Scholarships for At-risk Youth in Afghanistan

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your continued support of Bamyan Foundation. Since our last update, we’ve continued to make progress and help the children at the Baba, Marefat, ROYA and Rahnaward schools. Recently, we were even selected as a finalist in Global Giving’s Annual Photo Contest, and our photo finished in the top 10!

This quarter, Mujtaba, a 12th year student at Marefat, shared his journey with us and his dreams of pursuing higher education. Like most of the students at our partner school, Mujtaba originally came from a home of financial hardships. However with his father’s encouragement, he started his education at Marefat High School, where he showed an aptitude for math, literature and social subjects. He’s ranked at the top of his classes and his essays have been published on the school’s website. Not only has Mujtaba developed a love for learning, but also a passion for community involvement and leadership opportunities. He had a goal of getting elected as student council president, and in 2017 he achieved his goal: he was elected as student council president where he leads 4,000 students and organizes various programs and events. However, his dreams don’t stop there. He has even bigger goals of pursuing higher education outside his country, and returning to his home to help solve community problems and end discrimination. Further, all of the Bamyan supported students at Marefat are in good attendance.

At Baba High School, we’ve seen students like Sakina overcome immense obstacles and personal struggles and succeed at school. Sakina tragically lost her mother in 2016. In addition, her father suffers from a disability that prevents him from working. Sakina’s previous school’s conditions were so poor that she wasn’t even learning to read or write. The Baba team decided to place Sakina in a special program for four months that allowed her to learn all the skills and curriculum so that she could catch up to her peers. Not only did Sakina catch up to her peers’ academic levels, but she’s been receiving top grades for the past few months! In addition to Sakina’s success, all of the Baba students that are supported by Bamyan Foundation are actively attending school and no drop-outs have occurred.

At Rahnaward, the students have shown exceptional attendance. Of the students Bamyan has helped support, most have only missed 1 or 2 classes, and no students have dropped out. We’ve heard from several students at Rahnaward, such as Hamida, who told us that her self-esteem and confidence have greatly improved with the support of Bamyan. She now believes more in herself, but also in the possibility of helping other disadvantaged members of her community. We also heard from Mohammad, who wrote to us saying “the path of knowledge is the path to divinity”, and spoke about his community’s thirst for knowledge. With his education, he wants to help others prosper and live with hope.

One of the most inspirational stories has come from Ezzat, our student through partnership with ROYA. Ezzat was a child street worker at the age of 15, supporting his family of seven.In December 2016 he received a scholarship from Bamyan so that he could attend school full-time. Now, Ezzat is an active participant in two book clubs, thoroughly enjoys reading, and tutors his younger siblings and cousins who are also in our program. Our partner ROYA has established a mini library in Ezzat's home which is open to the children in Ezzat's neighborhood. It’s also managed by Ezzat and his siblings! He participates in many extra-curricular activities, from visits to museums to indoor soccer. Ezzat is hungry for all the opportunities provided him and is making up for many lost years as a child laborer. The adjustment is harder for him than our younger child laborers, but he has never been discouraged. All of the 8 children in Bamyan-ROYA program are in good attendance at school.

We hope that these stories will inspire you just as much as they’ve inspired us. The students supported by the Bamyan Foundation have all faced obstacles and challenges, both personal and financial, in pursuing their education. With the encouragement of donors like yourselves, they’ve been able to achieve their goals and reach milestones that were otherwise unattainable.

Thank you for your continued support,

The Bamyan Foundation