The Afghan School Project

Last post, I touched briefly on the reason why the school in Afghanistan was chosen for this project. Today, I’m going to discuss what this project hopes to accomplish.

One of the project’s goals is to improve the school’s accessibility. As the Afghan government provides the teachers’ salaries, the school is free to attend. However, as it stands right now, many of the students can’t attend because the main school building is beyond walking distance from where they live. The security situation in Kandahar makes it difficult to safely travel long distances. While there are a few options being discussed, both Ehsan, the school’s principal, and myself favor a plan that would establish several community centres in residential areas. This would make life easier for everyone, as then there’s no more need to run expensive buses from the residential areas to the school. It also has the potential to strengthen the bond between the school and the community, while allowing hundreds of additional students to attend.

Once access to the school has been addressed, we can move on the next goal: connectivity. In an area of the world where access to information has been limited or actively restricted, access to the Internet can make a huge difference in the quality of a student’s education. Once the first of the community centres is established, it is our goal to furnish it, equip it with modern computers and provide it with access to the Internet. It may then be possible for these students to access online courses with colleges, institutes and universities around the world. Students are already receiving valuable English language training, which will make the courses that much more accessible. Just consider what a few hundred (or a few thousand) motivated and well-educated Afghans could do to make their country a better place.

This connectivity will go both ways. Not only will the Afghan students have access to the vast array of information on the Internet, but we’ll have the opportunity to learn more about their lives and their culture. As much as the media has done to keep us well informed of the situation in Afghanistan, they don’t have first hand knowledge of what it’s like to live, learn and work as an Afghan living in Kandahar. I’ve donated to a number of charities in the past, and I’ve always found it to be a rewarding experience. Still, it’s rare to find a charity that lets you know what your donation has actually accomplished, and how lives have been changed as a result. All of you who elect to visit this site on a regular basis will have the opportunity to learn of the project’s impact directly from the students who are benefiting from a modest investment of time and resources.

If you’d like to help, please take a few minutes and spread the word about what this project is working on, and what it hopes to accomplish. Whether you send a letter to your elected representative or send an e-mail to a single friend, you will be playing a vital role in ensuring that these students have access to the tools they need to change their lives for the better. If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I’ll respond as soon as I can.

Check back soon for additional information on the project’s progress…