Send 1,700 Children to Elementary School

As the incoming Director of the US office for Barakat, I am incredibly humbled and honored to have the opportunity to advance Barakat’s mission to provide exemplary education in Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularly for girls and women.

In the past few months I have read national coverage detailing tragic events with the destruction of eight girls and four boys schools in Northern Pakistan. A New York Times article from the Spring, also shed light on the situation we are working amongst in Afghanistan to provide education to both boys and girls. 

These reports only highlight the importance of Barakat’s vision that education is important for everyone not only because it is an entry point to other opportunities, but also because the survival and growth of society depends on it. Barakat is impacting positive social change at a time when it's most needed.

In our last update, we reported that a handful of girls have returned to the Bish Kapa School. Unfortunately, the situation is dire with the Taliban active in the Aqcha district and the Surkh village where the school is located. While student enrollment in the school is stable for now, it is still low for this year. We continue to monitor the situation and work with our teachers and team in Afghanistan to support the Bish Kapa School and the student needs. We remain committed to keeping the school open and providing the security it needs.

Thankfully, we still have 1390 students enrolled in the Mullah Karim Nazar school and more than 500 students enrolled in our at home literacy programs this year. We are still educating close to 2,000 students in Afghanistan alone. This is something to be hopeful about and energizes us at Barakat as we move into the Thanksgiving holiday here in the USA. We are also thankful for your continued support for Barakat.

I look forward to staying in touch with you all with updates on our schools in Afghanistan. Happy Thanksgiving!