Sakena Yacoobi, the founder of Afghan Institute of Learning, says she hopes that educating women will bring peace to Afghanistan. The 61-year-old Afghan first started refugee schools in Pakistan, then underground girls’ schools in Afghanistan under the Taliban. After the regime's 2001 ouster, she opened scores of women's centers teaching basic reading, math, sewing and health skills. Her programs currently serve about 350,000 women and children a year. It costs her about $1.5 million a year.
Afghan Institute of Learning, or AIL, has grown from a few makeshift schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the mid-1990s to an organization running schools, women's learning centers, day care centers and clinics across seven of the 34 Afghan provinces.
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Comments (4) Closed
Adekunle Emmanuel Ad
Jun 14, 2011 08:09pm
Great woman doing great job
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Warren Larson
Jun 15, 2011 04:53am
Your pictures are fantastic! They show how Afghani women are being given a chance to study in school, learn new skills, and better themselves. Thank you!
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richard
Jun 15, 2011 11:09am
My salutes and good wishes to the lady, may the Almighty guide her always.
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Dr Abdul Shakoor Bha
Jun 15, 2011 04:42pm
First of all, I deep-heartedly respect the purpose of this ladyin favour of our illiterate womenunder unavoidable circumtances especially in Afghanistan. I don’t know what’s the problem with the people all over the globe. Why after being included themselves in highly intellectual and academic classes having such kind of narrow-minded approach, especially for girls. Just look at Britain, America, Canada, Australia and all over the Europe, there’s no such kind of discrimination or segregation between male and females. And even Islam doesn’t place such kind of restrictions on women at all. If Islam does allow women to get education without any restrictions. Even so, all these restrictions are self-created and inventor of all these obligations are males. If women are uneducated then just think what kind of future generation would we expect from them. Having said that, women all over the world are taking active part in the traditionally male domains of government and business but unfortunately there status hasn’t really changed. I don’t know in which category I’d place those individuals involved in fire burn, acid throwing, gang-raped, women-trafficking, sexual abuse, honour killings, abduction and different kind of violence on innocent women. For God sake, we shouldn’t forget the doomsday. It’s not very specific to the day of judgement but you’ve to face the consequences of all wrong-doing in this world as well.
Many people, myself included, believe that woman came from man’s rib, not from his feet to be walked on, not from his head to be superior, but from the side to be equal, under the arm to be protected and just next to the heart to be loved. Lastly, I’d like to request people from all walks of life, especially those who are bread-winner, please educate your sisters, daughters, wives and support or facilitate your relatives to educate their children irrespective of their gender.
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