AFGHAN FEMALE STUDENT OUTREACH

One great thing about being involved with AFSO: time goes by in a blur, so fast that you hardly notice when an entirely new administration with entirely new priorities has taken root in your nation. We remain focused on the plight of women—specifically, university women. Specifically, university women in Afghanistan. Why? Because place  and gender at birth are accidents over which none of us has any power. And because helping university women is something we actually know how to do.

 

This month, we welcome 500 ongoing students and 300 new students to AFSO. It's an enormous expansion that we couldn't possibly manage without the 25 new professors and 32 new teaching assistants who have volunteered with us since we began last fall's classes. Just take a look at the course offerings this semester, and you have an idea of the range of learning we are now able to offer these students. Our new Academic Administrator, Nazia Shah, has had her hands full interviewing volunteers, juggling schedules, going over syllabi, and organizing our peer-taught Grammar classes. And our Student Affairs Coordinator, Katy Masuga, has been a one-woman Registrar's Office, Dean of Students, and IT Specialist for not only these 800 students, but also for the 3,500 who are anxious to join our program.

 

We welcome Janel Hill, who has volunteered to help students who need guidance counseling as they begin building applications for scholarships and admissions at universities online and outside Afghanistan. As more and more of our students become prepared to restart their higher education, helping them through the thicket of tests, forms, requirements, and varied academic cultures becomes increasingly important.

 

At the other end of the spectrum, we are actively investigating options for the students who have come to us without a high school diploma. This lack is entirely the Taliban's doing: they banned secondary school for girls in 2021. Still, to help these young women continue and complete their education, we need to refer them to programs where they can earn an accredited high school diploma. As I write, these projects are few, far between, and stretched beyond their capacity. We will continue to research possibilities and partner with other organizations to bridge the gap between where these young women were forced to leave off formal classroom learning and where they hope to enter higher education.

 

Amran Fatih, AFSO's Executive Director, and I are headed to California early in February to connect with institutions and supporters on the West Coast of the United States. With that area now devastated by fires brought about through climate collapse, we are enduringly grateful to those who can lift up their heads, look across the globe, and see the enormous need and even greater potential of our students. In what has begun as a difficult year, your support gives us all hope.

 

With thanks for all you do,