By Sondra Johnson | Project Update for AIL Empowers Afghan Women
Recently, AIL was asked by the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs to report on the impact AIL’s programs have had. We were amazed by our findings. Since beginning in 1996 through May 2009, 220,970 Afghans have been educated and received skills training in AIL schools, centers and post-secondary programs. 27, 619 Afghans (more than 70% female) have received teacher training or capacity-building training. AIL has supported 13 clinics serving 998,088 patients and providing health education to 1,520,374 women and children. Overall 6,778,026 Afghan lives have been directly impacted by AIL programs.
With the help of your donations, during the first 6 months of 2009, AIL has been able to:
--Provide education to 7,864 women and girls. --Provide educational workshops to 1,343 women and girls. --Provided healthcare to 44,838 women and girls at AIL clinics.
During a recent workshop at an AIL center, one of the participants shared this story with the center staff: “I was illiterate and my husband had graduated from high school. My husband’s mother told me that I should learn to read by participating in a literacy course, but that I must take the class at a center where there would not be any men in my class. I found the AIL center and decided to take classes here with my sisters. My husband’s mother has never come here with me, until today. She stood outside the class and watched as our Life Skills class was taught by a man, and I worried about what I should say to her. I began to relax as I realized that my teachers were good and moral people, and decided that I must be patient and after class I would talk to my husband’s mother. When I came out of class, I saw her standing there and I shared with her all of the things I had learned. She told me that she could hear that I was being taught well, and that she would like to join our class.”
A woman taking classes in AIL’s beautician courses shared her thoughts with the AIL staff. “One of my friends told me about the high quality of education you could receive at AIL’s center in our town. I liked the beauty parlor, and was admitted to this course. Since I started learning this skill, I have made many friends at the center and in my community. Besides just making friends, I am also learning about what kind of make-up and hairstyles different women like to have. After graduating from the beautician course, I opened my own business. Day by day, I become even more interested in my skill and began my business by doing hair and make-up for poor women for free. This skill commands a good income in my community and I have been able to buy the necessary tools and equipment to make my beauty parlor the best it can be. I am able to help my family with my income and this is all because of the AIL center. I really appreciate AIL providing life changing opportunities for women and girls.”
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