“(Name withheld) will help translate your book into Pashto. I need to get you connected with him. Give me the next step you’d like to take.”

This is an excerpt from a series of email exchanges that began many months ago. Now, after some additional follow-up, CSM is pleased to announce that the first phase of the Pashto translation of Simple Truths will begin soon.

Pashto is a member of the southeastern Iranian branch of Indo-Iranian languages. The language is spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. Estimates of the number of Pashto speakers range from 45 million to 55 million. Pashto is one of two “official” languages in Afghanistan. It is the first language of 50% of the people of the country and another 10% to 25 % speak Pashto as a second language. It is the second-largest regional language spoken in Pakistan.

A poll by the US Census Bureau in 2015 estimates put more than 100,000 Pashtun in the United States, 20% of whom use Pashto as their first language at home. Canadian estimates vary from 40,000 to 80,000 Pashtun living in Canada.

Because the distribution of books like this are prohibited in certain West Asian Muslim regions, the book will first appear as an eBook and be available for unlimited download at no cost on the www.asimpleword.org website.