THE AFGHAN PROGAM at CHS
LEARNING, GROWING, BELONGING
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that forbids girls and women from attending secondary and higher education. When the Taliban took control of Kabul following the collapse of the Afghan central republican government in 2021, they issued decrees that shut over 1.4 million girls out of classrooms past the sixth grade.
In the last four years, the generous support of our community has enabled Crofton House to welcome four young women from Afghanistan through our partnership with Women Leaders of Tomorrow— a Vancouver-based non-profit founded by former Olympic athlete Friba Rezayee that supports Afghan women and girls through education, mentorship, leadership, and sport.
The first two students joined CHS in 2022, and are currently attending UBC on full scholarships, having graduated in 2024. In June 2026, we were thrilled to see two more students— Lina and Hela— graduate from CHS.
The Afghan Program reflects our belief in the transformational power of education. While it creates lifechanging opportunities for young women from Afghanistan, it also enriches the Crofton House community by bringing new perspectives, deepening understanding, and reminding us of the power and privilege of learning together.
When Lina and Hela first learned about the opportunity to study in British Columbia, Crofton House School existed mostly as an online search result. Lina remembers looking up‘ Crofton House’ while in Afghanistan and noticing the students’ knee socks and Gordon tartan uniforms.
“ It sounded pretty unreal,” she said.“ I think it still hasn’ t sunk in: the fact that we came all the way from Afghanistan to CHS, halfway across the world. And we just started living as if it were really normal. And now we’ re graduating.”
Hela applied near the deadline and initially knew only of Women Leaders of Tomorrow( WLOT). When she later learned she had been accepted to Crofton House, the idea still felt hard to believe.“ After we booked the flight, I remember thinking,‘ Oh, this is actually happening’,” said Hela.
Coming to Crofton House meant returning to the classroom for both students. It also meant entering a new kind of school life: engaging in discussion-based learning around a Harkness table and in new activities that challenged them, and experiencing teachers who supported and empowered them, friendships taking root, and a community that became home.
EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY
Lina’ s journey to CHS held both anxiety and wonder. She remembers the process of applications, acceptance, and travel— and the disbelief that something so significant might really happen.
At Crofton House, she was drawn to Creative Writing 11 with Ms Robinson, Teacher, English, Senior School, as writing had helped her make sense of her experiences while in Afghanistan. Studying creative writing in English brought a new challenge, and the course became one of her most memorable experiences— particularly Harkness discussions.“ Sometimes you only look at a text or scenario from one perspective, and then you’ re immediately challenged with another perspective from another student. That makes learning so much more enjoyable and broad,” said Lina.
“ In Creative Writing 11, Lina was able to focus her considerable powers of observation to listen attentively to the contributions of others and find ways to either build on their ideas or offer an insight that took the class discussion in a completely new and unexpected direction that was always carefully grounded in the text we were exploring,” said Ms Robinson.
That way of learning helped Lina understand education differently. School became about thinking, questioning, and strengthening her own voice, including giving a powerful assembly presentation on the International Day of the Girl Child about her life and the life of women and girls in Afghanistan.“ It was very,
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