Learning Centers for Rural Afghan Women

Dear GlobalGiving Donors,

Thank you so much for supporting the Afghan Institute of Learning’s (AIL) various projects on GlobalGiving. Over the years, the Global Giving donors have become invaluable to AIL. Through your generous support, AIL has been able to provide Afghans with education, health care, training and more.

It is your continued support that is now allowing AIL to evolve along with the young people of Afghanistan. We’d like to share with you the story of how one young woman’s life has been changed thanks to one of AIL’s programs:

I am a 19-year-old woman with two children. I had always wanted to go to school and learn to read, but there was not a school close to my home. It was not safe for me to try and travel to another village to go to school, but I always told myself that if I could go to school, I would be able to get a job and reach my goals.

It was painful to me when my brother learned to read and write, but I couldn’t. One day I watched some women and children who were going somewhere. When I saw that one of them was a woman who had an 8-year-old girl with her, I stopped her and said “Excuse me. Where are you going?” She answered, “A learning center has been established for illiterate women and their children recently. I am going to register myself and my children.”

When I heard this, I was so happy and I said to her, “Please wait a minute. I want to go with you and start to take classes too.” I joined them on their way to the learning center. When we arrived, I was so excited because I saw a lot of women there who had been learning.

Now, I can read and write and I can say proudly that I am literate. I have also learned to be healthy and to be a leader. I am reaching out and touching my wishes and goals. I thank AIL for this opportunity to reach my goals.

Thank you for the support that you give to AIL. We are so grateful to all of our supporters for their continued support of our projects on GlobalGiving. Thank you!

The Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) and Creating Hope International (CHI) thank our donors for their support of our learning centers in Herat. In the last six months, our 17 learning centers brought education to almost 9,000 Afghans, 6,000 of which were women. Through our educational workshops in Herat, we trained 643 more women in topics such as reproductive health, human rights, democracy, and leadership. AIL is making large strides in the progress and education of women and your donations are making it possible.

Aside from traditional educational courses such as literacy, Arabic, English, math and science, we offer skill-based courses in computers, tailoring, and weaving for women so that they can take these acquired skills and earn a living for their families. An illustrative example of this is the woman Afsana. Housebound and not allowed to go to school by her family, members of the community talked to her family and convinced them to allow her to go to a learning center in Sufi Abad, near Herat.

"My name is Afsana. I was living in Shindand district about 200km away from heart city. My husband is addicted. My family didn't let me study. When I saw people read and write and they could use computers I thought I went back to 100 years ago so I came here to change my life."

AIL registered her for classes and after she became literate, she was soon studying English and computer technology. In one year, she went from an illiterate housewife to working as an office assistant for a large company, due to her newfound computer skills. Afsana is one of many women whose lives have been completely changed by the education AIL provides through our learning centers.

We have a big year planned ahead and we hope to open more centers in the Herat region to better serve those who have the least access to education. We are just starting up a new set of mobile literacy workshops and classes for the Herat region in particular. Soon, more women and children from Herat will learn how to read using mobile phones as a learning tool. Again, we want to thank you all for your support of our programs!