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Winter break for preschoolers

After 6 months of activity, both early childhood education classes are enjoying a well-deserved winter break. Temperatures in the region of Nai Qala are well below zero degrees and snow has appeared.During the past semester, children of Nai Qala have made remarkable progress. They have not only learned how to recognize and write the letters of the Dari (Farsi) alphabet, and to count until 50 but they have developed new social skills through playing and doing artistic activities.

Thanks to this pilot project, 36 girls and boys listened to stories, drew, painted, and developed their imagination. All together, they participated in games that boosted their self-confidence and stimulated the development of their personality.

The children of Nai Qala have enjoyed the new class of early childhood education. They have been encouraged, felt inspired, realized their dreams and can now apprehend the future more serenely.

Learning construction skills

Nai Qala always hires local people to assist with the construction of community infrastructures.

In addition to earning money, villagers also learn while working. Nai Qala’s buildings are constructed with up-to-date techniques that are considered to be very new building methods in these areas where traditional houses are made from mud and do not have windows.


Equipped with new building skills, villagers can find jobs in other types of construction. When a non-profit organization comes to their villages, they can offer their skill or they may find a job outside the village and bring a salary home.

One local worker said: “I cannot go somewhere and offer my shepherd skill or cutting bushes from mountains… but this new construction skill now gives me more options for job opportunities. I find a job and earn money.”

 

Creating job opportunities

Nai Qala early childhood education program provides young local people with job opportunities 

Zewar graduated from the school in Nai Qala in 2012 and she studied at the university for four years. Now she is back in her village and she’s leading the early childhood education program for youngsters. Zewar is proud of her role and speaks with love and patience. She received special training in early childhood education with the support of Agha Khan Foundation in Kabul.

Zewar understands the importance of the early childhood education program to the children of her region. She and her colleague, who also went to university thanks to the education received in a Nai Qala school, know that children need more than just reading and writing.

2007-2017: 10 years of changes

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In 2017, Nai Qala is celebrating a decade of activity in remote areas of the provinces of Bamyan and Ghazni. For the past 10 years, Nai Qala has been contributing to creating hope and opportunity in isolated communities.

To date, Nai Qala has successfully completed 10 projects, including the construction of eight schools for over 8000 students (70% girls and 30% boys) and a health clinic in a population of 50 000 people,.

Over 130 teachers are now teaching in decent conditions and are hired and paid by the State. The Nai Qala’s construction projects created job opportunities for 700 people in villages where there are few opportunities for employment.

These projects succeeded because we built trust with the people, because the people in turn had confidence in our ability to help them realize their aspirations, and because our partners and donors placed their trust in us.

It is amazing to think that the organization has been engaged in these remote regions for 10 years. It is even more remarkable that members of the communities have a more positive outlook on life; they have hopes and ambitions for themselves and they realize that their lives have a value. Their hopes give us motivation and hope for the future of Nai Qala.

Learning is fun

The early childhood education program stimulates boys and girls to play together

One of the most important objectives of early childhood education program is that from a very early age, all children – boys and girls – learn how to play together as a normal habit. Playing together develop their imagination  and allow them to inspire each other.

The early childhood education program is designed to provide an expanded range of experiences for young children helping them to develop skills and form attitudes that will enable them to make good use of learning opportunities both within the class and later formal education.

The little boy seems to think he could get some inspiration from the castle built by his young colleague …

News from the clinic

The Nai Qala Association built the clinic at Nawur in 2011 and supported and ran it until 2015 when it was officially handed over to the state. Today the clinic is supported by the Organization for Research and Community Development (ORCD) in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health.

We visited the clinic in 2016 and were impressed to see how well the it is functioning; it has become part of Nawur’s identity and life. It is well-maintained and has become a normal part of the community’s life.

According to a report by the ORCD and the Ministry, the clinic with its 7 staff (2 women and 5 men) continues to provide a good service for the Nawur community. In 2016 alone, a total of 8’377 women, men and children were treated in this center. Over 100 babies were born in the clinic and vaccination is continuing for women and children.

Enabling entrance to university (2)

After the successful capacity-building project at Zeera Gag, Nai Qala has carried out its tutoring program in the village of Tagab Barg.

Tagab Barg school is having a positive impact on lives in the village. It is a reward for the community which continues to be supportive of their girls’ education.

The first step of Nai Qala’s objective for Tagab Barg – to provide over 600 girls with basic education in a proper environment – has been achieved but Nai Qala needed to provide additional support with enhanced education to help these students develop their skills and find job opportunities. In practical terms, we returned to Tagab Barg school with a dedicated set of tuition courses to help students obtain higher marks and prepare for the Kankor university entrance examination. Over 182 teenagers (120 girls and 62 boys) registered for the course.

Amena is 16 years old and is in 12th grade at Tagab Barg school. Here she holds the course material she has received from NQA for the preparation course for the national university entrance examination. Amena told us:

“I am coming from one of the villages in the Tagab Barg’s region. From my family, 4 of us are coming to school, 2 sisters and 2 brothers. We are very much encouraged by our parents and community. I am very excited to attend such a course to allow me progress further in my education. My dream is to become journalist. I believe that through communication and awareness I can help my community who lives in isolation. … Through the media I can keep my community aware of what is going on beyond our isolated village, and at the same time I can bring the voice of my people to the world to tell everyone that we exist and we have dreams and ambition”.

Enabling entrance to university

Enabling young people in rural areas to take Afghanistan’s national university entrance examination

Astonishingly, the village of Zeera Gag did not even have a school building two years ago. Children and teenagers had to study outside in all weathers until Nai Qala built them a school in 2015. Now, not only can they study in decent conditions but they even have the unprecedented opportunity to apply to go to university. As of January 2017, Nai Qala provided a course of supplementary lessons for the older students – both young men and young women – to prepare them for the Kankor (university entrance) examination. When the course was announced, 160 of Zeera Gag’s older students asked to join it.

A ceremony in the village marked the end of the Kankor preparation course. As of early May, 24 students (13 young women and 11 young men) had enrolled to take the Kankor examination. Not all the students on this year’s course will succeed in obtaining a place at a university, but it is hoped that some of them will. Before Nai Qala arrived in Zeera Gag a few years ago, no young people took the examination in any case, so all the students are proud – and their community is proud of them – that they were good enough to complete a course focused on university entrance. This alone gives them an advantage in finding promising occupations in their region.

For those who will attend university, their prospects for employment in their home areas are good. When state agencies or NGOs want to carry out important programs in these areas, it is hard to find a qualified doctor, engineer, agronomist, teacher, vet’ – or other professions – from these regions. Educated young people can strengthen their communities, their provinces, and their country too.

Training for staff

Every year Nai Qala supports its staff in their professional development by sending them on training courses relevant to their responsibilities.

In August 2017, Mr. Ali Reza successfully completed a 6-day course on organizational development and leadership in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Congratulations!

After the course, Mr. Ali Reza said: “I am sure it is a good and right investment because human resources are the most important resource in an organization and the organization’s success depends on its human resources“.

In 2016 and 2017 local Nai Qala employees participated in more than 25 courses, offering capacity-building in a wide selection of subjects such as advocacy, human resource management, monitoring and evaluation, human rights, English language skills, hygiene, finance, pedagogy, and training in both Early Childhood Education and Community-Based Education.

In order to strengthen organizational capacity, Nai Qala’s president attended and successfully completed a “Future Leaders Program” course held at Wolfson College, Oxford (England) and got a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Modern Management for Non-Profit Organizations, held at Geneva University (Switzerland).