AFGHANISTAN ’ S FRONTIER :
It can take days or weeks to get from Faizabad , the provincial capital of Badakhshan , to the end of the Wakhan Corridor . People living in this isolated panhandle , sandwiched between Pakistan to the south and Tajikistan to the north , have been deprived of basic education and resources for decades . With little political leverage and only occasional access to the outside world , this wasn ’ t likely to change any time soon . That is , until CAI came into the picture . Specializing in helping isolated communities like these , CAI set out to build schools and provide the people with educational resources . Today , the Wakhan is home to 13 schools built by CAI overseas partners and four other schools are supported by CAI funds .
The Wakhan was not the only region of Afghanistan cut off from educational resources . Narray , in Afghanistan ’ s eastern Kunar Province , is one of the most conflicted districts of Afghanistan . In 2009 , an estimated 70 % of the region ’ s population did not have access to education , there were no schools for girls , few schools for boys , and roughly 40 % of children dropped out of school before completing the fifth grade .
Wakil Karimi , CAI Afghanistan
Other groups , nonprofit organizations and the government alike , were too afraid to work in the area . So CAI-partner organization Star of Knowledge ( SKO ) stepped in .
Wakil Karimi , director of SKO , wrote “ We were the first to build a school for girls , Batyash Girls School , in 2010 . Since then , we have built seven more schools there and close to 1,640 students are receiving an education .”
Education changes the lives of students it touches .
A young woman named Madina can attest to that fact . Madina was a student at Banat ul Muslimin Girls ’ High School when Marco Polo Reconstruction Services Director Janagha Jaheed encountered her for the first time . The school had no building to protect students from the elements , and lessons were taught outside . When Jaheed first spoke with Madina , he said she was sitting in the open air in the shadow of the school toilets . The smell was overpowering as he bent down to ask her what was her greatest hope .
“ We have spent 11 years of our school time sitting on the ground and sometimes getting wet if it rains ,” Madina said . “ So my greatest ambition is to have a school building before graduating from 12th grade . I want to sit on a chair and be able to study my lessons both on sunny and rainy days .”
Jaheed was determined to give these children a school , but he knew he would have to hurry if it was going to be completed before the 11th grader graduated .
A few months later , Jaheed made good on his promise to Madina .
“ On the day of school inauguration I asked [ Madina ] to come and cut the ribbon . She was crying due to happiness ,” Jaheed recalls . “ I cried too . That was the second time I cried - the first was when I saw the horrible conditions of the children sitting outside and then for happiness when the new building is complete .”
These stories are just the tip of the iceberg , a brief glimpse at the impact hundreds of programs have had over the course of two decades . Our in-country partners have been on the ground watching change happen , day in and day out . They tell us that the children who went to class in the first CAI-supported schools have graduated and are having children of their own . Taking after their parents these girls and boys are now getting their own education , continuing the cycle of learning . The women who took part in literacy and vocational trainings are providing for their families , giving them a better life . Scholarship students are getting advanced degrees , doing the research that will shape their countries for generation to come .
All of this was made possible because a few well-meaning people , like yourself , came together to form a global family and together declared that education was the way to a better world — one without poverty , illness , ignorance , and war . After 20 years , so much has been accomplished , so many lives have been changed . Yet , there is still work to be done . As long as there are
girls who dream of an education , we will continue our mission to make their dreams come true . We cannot wait to see what the next 20 years hold . •