Educate Girls and Boys in Rural Afghanistan

We have met our initial fundraising goal for educating boys and girls in rural Afghanistan because of your generosity and continued support. Your dollars will go far in rural northern Afghanistan, where many children still lack access to quality education. There’s more to be done: our nine schools in village regions are always in need of more supplies and teachers as we try to keep up with rising enrollment. You have helped us provide classroom repairs, such as roof repairs and blackboard resurfacing for lessons, as well as materials like textbooks, school supplies, and library books. By supplying these items, you directly improve the quality of the education these children recieve.     

You help us give girls living in rural Afghanistan the support system they need to continue their education. We have ensured that girls stay in school by supporting an liaison who facilitate parent-teacher meetings and organize community-building activities. These activities allow us to communicate effectively with the families of girls who are attending our rural schools and demonstrate the value of education. Also, our liaisons connect with the girls by listening to their stories and speaking candidly with them about their futures, and whether they plan on entering the workforce after graduation or moving on to some form of higher education. Our liaisons are essential for supporting the girls in Afghanistan who are the most vunlerable. Girls often drop out of school between sixth and ninth grades becuase of expectations to help their families with work or to marry at an early age. You have helped us to work on  eliminating these barriers to girls' education in rural Afghanistan by organzing a group of liasions dedicated to cultivating relationships with the girls in our schools and with their families.  Abida, a sixteen-year-old girl at one of our schools, told us, "I am the first child in my family [to go to school]. Going to school and trying to be an educated person was started by me in my family. I want to be a doctor in the future." This is the impact you have on students in Afghanistan. You can help us educate the next generation of Afghans and make sure that children in rural Afghanistan have the resources they need to take on leadership roles in the future. Thank you. 

You have also supported our efforts in training more female teachers and ensuring that more will return to rural northern Afghanistan to work. We train female teachers from these rural areas, who then reutrn to teach children from their own villages and allow hundreds of girls to be educated every year. Moreover, you have transported many of our teachers who live outisde of these village regions to our schools. A qualified teacher who students can depend on is critical in this conflict-zone.  

We thank you for continuing to support our efforts in rural northern Afghanistan. You have enabled hundreds of children to receive a quality education, who are often the first ones in their family to attend school. These children now have the opportunity to build better lives for themselves and their future families in rural Afghanistan.   

Your support of our work in rural northern Afghanistan has been critical for the sustainability of education in village regions. Rural Afghanistan is one of the most difficult places to live: literacy levels are the lowest in these regions and agriculture is the primary activity, yet only 12% of the land is arable and only 40% is irrigated. Children have limited access to schools because of low local government investment in infrastructure. Students often drop out of school to help their families in the fields.  

Our teacher training programs have prevented students in rural areas, espeically girls, from dropping out of school. You have supported young women who have graduated from our teacher training center and have returned to their villages to educate hundreds of girls each year. This is a significant accomplishment, as few teachers are willing to work in rural Afghanistan, leaving many children without a qualified instructor. Your impact on education in rural Afghanistan willl endure for years to come, as more female teachers are employed by the Ministry of Education in rural areas, who are able to reach the girls from their own villages. 

You have also helped us combat issues of overcrowding and lack of access to schools by investing in the maintenance of our rural schools. We have continued to supply more desks, chairs, and roof repairs to ensure that students can learn in an environment that is secure and protected from the elements. We are also in the process of providing new sidewalks and gates for our rural schools, and wells for dependable water sources. Your dollars have allowed us to invest in and improve the resources of schools where the local government may not have the capacity. 

Improving education in rural areas is important for creating equal opprotunities for children to learn in all regions of Afghanistan. We continue to strengthen our relationship with the rural community and Ministry of Education in Balkh Province to make these programs for education sustainable. You have the power to ensure that where a girl lives in Afghanistan does not determine the quality of her education.