Help Educate Women & Girls in Afghanistan

Thank you for donating to our project to educate Afghan Girls. Thanks to you, Sahar is able to provide girls with the basics of education as well as unique job training opportunities in computers and conduct workshops of early marriage prevention.

Education may seem like a simple action in a nation ravaged by war for the last several decades, but we have seen tremendous change in the status of girls and women. Providing quality education experiences is about more than just getting more girls into the classroom, it is about empowering them to be free, creative thinkers who can engage in the public discussion of their country’s culture and politics and be respected and heard. We are a long ways off from achieving our goals of gender parity in the Afghanistan education system, but we continue to see tremendous growth in our capability to make this a reality.

Sahar now offers early marriage prevention workshops throughout the year. Since the launch of this pilot project in 2015, we have graduated 625 girls. Our most recent workshop included 26 9th grade girls who heard guest speakers discuss career opportunities for those who stay in school, graduate and delay marriage. The workshops begin with community meetings that include families - especially fathers - religious leaders, the Ministry of Education, principals and community members that are involved in deciding the future of girls. The pilot project is operating in two rural schools. 

We’ve had a total of 2,592 students graduate from our computer centers as of 2016. providing girls with valuable training. The top graduates of the centers will now be eligible to apply for an innovative girls computer coding program that will begin this winter. The program aims to provide the girls with skills that will enable them to work in the computer industry and/or gain entry into a technical training program or university. 

To date, Sahar has built 19 schools, updated 20+ and impacted over 28,000 girls in our schools and programs annually and over 200,000 since our incepton. However, the need for more schools and access to education is still growing. Afghanistan's need for education remains daunting with over 40% of their population school aged children. With your help we can continue to provide these opportunities as we aim to make Afghanistan a safer place through education. 

Thanks to your donations, we can continue to educate the next generation of Afghanistan's youth. 

"Because we try from our hearts and we believe in ourselves and we have our parents with us." A student studying for her education

When you educate a girl in Afghanistan, everything changes. Your help in doing just that goes a long way by supporting literacy development in girls ages 5-22 in Balkh Province, Northern Afghanistan. Thanks to donor support, we have been able to both build physical schools as well as develop programs with computers, libraries, early marriage prevention and teacher training that aims to bring more female teachers to rural areas. 

There are currently more girls enrolled in school than at any time in Afghanistan's history with females accounting for 36% of all students. We want to continue this trend and improve upon it until every girl is enrolled in school. The benefits are tremendous:  early marriage is delayed, maternal health improves and the economics of the family likewise improve because girls become employable upon graduation. 

The story below demonstrates what education can mean in the life of a girl.

Shazia is now 18 and was just accepted to the university after receiving a high school education at a school built with and supported by your donor funds.

 “I remembered when my father and mother helped me with my lessons every night and my parents asked me about my tasks and new lessons. I spent all my time going to school and studying my lessons.” She had the first position in her class all 12 years. She said: “I thought it was my duty to learn. "

Shazia is living with her family of 8. Her brother is studying in the Faculty of Agriculture in Balkh University. And her younger brother is in grade 12 in the top position of his class. Her three sisters are also students at the Sahar built school. And they are all in first position in their classes. Shazia said: “Why and how are we able to do this? Because we try from our hearts and we believe in ourselves and we have our parents with us. Parents are a very big power for the children. When they encourage you, you think you have the entire world behind you. I am very happy and lucky that I have my parents with myself.”

Shazia passed the Kankor- like the America SAT -  examination and is now proceeding to university. 

The is fantastic news and thanks to your support of our computer centers, library books and the buildings for Shazia to study in, her success is moving to the next level of education.

Shazia delayed marriage as well as early childbirth. It is a well known fact that an educated mother is more likely to ensure that her children also receive an education and thus break the cycle of extreme poverty and maternal illnesses. Shazia will likely go on to finish her degree and be able to contribute to her family's economic situation. With eight people to support, her efforts will make an enormous difference. She is an example of how educating one girl is having a ripple effect on the entire family. 

Thank you.