ACCC Director Ehsanullah Ehsan addresses guests during graduation

The ACCC offers employment-focused education and training that ensures graduates have the skills they need for employment success in the city of Kandahar and throughout Afghanistan during this critical time of rebuilding. More than half of the ACCC budget is provided by the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The ACCC also benefits from ongoing partnerships with both the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and the Canadian International Learning Foundation (CanILF).

The Deputy Governor of Kandahar Ghulam Jelani Hamayun, Director of Women’s Affairs Rona Tarin, Youth Affairs Manager Nisar Ahmad Arya, and other local community leaders attended the ceremony and expressed their pride in the students and school. After taking a tour of ACCC classrooms and speaking to students and teachers, they called the ACCC “a great success, and a sign of a progressive and peaceful Afghanistan.”

In addition to the women’s achievements, the ceremony also marked the graduation of 19 men from an English Language course that was offered in partnership with the American University of Afghanistan. During the ceremony, certificates were also awarded to six “Youth Champions of the Year” in recognition of their achievements in education, sport, and literature. Three female students of the ACCC were among the youth award recipients.

ACCC student receives a certificate in recognition of her achievements

ACCC Director Ehsanullah Ehsan spoke at the ceremony about how the occassion represents the successes and achievements of the ACCC and of the students. In just four years, the school and its students have made impressive progress on important issues such as gender equality, capacity building, education and employment. Ehsan emphasized the courage and dedication of his female students for pursuing their education and succeeding despite the continued challenges that women face in Kandahar.

Ehsan also took the opportunity to thank Canadian donors, volunteers, and CIDA for their continued financial and administrative support.  This was the first graduation ceremony to be held at the new ACCC Resource Center, a facility founded through donations made to the Canadian International Learning Foundation’s Afghan School Project. The Resource Center is large enough to accomodate 200 people and will be equipped with all of the furniture and technology necessary to serve as both an everyday research lab and as a public forum for student events. More than $15,000 has been raised for the ACCC’s Resource Center, and a further $10,000 is required for its completion.

The event was covered by local, national and international media, including Kandahar Television, Hewad Television, VOA Television (through Radio Television of Afghanistan), Shamshad Television, Surgar Weekly Newspaper, Benawa.com, Kalid Radio and Afghan Azada Radio.

Vital English is an e-Learning company which focuses on ESL (English as a Second Language) courses. Their diverse range of ESL courses enables educators and organizations to reach students in a manner best suited to their learning needs. They offer a wide range of courses from general English to English for Specific Purposes (such as Information Technology and Business), offering a ‘white label’ solution that carries the branding of the organizations using their materials.

The courses provided by Vital English will help to improve ESL training at our partner schools, help students in Afghanistan and Yemen obtain specialized employment, and enable students of all fields to conduct more effective research over the Internet. Vital English has a range of partners including the University of Cambridge who use their services for their online version of the IELTS and BULATS test preparation courses.

Students at the Afghan-Canadian Community Center who would like to study ESL with Vital English should inform their teacher of their interest.

An ACCC student delivers a graduation speech

On November 2^nd, 2009 a landmark ceremony was held in Kandahar to celebrate the graduation of 140 female students from the Afghan-Canadian Community Center (ACCC). The ceremony was attended by over 350 guests including teachers, parents, students, prominent members of the local community and media, and representatives of the Afghan and Canadian governments.

Among the graduates were ten students who completed a two-year Business Management Program provided online through a partnership with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). These ten students also received certificates, signed by the Prime Minister of Canada and presented by Jess Dutton, Acting Representative of Canada in Kandahar (RoCK), to mark their achievements in business management, computer technology and English language training. The ceremony also celebrated the graduation of a further sixteen students from the SAIT program upon completion of a Project Management course.

Jess Dutton presents ACCC students with certificates signed by the Prime Minister of Canada

Mr. Dutton recognized the hard work and dedication of the SAIT students under challenging circumstances, noting that the students’ achievements were an inspiration to Afghans and Canadians alike. He further encouraged the students to use their education to give back to their community in Kandahar, and their nation of Afghanistan.

The accomplishments of these students and the ACCC are significant, particularly considering they took place in a country that is still trying to recover from conflict and amidst the threats of a narrow minority who oppose women’s education. This achievement was further recognized in several speeches by local employers, who thanked the ACCC for raising the overall standard of education for women in Kandahar.

The graduating class of SAIT students at the ACCC

Bibi Zhilla, a graduating student from the SAIT program, spoke on behalf of her class about what it felt like to graduate from an international learning program. She thanked ACCC Director Ehsanullah Ehsan and her many teachers for their support and encouragement throughout the two year program and noted how the program instilled a confidence in herself and her fellow students, along with the many practical skills that they learned.

She assured the crowd that: “…the end of this course is just one of the many great accomplishments I hope to achieve in my life. Graduation from this course is just the beginning of a new flight for all of us and from this day onward everyone tries to work harder and participate in the reconstruction of the country.”

Shamim, another graduating SAIT student, noted the significance of the Prime Minister’s signature upon the certificates, which she felt clearly demonstrated the importance placed by the people of Canada on empowering the people of Afghanistan with the gift of education. The Government of Canada provides most of the operating budget of the ACCC via a capacity-building grant administered by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

ACCC Director Ehsanullah Ehsan and CIDA Development Officer Karine Landry

The Deputy Governor of Kandahar spoke during the ceremony, emphasizing that “Canadian investment in education is truly building us. Education can really help us a secure a better future.” He further noted that the ACCC could be proud of its many remarkable accomplishments.

The Director of Information and Culture, whose own daughters were in the graduating class, also spoke of his pride in the women’s achievements and asked the graduates to “…make the best of the knowledge you received for the betterment of yourselves and the people of Afghanistan.” Many speeches personally thanked ACCC Director Ehsanullah Ehsan for his tireless efforts, as well as the ACCC’s many teachers and supporters in Kandahar, Canada and around the world.

In his speech, Ehsan thanked Canadian donors, volunteers, and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for their considerable support. He noted that Canadian support has been not only financial but had also provided invaluable expertise and guidance which was helping the ACCC move toward self-sustainability. He also thanked his female students for the courage and dedication they’ve shown, despite the many challenges that women in Afghanistan still face. He praised the brave example they have set for future classes of women.

ACCC Director Ehsanullah Ehsan delivers his speech

The ACCC awarded certificates of appreciation on behalf of SAIT and the Canadian International Learning Foundation to 19 Kandahar journalists from a diverse range of news agencies and networks for their promotion and media coverage of education efforts in Kandahar. Graduates expressed their appreciation with handmade gifts to CIDA and SAIT staff members, CanILF volunteers, and Ehsan and his family.

The event was also covered by local, national and international media, including Kandahar Television, Larawbar, Pajhwok News (English / Pashto),  Benawa Online Pashto World, Surgar Weekly Newspaper (First Story, Second Story), ReliefWeb, Benawa,  and the MILNEWS Canada blog.

Afghan girls sing at the ACCC graduation

Interested in donating to a worthwhile cause, but want to know where your money’s going? Looking for that perfect wedding, birthday or holiday gift, but want to get something special? Is your school or class looking for a worthwhile social justice project? Sponsor a student from the Afghan-Canadian Community Center (ACCC) through our Adopt-a-Student Program!

For between $10 to $20 per month (depending on the student’s program), you can provide a scholarship to a specific student at the ACCC in Kandahar, whom you can learn about through their student profile. Your support will provide the life-changing gift of education to a student in need and help make a real and lasting difference in Afghanistan.

Adopt-a-Student also makes a great gift. Just let us know that you would like to receive a gift package, and we will prepare a package that includes a personalized letter from the Learning Foundation, a student profile, and information regarding the Afghan-Canadian Community Center and the Canadian International Learning Foundation. What’s more, all donations over $20 are eligible for tax receipts.

If your class or school is looking for a social justice project, adopting a student at the ACCC is the perfect place to start. Your students will be able to communicate with the Afghan students whose education they are helping to fund. This will give your students a new appreciation for their own education and inspire our students to repay your gift by making a lasting contribution to her community and the future of Afghanistan.

The education provided by the Afghan-Canadian Community Center has helped hundreds of students and graduates obtain valuable employment and each employed ACCC student provides economic support to seven members of their immediate and extended family. We need your help to offer this life-changing opportunity to students in Kandahar.

To Adopt-a-Student, please contact us by e-mail at adoptastudent@canilf.org or by phone at (613) 614-5349. 100% of all donations made via the Adopt a Student program go directly to funding scholarships at the ACCC.

]]> http://www.theafghanschool.org/2009/08/11/adopt-a-student/feed/ 56 http://www.theafghanschool.org/2009/07/31/roshan-donates-high-speed-internet-access-to-accc/ http://www.theafghanschool.org/2009/07/31/roshan-donates-high-speed-internet-access-to-accc/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:00:50 +0000 Afghan School Project http://www.theafghanschool.org/?p=282 Roshan, the leading GSM cellular service provider in Afghanistan, has generously agreed to provide the Afghan Canadian Community Center (ACCC) with high speed internet for the use of its students and teachers, as well as the greater Kandahar community. This donation will allow the students to make the most of more than 70 computers at the ACCC, which make up the largest series of computer labs in the province. Many of these computers were purchased with the assistance of Afghan School Project donors in Canada and around the world.  

The high-speed Internet access will allow ACCC students to better study with variety of international education programs, including the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Business Management certificate program, Canada eSchool courses at the secondary level, and one-on-one ESL tutoring with the Alliance for International Women’s Rights over Skype. The staff of the ACCC can also now communicate with its partners around the world via real-time video-conferencing.  

Roshan is Afghanistan’s leading telecommunications provider and one of the country’s largest private employers. It has invested greatly towards improving Afghanistan’s socio-economic development. In addition to donating high-speed Internet to the ACCC, Roshan has also donated 18 LCD monitors and a projector. In recognition of this generous donation, the ACCC named one if the computer labs in Roshan’s honour. 

“Roshan” means “light” in both Dari and Pashto, the two national Afghan languages and they have lived up to their name. Roshan is not only an important player in the developing Afghan economy, but plays an important social role as well, with women making up twenty percents of Roshan’s workforce.  

The ACCC and the Afghan School Project look forward to a long and prosperous partnership with Roshan as both organizations work to provide educational and employment opportunities to the people of Afghanistan.

Now in its ninth year, the cake auction has become quite a tradition and a major event in the school’s fundraising calendar. In preparation for the auction, students collect funds in their classes, to bid on cakes baked by various members of the school community. Each year, a charity is chosen as the recipient of the money raised during the event.

Approximately 160 cakes were baked this year, and the funds raised matched the highest total ever. The fundraising was also given a boost by CanILF President Ryan Aldred, who spent an entire day at the school in April, giving presentations to a number of classes on CanILF’s Afghan School Project. In addition to that initiative in Kandahar, the funds raised from the cake auction will also help support CanILF’s new Uganda Literacy and Education Program (ULEP).

Special thanks go to a dedicated teacher, Maura Tubridy, a group of senior students, and the grade seven and eight religion classes, who helped organize the cake auction and ensure its success, as well as the entire school community at St. Matthew. The students in Afghanistan and Uganda will certainly benefit from your generosity.

If you would like to host a fundraiser to benefit one of the Learning Foundation’s projects, please contact us at staff@cilf-feic.org. Our volunteer staff would be glad to help you plan the event!

Through Share the Love, we will receive a minimum donation of $500, and you can help us earn an even larger donation – a total of $5,000 per category is available! Proceeds will support the Afghan-Canadian Community Center via the Afghan School Project.

Here’s how to help: Go to www.divine.ca/sharethelove (or click the Vote button below) and cast your vote for the Canadian International Learning Foundation in the International category. No registration is required!

The final number of votes cast for us will determine how much of an additional donation divine.ca will award our organization. You can vote once a day for the duration of the voting period which runs from April 6 to May 15, 2009. Also, please consider sharing this article with family and friends who might also be willing to vote for us.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support – it is deeply appreciated by myself, our volunteers and our students!

Best Regards,

Ryan Aldred
President
The Canadian International Learning Foundation

Education Generation believes education is a fundamental right, a powerful force to break the cycle of poverty, and key to building a future of hope and understanding. They seek to provide access to funds for motivated, hard-working students – not handouts. Through their website, donors can search for and sponsor individual students with almost no overhead costs. Apart from payment processing fees, 100% of all donations go directly to the students.

Ali Raza, the first ACCC student to have his profile posted, has already received all the funding he requires for this school year. Four more ACCC student profiles have been posted, with more to follow in the coming weeks.

In addition to the ACCC, Education Generation has sponsored students in Peru, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Kenya. So far, since August 2008, Education Generation has funded 74 students at the high school and post-secondary level.

Donations made to ACCC students through Education Generation will not only allow those specific students to attend school in Kandahar, but will also help fund the women’s education programs at the ACCC. Proceeds from the Men’s Program at the school are used to help subsidize the cost of the Women’s Program. All women’s courses at the ACCC are provided to students at no charge.

The courses offered by eSchool are very flexible, offer continuous enrolment, and can be accessed from anywhere at any time, making them ideal for students on the other side for the world. Programs such as this make it possible for students in Kandahar to get access to education that they would otherwise be unable to receive. This kind of education enables students to obtain valuable jobs with local and international employers and allows them to give back to their community.

Canada eSchool has also agreed to provide further courses to ACCC students at significantly discounted rates. The Afghan School Project is proud to partner with the ACCC to sponsor students in Kandahar for this unique opportunity. To help, please visit our Donate page.

Together with their affiliate school, Canada eSchool is one of Canada’s largest private online learning programs for international secondary students, and provides courses which are accepted by Universities and Colleges in Canada and around the world. The initial group of ACCC students is expected to begin their classes by mid-February.

The library and the other facilities used by the Afghan-Canadian Community Center are funded through a grant provided by the Government of Canada and administered by the Canadian International Development Agency, and through private donations to the Afghan School Project. These books provide an invaluable link to our shared knowledge of the world, and are greatly appreciated by our students. I hope you will join me in expressing our sincere thanks for this precious gift from generous Canadians.

ACCC Director Ehsan Ullah and students eagerly look through the books provided by the Canadian PRT