The next AGF grant was given to provide 25,000 girls with each issue of a new Afghan children's magazine, Parvaz, meaning "flight" or "to fly." The 52-page, full-color publication is a first, covering health, geography, history, science, math, and special concerns to children such as the danger of landmines. Copies are distributed free via schools and humanitarian organizations or sold on the street for roughly 20 cents U.S.
Administered through the Afghan Media and Culture Center, Parvaz receives the majority of its funding through AÏNA, an international nonprofit group. However, offsetting the considerable production costs—$1.40 per issue—is a continuing concern, explained photojournalist Reza, a member of the Parvaz project team who has covered the region for over 20 years.
The most recent collaboration between the AGF and The Asia Foundation will refurbish the Rabia-e-Balkhi school in Kabul, where UNICEF tents now serve as classrooms. Named in honor of a celebrated female poet, the school once served 10,000 female students in grades K-12. Bombing during Afghanistan's civil war destroyed 90 percent of the school, which now struggles to provide resources for 2,300 girls.
The project will add 15 new classrooms, outfit and refurbish the rest, construct a chemistry lab and a freestanding library, and provide books and maps. After renovation, each classroom will hold 150 girls each day under a rotating, three-shift schedule. Afghanistan's Ministry of Education has committed to employing 90 new teachers for the school, with more to come as enrollment expands.
Remaining funds will be used to purchase a generator to provide reliable electricity for the school, the library, and the computer lab; assist with installation of basic latrines and a sewage system; and provide for the installation of a telephone in the school's main office.
The school's new library resource center will serve a dual purpose, providing women throughout the city a safe place outside of their homes in which they can study, research, and have access to computers and the Internet.
Local language reading material, computers, a printer and scanner, fee-for-service Internet access, laptop connections, an audiovisual room and equipment, and a study hall space will be made available, and plans are in the works to provide computer training to community women for a small fee. Such fees will help ensure the long term economic viability of the center, planners say.
Renovation of Rabia-e-Balkhi is scheduled to be completed by March 2004, the beginning of the Afghan school year, with the library resource center to open during the summer.
With generous public support, and strong partners such as The Asia Foundation and AÏNA, the AGF is providing critical support to the rehabilitation of education for girls and women in Afghanistan.
Surely, Sharbat Gula must be pleased.
Contributions can be made online to the National Geographic Afghan Girls Fund or by sending a check directly to the National Geographic Afghan Girls Fund, Development Office, National Geographic Society, 1145 17th Street N.W., Washington, D.C., 20036.
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