Give2Asia Giving Forum

Turquoise Mountain Foundation

by Gagandeep Kaur, Programs Intern

"We old citizens of Kabul have suffered so much that protection of this area would be like dropping water in the mouth of a thirsty man." -Pahlwan Aziz, head of the Murad Khane shura.

Murad Khane is located on the Kabul River, near new city hotels and the old bird market. The residents Murad Khane are comprised of mixed ethnicities and religions, with Qizilbash, Tajik, Hazara and Pashtun living side by side despite the civil war. By 2005, the damage by neglect, war and unscrupulous developers left this once-vibrant area under 2 meters of garbage, without a clean water supply or proper sanitation. The historic houses were collapsing weekly from lack of maintenance and harsh weather. 

This gave birth to the Turquoise Mountain Foundation (TMF). TMF is a non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 2006 by Rory Stewart, a Scottish citizen whose recent book about travels in Afghanistan has received critical acclaim. Their mission is to regenerate a historic area of the capital (Kabul), renew Afghan traditional arts, and spur the sustainable development of the nation’s craft industry.

Success Against All Odds: Women's Education in Afghanistan

"Please teach our children."  This was the message that Dr. Sakena Yacoobi heard when she visited refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran during the Soviet incursion in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and before the rise of the Taliban.

Later in the early 1990s, when the Taliban came to power, many thought it would be safe to return to their homeland. What they found was a new regime, which distrusted the practice of teaching girls -- a practice suddenly negatively associated with the Soviet occupation. However, protected by the communities where she operated, Dr. Yacoobi safely entered Afghanistan -- and an Afghani woman herself -- and began teaching girls and training new teachers in an environment where such activities could lead to imprisonment or death.

Early this week, on Monday May 18, Give2Asia had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Yacoobi, founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning. Dr. Yacoobi is the president and executive director of this internationally recognized NGO, which grew out of her work teaching girls and training teachers during the Taliban's rule.  Today, AIL provides health care to women and children, teacher training for women, and educational support for boys and girls in Afghanistan. Despite the ongoing violence, her schools remain safe because of her respect for local traditions and partnership with the villages and towns where AIL operates.

Since 1995, AIL has been able to provide access to education and health care to an estimated 350,000 women and children every year. This NGO, still led and run by Afghan women, plays a major role in reconstructing the health and educational systems in Afghanistan today.

During her presentation to Give2Asia, Dr. Yacoobi spoke of conditions in Afghanistan when she was a little girl, watching women in Afghanistan receive poor or little medical attention, especially during stages of pregnancy. She was lucky to be able to receive a formal education in the U.S. and Europe, but she was always aware that she was one of the lucky ones.

Dr. Yacoobi is a 2006 Skoll Award recipient. This year Dr. Yacoobi received the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership for extraordinary accomplishment and bold, visionary leadership in the nonprofit sector. 

To learn more about Afghan Institute of Learning, check out their Web site at www.afghaninstituteoflearning.org. To donate to AIL, click here.

Sakena Yacoobi Awarded Kravis Prize for Leadership

Claremont McKenna College and the Kravis Leadership Institute has selected Sakena Yacoobi, founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning, to receive the fourth annual Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership. The Kravis Prize, which carries a $250,000 award designated to the honoree's organization, recognizes extraordinary leadership in the nonprofit sector. Dr. Yacoobi was selected for her outstanding record providing an estimated 350,000 women and children with access to education and health care each year.

Sakena Yacoobi and the Afghan Institute of Learning

   Sakena Yacoobi has spent the last 28 years providing education, training, and health care services to women and children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. One of her enduring contributions is focusing attention on the issue and importance of girls' education in Afghanistan. She has received funding from Give2Asia since 2003.

Dr. Yacoobi's achievements demonstrate significant courage and persistence in the face of extensive obstacles to educating girls and women in Afghanistan. During the Taliban's rule, for example, the education of girls was prohibited. Dr. Yacoobi and the staff of AIL too great risks in operating 80 underground home schools for 3,000 girls during the 1990s.

Mumbai Attacks Reinforce Need to Solve Terror's Root Causes

By Birger Stamperdahl, Give2Asia

We at Give2Asia were stunned by the Mumbai attacks at the end of November. Taking place within the communities we support, these attacks are a reminder of the hard work that still must be done to promote prosperity and peace. It also highlights how quickly local problems can become global problems. To truly solve a problem such as the threat of terrorism in North America and Europe, we must think about the problem globally and in regions like South Asia.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, in an address to the United Nations in November 2007, talked about the causes of terrorism, and listed (1) prolonged unresolved conflicts and (2) social/economic marginalization as two of the key conditions that lead to this kind of violence. These are issues that global philanthropy is working to solve, and it may be cathartic, following the Mumbai attacks, to consider some groups that are doing work in Asia to support peace and prosperity.

We are highlighting groups in four countries where violence and poverty have put families at risk. The following projects take place in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, in places where the communities benefit from education and vocational training programs. These programs build understanding between groups and help to aid in personal recovery following periods of conflict.

(Above image courtesy of Reuters)

Donors Support Sustainable Local Enterprise in Asia

In the Himalayas of India, the remote indigenous tribes of Ladakh face limited access to education, health, and the means to earn a living. Climate change and continued conflict in this border region of Kashmir have created challenges in everyday life for many people living in the region.   

In response, women-run cooperatives supported by Health, Inc. are generating new opportunities for local women to thrive despite economic conditions that are worse than many areas in India. Health Inc. was created by Cynthia Hunt, an artist and educator who traveled the Himalayas distributing educational materials to remote villages. Since 1992, Health Inc. has worked with local women to form cooperatives, establish learning centers, build greenhouses, improve agriculture and nutrition, and engage in locally driven micro-enterprise initiatives.   

Give2Asia clients have supported Health Inc.’s community-based initiative to empower rural women through entrepreneurial activity. The micro-enterprise projects vary from village to village and include activities such as fabrication and sales of solar lanterns, and selling additional crops in the market.