The 500 students at AFSO have risen out of despair and are attaining scholarships at universities around the world, to complete their education and live lives of purpose. How do they do this? On their phones. Lacking computers or wifi, our students in Afghanistan access classes with volunteer university professors through mobile phone data, which they afford only with the help of the secure data packages we send monthly. Data is literally their lifeline to the world and to their future.
AFSO is currently serving 500 university women across Afghanistan who were expelled from education by the Taliban. We have 3,000 students on our waitlist. Through classes in English, critical thinking, research, and university subjects, we have built a pathway for them to complete their education online or outside Afghanistan. But with Afghan infrastructure and economy in ruins, students have only their mobile phones to access the opportunity we give them. They need data to shape their future.
With $50,000 in additional funding for data, AFSO can afford to admit another 250 students to our program--the 250 who have the greatest need, as they had begun university and are now in their early 20s, unable to work and at risk of being forced into marriage, shutting off the education that means everything to them. We may also be able to connect students to more online, degree-granting opportunities through our partnerships.
The Taliban will not hold power forever. When they last fell, no women were trained and educated to assume positions of responsibility. With this investment, we can build our students' capacity to succeed at universities outside Afghanistan and stand ready to rebuild their country--politically, culturally, financially, academically, and artistically. We will not only save their lives, but make an investment in a future democracy.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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