'Tis the Season
November 17, 2024
Dear friends of AFSO,
As we enter International Education Week and the run-up to Thanksgiving, I want to thank all of you who continue to take an interest in the education of these amazing women half a world away. The world has grown smaller, as we all know. Our students in Afghanistan were keenly aware of the American elections and the impact they will have on Afghan women's hopes and dreams.
International Education Week also leads up to Giving Tuesday. We know—you are already receiving appeals from all the good causes you donate to, and others besides. What we are hoping, right now, is that some of you might like to join our campaign, by setting up a personal page to which your friends and family can donate when they learn how keenly you're interested in this initiative. Already, some of our instructors and teaching assistants have been inspiring friends and family. This particular effort, which culminates on December 3, focuses on the data we need to keep AFSO alive. Only the privileged few have wi-fi in Afghanistan, and our students rely on their phones and mobile data to access their classes, meet with professors, and interview with scholarships and universities. They lack the funds for the data they need, so AFSO provides $20 worth of data monthly for all students in good standing in their classes. It's no exaggeration to say that this data is saving lives.
If you'd like to join us, here's a little video to show you how to do that. The URL for the campaign is https://givebutter.com/zNnyPl . You can set up your own page, let people know why you care about AFSO, and invite them to invest in the impact we're having. Whether you are a friend of AFSO, a student of AFSO, a teacher, a teaching assistant, or simply AFSO-curious, tell your story and spread the word!
Speaking of impact, we are delighted to report that at least two dozen of our students have made applications to online and brick-and-mortar universities this fall. Several are in the final stage of receiving full scholarships. So please stay tuned for that news.
To help manage this continually growing program, we're also delighted to announce that we have hired Nazia Shah as AFSO's Academic Administrator. Nazia comes to us from the Claremont Graduate School, where she had earned an M.A. in Human Resource Management. Previously, among a number of accomplishments, she worked for ten years in Afghanistan under the auspices of the World Bank to facilitate cross-cultural communication and understanding between international experts, local stakeholders, and Afghan educators. She holds an MBA from the American University of Afghanistan and an MPhil from Iqra University in Pakistan. Nazia will be managing all aspects of the curriculum, including onboarding and helping professors and teaching assistants as well as shaping the academic program to best serve our students. Nazia joins Amran Fatih, Executive Director, and Katy Masuga, Student Affairs Coordinator, to make a solid team of three running our evolving enterprise for the benefit of the young Afghan women we serve.
A Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate, and peace to all,
