Teach Young Afghan Women to Teach Afghan Girls

Thank you for your donation! You're helping to increase the number of female Afghan teachers - this wouldn't happen with YOU. 

Afghanistan faces a shortage of female teachers on an epic scale. For a girl in a rural village where conservative attitudes are high, the absence of a well-educated female teacher can crush her chances of going to school and continue on to higher education. 

Our Teacher Training Center draws upon village trainees in a significant portion of rural Balkh Province. Students begin their coursework with the standard TTC and Ministry approved curriculum in four core areas : Science, Mathematics, English, and Dari Literature. Additionally, we are providing computer training across all departments with 10 laptops and our own curriculum, as well as additional English training.

Thanks to donors, we have been able to add supplemental specialists who travel to the Center to further educate students in English, Computers, Math and Science. A key role for teachers is to help students, as they progress in grades, to prepare for their college entrance exams. Teachers need better education to be able to pass this along to students. The Training Center is helping to tackle this problem.

Consider this story from a teacher attending the program you've supported: “My father told me it was too dangerous and too far to go to Teacher Training. I graduated high school in my village and wanted to become a teacher. My family is very poor. If I can become a teacher, I will help them. I see what happens to the girls who stop going to school. They are married so early. With the transportation program, I can go to the center every week."

Your dollars impacted the lives of thousands of girls. We thank you for your support in helping us end the cycle of female illiteracy and in creating more opportunities to learn in rural Afghanistan. One female teacher has the power to change the future of girls’ education. 

Thank you for your support of Sahar's Teacher Training Center. According to Afghanistan National Education for All (EFA) Review 2015 Report, only 31.7% of total teachers in Afghanistan are female. "The reasons behind the low number of female teachers outside the major cities originate in the patriarchal social norms restricting the movement of adolescent and adult females in the Afghan society. The importance of female teachers can hardly be exaggerated as they are closely correlated to increased enrolment figures, not only in the lower grades but particularly so for girls in the higher grades." (Direct quote taken from report). Sahar's Teacher Training Centers are aimed at changing that statistic and those circumstances. You are part of making that happen. 

To paint the picture of the impact of your contribution, we'll let O and H's story speak for itself:  

O and H are students at the Teacher Training Center. We spoke with them while they were attending their computer class. One graduated from our girl’s school in Q and the other from our RB girls school. They are two success stories of not only their families and village but also of Sahar. Because of the schools Sahar built for them, they are now able to get a higher education and return to serve their communities.

Had they not had the opportunity to finish school, they wouldn't be able to attend the TTC. H told us, "We are so grateful for the TTC, we can come learn to become good teachers and to pass on our education to the children in our villages. When we have presentations, we first practice it within our families. We ask our parents and siblings to be our students and we present to them. They get to learn too. Because for them what we present is new so they ask questions about our presentations and challenge us to answer their questions. If we don't know the answer, we try to find the answers from our school and teachers." From what they told us, they are seen as role models in their communities because the education they have earned.

Even though O is married, she still comes to the TTC and the English & computer classes that are offered to the girls. She said she has full support of her husband and her her in-laws. In O's opinion, marriage should never be the reason for a girl to stop pursuing her education. She hopes to become a journalist someday. Since she learned how to use a computer, her family has purchased a computer for her. She gets to teach others how to use the computer as well. O said. "Because our parents didn't get to learn how to use the computer, they want and encourage us to learn it. We are happy that we can help others in our neighborhood." 

Thank you for enabling the next generation of Afghan women to gain an education. Your support is life-changing!