By Mariam Jalalzada

Andeisha, like many, is concerned about the faith of the country in the years to come, especially, the year 2014 when the international troops will withdraw from the country. However, she believes that “the generation of Afghans who were victims of the atrocities of the Mujahedin and the Taliban regime will not remain silent. They will raise their voice and will not easily give up on the gains made in the areas of human rights, rule of law, and economic development.”

The pessimism around 2014 has not yet deterred Andeisha’s commitment and ambitions for a better Afghansitan. AFCECO is fully committed in continuing educating a young and vibrant generation of Afghans. “We will continue to move forward and increase our enrollment and are very optimist and hopeful that the new and educated generation of Afghans will not allow for the events of a not-so distant terrible past to be repeated.”

Since the ousting of the Taliban government in 2001, many Afghan expatriates have returned to their homeland in the hope to contribute to the development of the nation. Some have joined governmental and non-governmental organizations, while others have started their own businesses and developmental organizations. Andeisha Farid, was one of these returnees who returned from Pakistan with big ambitions: to educate the new generation of Afghanistan by providing high quality learning opportunities for children from all kinds of backgrounds—children without parents and those who have parents yet cannot afford to go to school because of extreme poverty.

“We can be hopeful of a bright future for Afghanistan, if we commit to providing quality education to the youth”, says Andeisha whose biggest dream as a little girl growing up in the refugee camps was to go to school. For many Afghan girls who are often denied an education because of cultural conservatism, religious extremism, or extreme poverty and migration, going to school remains only a dream. Like millions of Afghans, Andeisha’s family had to take refuge in Iran and then Pakistan the Soviet invasion and the civil war the followed the withdrawal of the Russian troops.

Although Andeisha spent most of her youth in the refugee camps, she was able to go to school, initially inside the camp, and later at a better school out in the city. “I was extremely lucky. I felt privileged. I could have easily ended up on the streets like many Afghan kids, earning a living for my family. But I did not and that was what motivated me to help the unprivileged children on the street get an education”, says a grateful Andeisha, who was able to finish high school and enroll in a Pakistani college.

When in college, she was continuously saddened by the kids on the street that she saw on her way home from college. In 2003, she decided to help them. With help from friends and family, she brought together 20 Afghan street kids in a rented house in Islamabad, Pakistan to help them go to school. The kids showed great progress at school and continued to remain committed. The positive changes in the lives of these kids in matter of months compelled Andeisha to find a way to assist more children.

With support from the CharityHelp International, a US non-governmental organization, a sustainable system was developed to allow individuals from around the world to sponsor the child of their choice, and help sustain the orphanage by paying some or all of the cost of providing that child with her or his needs. This partnership enabled Andeisha to expand and officially establish Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO) in 2004.

Since then the organization has grown gradually serving 700 students in 13 educational centers—parwarishgas or ‘safe heavens’ in Kabul, Jalalabad, and Herat as well as Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The organization has come a long way from merely supporting students to attend school, to developing a more advanced educational system that includes offering special programs to complement school curriculum, such as intensive English language, computer, drama, art and photography courses. Physical education including football, gym class and martial arts programs for boys and girls is also part of the education experience.

The education of youth is of particular importance for AFCECO because almost 50% of the Afghan population is less than 18 years of age with almost no education. There are an estimated 8,000 child soldiers in the country, and one out of every three children (over one million) has lost one or both parents. Andeisha believes that investing in the next generation of Afghans and providing high quality education, would eventually lift the country out of decades of war, poverty, and extremism. AFCECO’s aims to build the foundation of a new generation who understands basic human rights principles, abhors corruption and ethnocentrism, and love and care for their fellow human beings.

“In our parwarishgahs, we encourage our students to be aware of the headlines around the globe and be informed about their country’s affairs through regularly scheduled sessions of watching news, both local and international and reading books. Additionally, by organizing conferences and workshops in leadership, we want our students, especially young girls, to become leaders and role models for other young Afghans in their communities.”

The Afghan society has constantly undermined the role and strength of women. In order to build the self-esteem of young girls, workshops are organized in which Afghan women achievers from different walks of life such as art, economics, politics, and media talk about their experiences and how they succeeded in achieving the goals they had set for themselves despite the challenges posed by a patriarchal Afghan society. “Afghan women are raised with a belief that they are inferior to men, therefore, it becomes very difficult for them to progress in their personal and professional lives as adults. Therefore, one of the main goals of AFCECO is to educate its students of both gender about important roles women can play in the development of a society”.

AFCECO also emphasizes on teaching its students about importance of diversity, tolerance, and equality, because these are some of the traits that can bring about change and prosperity in a society. “If you want to be respected, you should respect others. If you want your religion to be respected and understood, you should do the same to other religions. Every individual has the right to have a different opinion. You should not judge human beings based on their race, ethnicity, religion, and economic background. Only then we all can coexist peacefully as a community.” This is the message that Andeisha wants engrained in the minds of AFCECO’s students.

Although married with a child, Andeisha continues to give utmost importance and priority to her work and passion. “When I got married, my husband told me to pursue my dreams and maintain my independence”. With his full support, Andeisha was able to travel abroad for fund raising events, work late hours, and provide full support to the 700 girls and boys that depended on her support.

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