Give Afghan Refugees the Gift of Education

Dear Friends, 

TODAY June 15TH -9:00am ET TO 11:59pm! 50% Matching funds available for donations made to AIL projects on GlobalGiving.org! Donations up to $1,000 per individual donor per organization may be matched while funds available. The money runs out fast- so donate now!

Are you a UK donor? GlobalGiving.co.uk has its own bonus day. Donations up to £1,000 per donor per organization may be matched 50% while funds last. Match starts 14:00:01 BST on June 15th and ends at 4:59:59 BST on June 16th.  

AIL update

The AIL education program is going well and classes are being held at 43 Learning Centers (LCs) in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including 15 rural centers around Herat and one center in Pakistan.  A diverse range of subjects are offered (though not at every center) including: math, literacy, Arabic, English, sewing, miniature painting, computers and physics. So far 13,888 students (including 9,044 females and 4,844 males) participated in Learning Center education. There are 150 females in 4 month long mobile literacy classes. AIL staff maintain libraries in many LCs to help students with their studies and expose them to as varied a selection of reading matter as possible. The Pakistan LC has 160 students (110 female) and offers classes in Arabic, English and literacy.

Here is a  story from one center, “We could solve the family problem of two students this month.  One of them is a young woman; her husband is an opium user. He didn’t let his wife join the center.  But we talked with them and were able to get his agreement. After a lot of talk and face to face contact of the center’s manager and elders of the area he did agree with her.  Now the woman is learning in our center. She is very happy about this and thanked AIL staff for changing her life.”  This story reflects the growing problem of opium addiction in the male population and its devastating consequences on both the men and the female members of their families. AIL's education program gives students hope for the future and skills that they can use for work.

TODAY, your donation can go further!  Donate between 9:00am and 11:59pm and help AIL continue its valuable work providing education.

Dear Friends,        

Last month the AIL office in Peshawar was able to provide 100 families affected by the earthquake last October with supplies to help them out. AIL staff  distributed: 100 blankets, 100 floor coverings and 100 water coolers. These families lost everything in the earthquake  and are living temporarily in the Pakistan city of  Peshawar. In addition, the staff gave out 500 books and 500 notebooks for the children of these families to aid them in their school work. Helping the children stay on track with their learning is vital as disruptive circumstances such as these can easily mean children get behind in school and may never catch up later.

The Learning Center in Peshawar continues to educate 163 students (110 female). There are 64 students studying Arabic in a 9 month class, 45 in English class which lasts 3 months and 51 students in the 4 month long literacy class. The latter class includes interesting local or national events in the curriculum and in March they celebrated International Women’s Day and sent congratulations to Dr. Yacoobi, AIL's founder.

Thank you for your continuing support for AIL’s work with Afghans in Pakistan.