Teach Young Afghan Women to Teach Afghan Girls

Thank you for supporting the Dawlat-Abad Teacher Training Center (TTC), the only center that provides female high school graduates a career in the rural areas where Sahar worksk. Girls who attend this center have higher chances of attending two more years in Mazar-e-Sharif to take their career building to a higher level. TTC graduates have become local school teachers,encouraging other girls to attend school, contributing to a safer educational experience, empowering females economically, and contributing to female activism at a local level. Some TTC graduates have opened home schools for older illiterate women and have helped girls who are left behind from school to get back into the classroom.  

Unfortunately, all educational institutes, including the Sahar supported TTC, are closed by the Ministry of Education due to Coronavirus pandemic. Despite all economic activities on halt due to Coronavirus, we have continued to support the communities we have served for nearly 20 years.  For many of the families we work with, the main source of income is through day laborers. Without daily economic activities, the pandemic  has impacted them the most. Sahar is helping these communities by providing food, PPEs, and soap, keeping our staff employed, focusing on capacity development and training of staff from home, and providing self-care for the staff and students through phone. 

Sahar’s TTC previously had teachers who commuted daily from Mazar-e-Sharif(suburb) to Dowlat-Abad(rural), making a daily 45 minutes commute. In an attempt to enhance the program and use local talent, Sahar is hiring new graduates from Balkh University Information Technology Program to teach in the TTC. The new hires are from Dawlat-Abad, where our TTC is located and thus do not commute.  This lowers the risk of Covid-19 for our staff and security issues of travel, and makes them more accessible to their students..

The Sahar team appreciates your contribution and help during these hard times and hopes for your further support during the Coronavirus pandemic. Together, we are stronger!

Warmly,

Ginna Brelsford