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    AWAI Education Center


    The Afghan Women's Association International has the unique opportunity to not only make lasting changes in the lives of many Afghan women, but to also help shape the future stability of a country reborn from the ashes of war and oppression. Rahima Haya, Co-Founder of AWAI's Widow Project, went as a delegate on the July-August 2002 trip to Afghanistan with Global Exchange. Her mission was to assess the educational needs of people and to provide support for the educational system in Afghanistan.

    AWAI's Rahima Haya with Mary MacMakin, PARSA Director, and staff. Inside the literacy class for AWAI'S Education Center for Widows

    In collaboration with PARSA (Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Support for Afghanistan), Rahima Haya established AWAI's Women's Education Center for Widows in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 10, 2002. The aim of this project is to assist at least 30 women to become literate at least up to the sixth grade level in Dari, while also providing training in basic health and child care techniques within a six-month period. The literacy curriculum is divided into three, two-month periods. AWAI will provide funding for the salary of teachers and staff, stipend for students, and rent of the building and supply of school materials. Total expenses for this project currently totals $1433.50.

    Rahima Haya met with widows that were sponsored through the Afghan Widow's Project. One of the first widows sponsored was Gul Ghottay Jamal who was sponsored for four years while she was living in Peshawar, Pakistan. Her husband and two children were killed during the civil war in Afghanistan. She now lives with her two remaining children in Kabul, Afghanistan and she is now enrolled in the AWAI Women's Education Program. Rahima Haya distributing food to children at Aschiana Street Children Center

    In addition to establishing the Women's Education Center for Widows, Rahima Haya toured established educational and social institutions conveying AWAI's support and financial assistance:

  • Mrs. Haya made a $200 cash donation to the Women's Vocational School run by the Ministry of Women's Affairs.
  • She purchased supplies of food for the over two thousand children of the Aschiana Street Children Center at a cost of only $340.
  • AWAI also allocated $268 to purchase notebooks educational supplies for three schools: PARSA Primary School, Zarghuna Girls High School, and Parsa Girls High School.

    • Students learning reading and writing at Aschiana Street Children Center One of the victims of the recent US bombing campaign was Arifa who had her husband and seven other members of her family killed by a stray bomb.

    Mrs. Haya also visited three families who were victims of the recent US bombing campaign, providing sewing machines, mattresses and blankets, and cash donation totaling about $278.


    Rahima Haya expresses condolences and sympathy to recent widows.

    By creating an environment of trust and partnership for learning we can more effectively combat the feeling of neglect and isolation created by decades of war. Afghanistan's future depends upon strengthening communities and families by awaking the potential for learning in all, adults and children alike, regardless of their economic status, ethnic background, gender or geographical location. Those of us in the United States can do our part to make sure that illiteracy, ignorance, and lack of an educational opportunity do not stand in the way of Afghanistan's ability to achieve a lasting peace. It takes only $20 a month to educate and train a widow.


    Copyright Afghan Women's Association International 2002