Students are preparing for their final exams before summer break in our nine rural schools in Northern Afghanistan. Temperatures are already soaring and it is important to remember that no school has air conditioning; no heat in the winter and no cool air in the spring/summer. The small comforts of a desk can be a luxury many students do not have. Thanks to your donor dollars, we have been able to maintain a steady stream of desks projects - building new and replacing the old as student populations in our schools continues to grow. When schools become too crowded, the children return to tents and many bring plastic chairs from home to sit on. For those with no chairs, they find stones to sit on in the school yard. Our commitment to providing desks remains steadfast: it provides a clean place, off the ground, for the students to sit and study and it also provides local jobs for the workers building the desks.
Your contributions also help our school liaison continue to visit the rural areas, meet with community officials, principals, the girls and families. The liaison facilitates the Parent-Teacher meetings and assists with ongoing community building activities. This engenders support for the schools -- this is particularly important in areas where girls' education can and does come under fire with more conservative elements in villages. The liaison also acts as a mentor to the girls while listening to their stories and ideas about school, she also prods them into thinking about their futures and what can be for their lives and that of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan will change dramatically in the next 18 months, that is for certain. Your support is more important now than ever. We can provide the physical and human resources to focus on education - a crucial element to the future of the nation as it navigates a presidential election, US troop withdrawal and other foreign troop draw downs. Education will be the certain bet for a bright future. Thanks for continuing to support the children. They will make the difference.
Thanks to your generosity and continued help with supporting this school in Balkh Province, Northern Afghanistan, we have met our initial project goal but there is yet much do fund: additional desks, teacher transportation and transportation for our school liaisons to this rural site.
It is winter in Afghanistan and school is out for two months. Between fall and the winter break, students at this village school were able to experience 4 new classrooms and sit at new desks funded in part by our donors at Global Giving. Imagine that a year ago, these girls and boys were frequently sitting on the floor and now, quite simply, their hygiene has vastly improved while also allowing for greater concentration with less crowded conditions including desks, chalkboards and class room additions.
With your additional support, we will build the necessary number of new desks to fill the school's ongoing needs. As new children enter the school, we need to replenish and renew our supply of desks. Our teachers also need transportation costs to be covered to access this remote site and our school liaisons require transportation costs to be covered as well. The impact of your dollars will be matched by the Safer World Fund at 50%.
Over 600 boys and 516 girls attend the school and will return when spring arrives in Afghanistan.
We at Ayni Education International are grateful to you the donors for your ongoing support. The children of Afghanistan, especially in the rural areas, require extra attention and providing them with the equipment - desks and classroom additions -- has made an enormous difference in their educational experience. Let's continue making that difference!
We want to thank you for your continued help with funding for this school in Northern Afghanistan. This school is in a very rural area and because of this it is difficult to travel to and from. As such, it is important to help develop this school as a safe environment for girls from surrounding villages to attend. Since our last update we wanted to let you know that the 4-classroom addition to this school is finished and full functioning. Now the girls who were sitting on the floor in crowded classrooms have 4 new classrooms with desks. Our goal with this project is to continue to work with this community in any way that we can to help the educational process for this school to expand in new ways, increasing the opportunities for the students in this school. Currently there are 600 boys and 516 girls attending this school. There are 19 teachers at this school. Continued funding helps with transporting qualified teachers to and from the school. We greatly appreciate your help and hope you will continue to help us make a difference in the lives of students in rural Afghanistan.
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The projects for 2012 are; the addition of four rooms to the original school structure, financial assistance for transportation for teachers, completion of a security wall for the school property, delivery of 100 desks, and the addition of a new library using the existing facilities. Strong progress has been made so far in finishing the school, but additional funding is necessary to complete all the projects!
Construction of all four classrooms is nearly finished, some work on the roof remains. Once the roof is completed, the windows and doors will be installed and finishing work will begin. With the distribution of the budgeted funds we expect to have this project completed by mid-September 2012.
The security wall construction relied heavily on working with the local community. Money was only provided for the building materials, requiring the community to invest in the school’s security by providing the labor to finish the wall. We have given half of the budgeted money for building materials with the remainder to be provided upon completion of the wall.
All 100 desks for the school have been prepared and were delivered in May. This part of the project is complete. Work on the library will begin after the completion of the four-room addition.
To Ayni Education Internation, spring in Afghanistan means: time to start school! Schools close in the winter due to the extreme weather and lack of heating fuel. But as soon as the weather breaks, the schools open up and the students enthusiastically return.
In 2012, spring at this rural girls and boys school means: time to start the new four-room addition. We are off to a good start for this rural school. The Ministry of Education has approved our plan. We have met with the local elders and school principal, lined up local workers for construction, and started to purchase and deliver material. They've broken ground and have started work on the foundation.
The Safer World Fund 505 match is still available, but it won't last much longer. Take advantage of it now if you can!
Many thanks,
Ginna
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