AFGHAN FEMALE STUDENT OUTREACH

August 18, 2023

Dear friends of AFSO,

We have just finished up our Summer 2023 pilot program of eight live, remote seminars for university women living in Afghanistan. More than a hundred women took seminars in engineering, philosophy, political science, writing & rhetoric, mathematics, chemistry, and English as a Second Language, taught by university professors from five different institutions in the Northeast. Among the comments in our student evaluations were these:

Thanks AFSO for providing such a brilliant opportunity for Afghan female students. As an Afghan girl i appreciate your work today and always. I hope you can continue this strategy and make Afghan female students more success in their lives goals. 

AFSO always asks about our problems, our suggestions, and sends us emails for more clarification. it helps me to feel myself part of the class and a student.

I love my professors and being able to reach high levels. I want to achieve my dreams by such classes. I want AFSO to continue these programs forever.

With the help of our generous donors, we will be continuing and expanding our offerings for fall. Contributions have enabled us to create an organizational subscription to our academic English learning platform, since most of our students require more English to pursue regular university classes. We are also launching the Colloquium, a small group of advanced students who will begin preparing applications and making plans to complete their education outside Afghanistan. Donations will provide data packages for these students to offset the dearth of internet accessibility in Afghanistan, so they can take advantage of encounters with representatives of the partners we are now working with, including

• The Asian University for Women
• The Open Society University Network
• The American University of Central Asia
• Pomona College and the Global Student Haven Initiative
• The University of Dundee

Other seminars on deck for this fall include

• Poetry with Professor Sheila Fisher, Trinity College;
• English and Public Health with Professor Judy Lewis, University of Connecticut; and Public Health with Professor Marianne Agostino, Nordic School of Public Health;
• Research Methods for Architects and Urban Designers with Professor Alexandra Staub, Pennsylvania State University;
• Physics with Professor Francesco Arneodo, New York University;
• English with Focus on Writing & Rhetoric with Professor Erin Frymire, Trinity College;
• Anthropological Theory & Fieldwork with Professor Janet Bauer, Trinity College;
• Chemistry with Professor Janet Morrison, Trinity College;
• The Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke with Erik Vogt, Trinity College;
• English Language Learning and Critical Thinking with Professor J. Donald Moon, Wesleyan University;
• 1000 Splendid Suns and Writing from Life with Professor Lucy Ferriss, Trinity College.

Seminars remain non-credit, though we are exploring the possibility of issuing certificates, and some classes may become eligible for provisional university credit through the OSUN network. We have also set up a team of Transition Facilitators to help our students navigate the trauma-strewn paths they are on, including communication issues; family issues; the many difficult, expensive, and time-consuming steps to emigration; and a sometimes daily battle against despair. We are beginning to apply for grant funding and hope to receive our 501(c)(3) status by year's end. Meanwhile, all contributions are currently going to improving accessibility for our neediest students, so they can attend these classes for which they are so motivated.

Heartfelt thanks to all who are voluntarily teaching and all who have made tax-deductible contributions to Afghan Female Student Outreach. We hope you will consider giving again and will spread the word  to all those who care about the plight of Afghanistan's best and brightest young women.

All best wishes for fall,

Lucy Ferriss

Director, Afghan Female Student Outreach

 

 

 

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