An international nonprofit, Barakat believes in the ability of education to effect lasting social and economic change. The organization works in several countries, including Afghanistan, where programming focuses on literacy, human rights, and the needs of girls. Decades of political instability and violence have hindered development in the country and access to education for many different segments of the population, particularly girls and women. Barakat’s programming in Afghanistan focuses on the needs of the most historically disenfranchised populations and areas of the country. The programs emphasize education as a tool to alleviate poverty and drive development.
Barakat’s Two Primary and Secondary Schools in Afghanistan
At present, Barakat operates two schools in Northwest Afghanistan, one in Faryab province and another in Jowzjan. Many of the individuals and families in these regions are resettling after living for a considerable period of time as refugees. Both schools emphasize the need to expand access to education to both girls and families with low incomes. Students at the institution receive textbooks, uniforms, and transportation at no cost, and each grade has girls-only sections led by female instructors in order to conform with Afghan customs.
Barakat co-founder Habibullah Karimi’s family donated the 3 aces of land in Faryab province that became the site of Mullah Karim Nazar School in 2003. The school was completed two years later. In the interim, nearly 100 students were able to attend classes at Karimi’s personal residence. The new facility provides on-site administrative offices, multiple classrooms, and separate restrooms for students and faculty. Since groundwater is not available in Faryab province, clean drinking water is stored at the school for use by students and teachers.
While Mullah Karim Nazar School initially only educated students in grades one through four, it expanded instruction up to the ninth grade in 2012. Now, the school educates nearly 1,000 students each year, nearly half of whom are female.
Barakat began construction on its second institution, Besh Kapa Surkh School, in Jowzjan province in 2004 after a local resident donated an acre of land. When construction concluded in 2007, the school began classes less than a month later. The school currently offers education up to the eighth grade and plans to expand to offer ninth grade in the near future. The school is named after the two nearby villages that it serves, Besh Kapa Village and Surkh Village. A water depot at the school stores clean water that is brought in by tankers weekly.
Scholarships for Young Afghan Girls Through Barakat
In order to further encourage the pursuit of education among young girls in Afghanistan, Barakat created its Taqaza-e-Dukhtaraam Scholarship Program in 2008. The program provides the necessary funding for young girls to pursue another year of education after finishing the eighth grade. Only a limited number of girls and women in Afghanistan have access to this level of education, especially if they live in a rural region. However, as more women attain this level of education, they serve as role models to younger generations. The program specifically seeks out self-motivated young women who demonstrate a strong commitment to pursuing an education. The recipients must also be from families with low incomes. The amount of the scholarship varies depending on the cost of education at a particular institution and can range from $120 to $600.
Placing Human Right at the Center of the Classroom
In 2008, Barakat spearheaded a unique and important program that focuses on training teachers on how to address critical human rights issues in the classroom. The program places emphasis on the rights of women and children and shows teachers how they can incorporate important lessons into their existing curricula in order to encourage critical thinking about this subject. Due to the program’s success, Barakat expanded the training to include community and religious leaders. Each training session typically lasts about a week, and the organization offers between five and eight sessions each year. By training about a hundred or so teachers and leaders each year, the important human rights message can be brought to thousands.
The exact curriculum of each weeklong workshop can change, but instructors generally address basic information about human rights, such as the international conventions and the Human Rights Commission, as well as culture-specific topics, including child marriages, forced matrimony, the rights of daughters and parents, violence against women, and juvenile justice. Whenever possible, instructors point to real-life examples of issues affecting Afghanistan and work with participants to brainstorm methods of changing people’s mentality.
Women’s Literacy Programs Through Barakat
Understanding the vital importance of literacy in today’s world, Barakat has created two literacy programs for women and girls who cannot attend school in more traditional settings due to cultural or geographic conflicts. The lower-level literacy program, Sewad Amousi (“To teach one to become literate”), covers reading and writing skills learned in first through third grade. Classes take place at community homes in order to encourage parents who are reluctant to send their girls to school to allow them to attend the program. Each year, Sewad Amousi helps hundreds of girls and women, ranging from teenagers to grandmothers, to learn the foundations of reading and writing.
Grades four through nine are covered by the higher-level literacy program, Sewad Hayati (“Literate for life”), which introduces a wide range of different subjects. Students in this program study Dari, Pashto, and English, as well as science and mathematics. In addition, instruction covers history, geography, and the arts. Each year, the coursework builds upon each other to introduce more complex topics, such as physics.