dear Karen,
I know that I needn’t bother writing down my feelings and thoughts, I’m sure where you are you can see all of us who care and how we feel and that is more than enough. Still I feel its right to write something for you. I wish I could have seen you again, it feels so foolish that Mum and I kept saying next time she’s back (it felt like you were always there!), with such confidence that you would be. But I’m so glad that I did get to meet you and spend time with you, I know that the Fashion Show would not have been the same without your involvement! I for one would have had a nervous breakdown I’m sure and I doubt we would have pulled it off in quite the same way. Monday’s meeting we all missed you, we’ll make sure we pull of the next event with Karen Woo style!
I know that where you are you can probably see everything being written and said, not just the good things but the bad too – don’t pay attention to those! You know there are people here that will not let your work go undone, somehow (and it wont quite be the same) we’ll get there in the end. There are people like Mum and Amanda who will go on fighting to make Afghanistan a better place, and in your death you inspire other people, like myself, to make sure that they do not win and things keep moving forward. In that way the bandits and Taliban can never win, in their acts of hatred they forget about love and how all they have done is made us more firm that what you were doing is right and that we will make sure its continued.
Sending you all my love, where it is you are.
Tashxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Life is brittle and "soluble' and that is one of the reasons why we should do more things in life for the sake of giving a helping hand to other forms of life no matter they are humans or animals. Life is full of stuggle and pain like the underprivileged souls in Afghan, Pakistan, Iraq.....and if everone could do something more for the underprivileged souls around you or distant from you, life on Earth would become better or at least living better. Personally I have been in the volunteer service to save animals for the past ten years and I knoe very well of the psyche of Karen and although our effort to the world may be minimal but if everyone does give a bit more to this Earth, we would definitely have a better world and a better future for life on Earth for the coming future. Do not let greed and ignorance blind our soul if we do have the ability to do something during our life on Earth even if we may have the opportunity to face hazards in the field. After all, great soul never dies and they live in our memory.
I studied dance with Karen for three years and remember her as a graceful and powerful dancer. She was also a fun and caring friend. My heartfelt condolences to Karen's family and friends. RIP Karen xx
Why aren't there any clues as to how to support BridgeAfghanistan with donations?
A rallying cry for a freer country?
Or far cry from crocodile tear.
Salute to Dr Woo.
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