Fall 2023 at AFSO
September 17, 2023
Dear friends and supporters of AFSO,
We are now launching our Fall series of live, remote seminars for university women in Afghanistan. We've expanded: this term, we are offering 12 seminars for more than 100 low intermediate to advanced English speakers in language arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM. Helping with those seminars will be a new cadre of teaching assistants from the TESOL program at Wesleyan University and the graduate writing program at the University of Massachusetts. We are also launching the Colloquium, our honors seminar for exceptional students who are preparing to complete their education outside Afghanistan.
We are also delighted to report that we have received a generous, anonymous private grant that has allowed us to hire an Executive Director. Amran Fatih has agreed to accept the position, and we are delighted to have him at the helm. Amran is fluent in Persian, Pashto, English, and Urdu, and has worked extensively in nonprofit and government enterprises, focusing on Afghan immigration and higher education for women. He has been involved with AFSO since last spring, focusing particularly on recruitment and transition counseling. Now he will be in charge of recruitment, applications, student testing, curriculum, media relations, our TESOL platform, data packages for students, and all other administrative tasks, which have grown rapidly along with the initiative itself.
This support has also enabled us to supply all students with the data they need to attend online classes, given the paucity of wifi and internet accessibility in Afghanistan. With the help of this grant, we can solidify our ability to prepare students for the TOEFL and other exams they need to complete their educational journey. We view the grant as a bridge that will allow us to pursue other fundraising and grant opportunities to sustain AFSO over the next several years. We are profoundly grateful to the donor who has stepped forward to support us in this way. Please watch future newsletters for updates on our forming a Board of Directors and forging new ties with other organizations seeking to help Afghan women.
Speaking of those ties: We now have professors teaching remotely from four continents: North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. These generous volunteers are all active or retired university professors with deep expertise in their field who are taking on the challenge of teaching non-native speakers who come to us with widely varying academic backgrounds. We applaud and are grateful for their efforts. Through their contacts and others, we are expanding our connections, which have previously included Wesleyan University, Bard College, the Open Society University Network, the Asian University for Women, and Global Goals Organization for Prosperity, to include the following:
Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan
Our mission is reflected in this recent brief essay by one of our new students this fall:
On the ground where the dreams were covered in gunpowder dust and bullets due to the intensity of the war, the rivers that had turned red from the blood of innocent people, the thoughts were deprived of thoughtful words, the way of communication that connects a society like the arteries. It has been cut off, this is my 2021 Afghanistan report...
The day we witnessed the sunset of two horizons, the sunset of the Afghan nation This nation has been going through hard times for more than two years with the fall of the government, the moment when the gates of science were closed and the gates of immigration were opened, the hopes of the oppressed people were buried alive and the religion of Islam was introduced to the world as the religion of terror. With all the problems, we were going to university with the hope that after completing the university courses, I would do legal internships, but in an instant, everything was lost we came home with a thousand apprehensions and fears we had no more progress and initiative a moving body without a soul the day I thought the university was a war zone, we were all kicked out of the university with light guns and sharp eyes, with ugly faces, with eyes that showed hatred for girls' education we left the university with tears in our eyes but in front of their poisonous laughter.
After that day, my friends and I were in a bad state of mind, the dreams in which progress, self-esteem and academic progress had ended, and the days where you always had to sleep and had no hope for life, changed and here. It should be said that sleep does not mean laziness, but rather discouragement and bad mood
With the passing of hard days and hard rules, I realized that hard conditions cannot hinder our progress. Until I decided to give hope to Afghan girls who are deprived of education, that's why I created courses by conducting which I was able to revive the hope of my Afghan girls who were in a state of despair and taught them that success is a secret that is the point There is no end, one must trust in God, work tirelessly and move forward with high self-confidence.
Please continue to spread the word through your professional contacts, friends and family. We are always looking for professors, especially professors who can teach English and STEM subjects. Our grant will carry us through the next 12 months, but donations will help us build a rock-solid support system for these women going forward. Please remember that $100 supports a data package for a student to attend class for a year. The Donate button is on the home page of our website, and we are hoping to have 501(c)3 status by year's end.
With thanks for all you are doing,
Lucy