The Afghan School Project

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After considering a number of different ways to pursue fundraising for the Afghan-Canadian Community Center, we’ve decided that one method of raising resources will be to issue donor requests. Each donor request will, in essence, be a smaller project within the community center, that in turn contributes to the community center’s operating costs.

These requests will offer several ways for donors to support the school’s aims, and will allow you to choose a method of support that best matches your interests and financial situation. This will also allow you to see the results of your generosity as the projects progress.

Described below is the first such donor request, as prepared by Ehsan:

Independent Internet Facility for Women in Kandahar at the Afghan-Canadian Community Center

A historical initiative towards enhancing the independence, education and development of women in Kandahar.

Program Description

The goal of this project is to empower women in Kandahar by facilitating their exposure to knowledge and information via the Internet as a means of enhancing their effectiveness and productivity in their communities.

The Internet has already established itself in the world as being one of the most popular and fastest growing sources of up-to-date general and research information. Accessing Internet services as a tool to improve and enrich women’s knowledge and education is unique. Business activities, communication and cross-cultural understanding will all be enhanced by increased Internet exposure. Openness to the outside world in the commercial and communal activities of women in Kandahar will be improved as a result of access to the Internet in a secure and supportive environment.

People of this region in general and women in particular are in great need of improved access to knowledge and information. Open access to information will assist people in bringing stability in the area and help in the improvement of people’s attitudes towards the government and international community. Access to this information will encourage peaceful behavior, and will promote cross-cultural understanding and co-existence.

E-commerce is well established in advanced countries and businesses already understand the need for a presence on the internet as an efficient means of attracting customers and promoting their businesses actively 24 hours per day.

Public information centers can play an important role in this context for the spread of information promoting peaceful, long-term solutions to problems.

Total cost of this donor request is CAN$350.00 (US$300) a month, at an annual cost of CAN$4200 (US$3600.00).

-Ehsan

In the case of this particular donor request, funding has been provided by an anonymous donor to allow this program to begin operations for the first six months. Additional contributions will extend the life of the program.

Donor requests will reflect the specific costs of the particular project, as well as the associated costs of operating the ACCC in support of that project. As an example, if a program will run for 4 hours a day, and the ACCC is open a total of 16 hours a day, the project will include 25% of the ACCC’s monthly costs for the duration of the program. Specific costs may include additional teachers, textbooks and course material, as examples.

We are committed to making the most of our donors’ contributions. Unless otherwise indicated, no portion of your donation will be used to finance fundraising, advertising or administrative overhead.