This microproject will equip a library room or area at an Ayni-supported school in Northern Afghanistan. The $2,500 goal will allow us to equip a school library with shelves, tables, and as many as 250 books. The math, science and reading books we provide are treasured by the schools, as is the place to store and use them. Our schools serve children of all ages, and the need for books and places to keep them is almost unlimited.
For students, books are a window to knowledge and the rest of the world. This window is especially important in the schools for Afghan girls that are supported by Ayni. Teachers are stretched thin, often have limited educations themselves, and have experienced little of the world outside their province, let alone their country. Access to the internet or other electronic media is limited at best.
Ayni equips schools with libraries to serve the needs of students of all ages. We buy an array of math, science and reading books that are age appropriate and sensitive to cultural issues, always with the goal of providing access to knowledge that is otherwise highly restricted. We also equip the library spaces with shelves, chairs and a table. The funding amount for each microproject ($2,500) is enough to furnish a typical library space and provide up to 250 books, serving about 500 students.
A well built, functioning school provides a healthy and safe environment for a community's children, and a place where they learn the skills they need to become productive and peaceful adults. Many school buildings have been constructed in Afghanistan in recent years. But a building alone does not make a school. To be successful, it must be supplied, have qualified teachers, be fully supported by its community, and become fully sustained by its community. That's our long-term goal.
