ASDD’s initiative for girls’ education in Afghanistan.

The situation for women in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. The regime’s takeover has led to the implementation of numerous edicts that severely restrict women’s rights and freedoms, unraveling the progress made over the past two decades. These restrictions encompass all aspects of life, including education, employment, healthcare, and basic personal freedoms.

As part of ASDD’s objectives, we endeavored to assist several girls inside Afghanistan in any way possible. In addition to various advocacy activities, at the beginning of 2024, we launched an English course for 10 girls in Afghanistan. Through this project, we support them financially and have mentors as human resource support. Our main aim is to empower these girls pursue higher education and achieve their dream of gaining admission to university.

Objectives:

  • Provide access to English classes
  • Appoint volunteer mentors to assist them in learning English and guide them through the scholarship application process outside of Afghanistan.
  • Help them obtain TOFEL, IELTS, or any recognized English proficiency certificate
  • Provide psychosocial services

Our mentorship program for these girls has been running for two months now. The mentorship aims to help them prepare CVs and motivation letters, practice language skills, apply for university scholarships, and receive psychosocial support. ASDD provided financial support for the previous months through donations from Italian friends and the local community. Currently, we are seeking new funding to sustain the program initiated earlier this year.

Achievements and Future Plans:

  • Achievements: So far, the girls are supported financially and mentorship program successfully helps the girls improve their English proficiency and achieve other objectives of the initiative.
  • Future Plans: We aim to expand the program to include more girls. Additionally, we plan to establish partnerships with other organizations to secure further funding. We are also exploring online learning platforms to enhance the educational resources available to the girls.

Call to Action: We invite individuals and organizations to support this initiative through donations. Together, we can make a significant impact on the lives of these girls and contribute to the broader goal of women’s empowerment in Afghanistan.

Donation link: https://as-dd.eu/donations/3690/ 
or on our website, https://as-dd.eu and click the donation button.

Narratives and stories from our students: 

 

ASDD in its English course in Afghanistan already has 10 students, and we are actively seeking funding to support at least 20 girls for this year. In this segment, we aim to share memories and narratives from our students about their daily lives in Afghanistan. Due to security concerns, we must avoid disclosing any personal information about our students.

 

First students: “I promised myself that I will achieve my goals, I promised myself that never give up. I have experienced the worst things, and it will not make me give up. I never lose either I win or I learn!

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they created a lot of changes, such as recession, and unemployment. Most of the young generation emigrated from Afghanistan, and the Taliban limited and prevented girls and women from getting education and working outside. These actions of the Taliban shook all of the people, especially girls and women. Most girls didn’t want to be alive, even some of them committed suicide. We are those girls who we don’t have access to our primary rights. I would like to share one of my sad memories with you that happened during Taliban government.

Last winter, there were a lot of girls who studied in courses. Likewise, in our course, there were a lot of girls who were busy with studying. We talked to each other, and we had a great time, but this happiness was not for a longer time.

As usual, one day, while we were studying, the Taliban came to our course and said that after this time, you cannot go to course, and they closed the door of our course, all of girls with disappointed face and tearful eyes didn’t want to go home. My classmates and I were crying, and after some minutes, all of the girls went to their houses. When I came home, my family asked what happened. I narrated everything for them, and they became sad. I was crying even my sister who is 4 years old cried.”

Second student: “I live in a country where people are experiencing civil war and going through a tough situation. I graduated from school in 2022.  Now, I am one of the English students in English courses supported by ASDD. Yes, it is Afghanistan. Afghan girls can’t go School, university, courses, or outside to work freely, because we are girls.

In addition, I want to share one of my sad memories. Besides our studies, we formed a volleyball team, and sometimes we competed with other teams. I remember it was Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at 10:25. When we started the match, suddenly Taliban entered the campus and warned us badly. After that, they came to our class and said that “you are girls. Why are you playing volleyball? It is a big crime.” Also, they added that we would beat you all about ten whips. We all were shaking in our shoes and scared too much, and we started to cry. Finally, the office and the manager controlled the situation, and they promised to Taliban that our students will not play volleyball anymore. And now I want to say about my future plan. I want to be a successful Lawyer to help Afghan women. Also, I want to be a great translator because of that now I try very well.