The Safer World Fund

Last month I spent an evening with Sakena Yacoobi, the founder and executive director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL). The Institute manages “Fast-Tracking Education for Afghan Women and Girls,” one of the projects in the Safer World Fund.  In just a couple of hours, my admiration for educators in that part of the world quadrupled.

Sakena is a remarkable woman who has offered learning opportunities to countless women and girls in Afghanistan for several decades. She understands well the setback caused by many years of Taliban rule in her country when girls and women were forbidden from going to school. But today she is optimistic about her country’s future as she sees a keen hunger for education amidst all the challenges. The schools provided by the government have lower standards than she would like, so she works tirelessly to train teachers, develop curriculum, provide learning materials and build schools through AIL. 

The Afghan Institute of Learning is just one example of the terrific work of the nine organizations in the Safer World Fund. Please tell your friends and family to be inspired and take advantage of the remaining matching funds today. Thank you so much for your support of education, training, and health care--especially for women and girls--in Afghanistan and Pakistan.