Help Educate Women & Girls in Afghanistan

Your donations help us continue to see tremendous growth in our ability to close the gap in those girls who do go to school and those who do not and importantly to help us find innovative ways to keep girls in school after completing K-5th grades. Thank you. 

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. It is about giving them the skills to become leaders. 

Seventy-seven girls graduated high school in one of our rural villages and 59% of those girls went on to our advanced teacher training program. In two years, those girls will be certified to teach. Afghanistan still faces mounting pressures to provide more female teachers. It is estimated that next year alone, the nation needs more than 80,000 teachers. Raising our graduation rates in the 12 schools we serve provides the possibilities of easing this problem. With female teachers available to teacher older girls, more girls have the chance to identify and move towards post graduate goals. 

"It is fine to go to school but I want more. I want to be a leader but I need practice and skills. We don't have courses for this." Fahima

We have responded to this request by developing a leadership pilot program for a rural school. Twenty-seven girls are participating. The girls were asked to write a vision statement and list their goals. The program is focusing on a group of  girls vulnerable to dropping out. This brings out their dreams and visions and provides them with support. Here are few samples of the girls' statements: