Education for Afghans through Radio/TV

Dear Friends,

Radio Meraj continues to make an impact on their listeners. Meraj listeners regularly share their personal experiences of how they apply the knowledge gained from the quality programs that Radio Meraj broadcasts to problems they face in everyday life. More importantly,  listeners often share how what they have learned has a beneficial impact on the community that they live in. Below is the story of how one listener made a difference in a little girl’s life and community.

Akbar, from the Herat Airport said as follow:

I am a worker at the airport. In the village of the Gozara District, where I live, a young man was in a relationship with a girl who is his neighbor. They wanted to get married. Their relationship was discovered by the villagers. The result was a dispute among family members. The traditional recommended resolution was they wanted the man's 8 year old sister to marry the girl's brother to solve the dispute. When I became informed of this issue, I called the Women Affairs Department. They came and prevented the marriage of the young girl.

My call was a result of listening to one of the programs of Radio Meraj that talked about how it is illegal to make girls marry at a premature age and that marriage instead of a bloodshed payment is also illegal. In the mornings when I leave home to go to work, I see the little girl happily on her way to school. I thank your radio which has helped me understand the correct path and I am happy about it.

Thank you for your continued interest in the power of radio!

CHI working towards: SDG Goal 4 – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Dear Friends,

The Afghan Institute of Learning and Creating Hope International have photos in this year's GlobalGiving's Photo Contest!

We need your help!
Please vote for these photos NOW until Friday, May 26th at 12:00:01 EDT.

AIL Photo     CHI Photo

Your vote will help us win a $1000 bonus prize and the opportunity to be featured on the GlobalGiving homepage and in their social media outreach! Thank You.

Updates from programs!

Girls team wins Technovation Challenge with Education App!
Professor Sakena Yacoobi High School , Herat has won first place in the girls  Technovation Challenge competition creating mobile phone applications.
The 5 girl team beat 36 other teams from Afghanistan with their education app Amozgar, that teaches literacy. Sponsored by AIL, they worked on this project for 3 months creating an app with the alphabet with audio and words and sentences.  Their message, “With Amozgar we change homes into schools.”
The team and their app now move on to the semi- final round of judging with 100 teams from around the world. Six finalists will be picked from this round to compete for the final prize.

Radio Meraj wins more Top Awards in Media in Western Afghanistan!
The Afghanistan Institute for Research and Studies held a contest for 161 media outlets. Meraj was permitted to enter 3 categories and won all 3!  Meraj won best news package, best analysis and speakers, and best innovative programming. In addition, a photographer working with AIL won the best photography prize for one of his AIL photographs.
The competition attracted media outlets from all over the western zone including the well- known stations that have been operating for decades. Meraj’s success is remarkable in that it has been in operation for only two years yet won awards usually associated with stations of 5 plus years of experience. It won the most awards among all the existing media.
Radio Meraj is many years ahead of its strategic plan and has gained popular and professional credibility and success making it one of the top three Herat stations.   The station operates 20 hours a day reaching 9 out of the 15 districts of Herat.