Receiving Line Aschiana Flying High When interior designer Marie Kux, a native of France, visited Kabul in late 2003, she saw firsthand the plight of Afghanistanís working street children, fending for themselves amid the ruins by polishing shoes, collecting scraps, and doing anything to get even a small piece of bread. An old friend took her to Aschiana, a local educational nonprofit organization dedicated to educating, training, feeding and clothing these 60,000 street children. From that moment on, Kux knew she had to do something. ìHelping is not so difficult,î said Kux, who created the Aschiana Foundation. ìIt is not helping that I couldnít do.î She came home and talked to everyone she and her husband Dennis, a former U.S. ambassador to the Ivory Coast, knew. Last fall, with encouragement from Shamim Jawad, wife of the Afghan ambassador, Kux gathered a group of two dozen women, and within half a year, she and her devoted friends raised more than $165,000 in an effort to relocate Aschianaís crucial downtown Kabul center, which is being closed and replaced by a four-star international hotel. The cityís skyrocketing real estate costs are now the biggest hurdle. Aschianaís highl y-successful Kite Gala in May, held under the patronage of Mrs. Laura Bush at the home of Ray and Shaista Mahmood, raised another $125,000 with silent auction items from the ambassadors and spouses of Afghanistan, France and Norway. But the biggest surprise at the gala came from Neelab Kanishka, a former Afghan refugee and now a highly successful international executive in Salt Lake City. She announced a second $25,000 donation from Worldstock, an Internet nonprofit that sells indigenous crafts from Afghanistan and Native Americans and merchandizes them worldwide on their parent company, Overstock.com. Aschiana, which literally means ìthe nest,î named the event the ìKite Galaî to remind everyone that, once again, colorful kites are flying all over Kabul and throughout Afghanistan, symbolizing this countryís new freedom and renewed hope for its children. Kite flying, the favorite national pastime of Afghan children, was banned under the Taliban. Mosaicís Fashion Feast With the largest crowd ever, the Mosaic Foundationís Eighth Annual Benefit Gala at the National Building Museum raised more than $1 million, $700,000 of which goes toward the Childrenís National Medical Centerís high-tech pediatric center in Morocco. Mosaic galas are big, extravagant and exotic. This yearís fashion feast of ìWest Looks Eastî showcased the influence of traditional Arab design on contemporary Western fashion.î Thirty haute-couture dresses from 15 of the worldís most famous fashion houses were donated, along with the original drawings that will be auctioned off in the fall. The galaís dramatic runway show, duplicated overhead on gigantic screens, proved that todayís best fashions are truly a global blend. Maria Felice Mekouar, wife of the Moroccan ambassador and chair of the gala, made sure to thank as many guests as possible by visiting each table while Mosaic chair Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, wife of Saudi Ambassador Prince Badar Bin Sultan, sat unobtrusively near the runway and quietly greeted guests. Mosaic Foundation, the charitable, educational and cultural organization founded in 1998 by the spouses of 17 Arab ambassadors to the United States, also organized a companion lecture series over the past six months on the influences of Arab design on Western architecture, garden design, decorative and industrial arts, interiors and textiles, fine arts, literature, jewelry and fashion. Diplomats CARE Washingtonís ambassadors love to open their residences for the intimate dinners that proceed the annual CARE Ball. This important global nonprofit has come to the rescue of many countries over the past 59 years, and no one needs their arm twisted to join the diplomatic host committee. But this yearís 30 host ambassadors and their spouses got an extra reward for staying up for desserts and dancing afterward the dinners at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. The spirited tunes of Little Anthony and the Imperials helped guests remember younger days and many diplomats couldnít resist the call to the dance floor. Gen. Richard B. Myers and his wife Mary Jo, the CARE Ball co-chair for the past four years, also thought dancing was much more fun than being in the receiving line. ìCARE is part of the fabric of the world,î said Susan Corrigan, president and CEO of Gifts in Kind International, one of the ballís biggest corporate sponsors this year. ìWe shouldnít see boundaries in corporations, charities or even countries,î she said. ìWe should see the humanity in all of it.î óGail Scott