RAWA Literacy Program for Afghan Women

RAWA believes that despite manifold impediments and meager resources, one of its duties is to carry the torch of literacy and knowledge among women in defiance of the fanatics and enlightenment-hating fundamentalists. In our opinion, education is power and Afghan women can fight for their rights when they are empowered with the arm of education. RAWA activists have established hundreds of literacy courses in 12 provinces of Afghanistan and in refugee camps in Pakistan. Even in the remote villages where you can't find a single woman who could read and write, now women eagerly come to RAWA courses. Here are photos of only few of these courses. You can support our Literacy Program for Afghan Women, by sponsoring a teacher through RAWA and sending US$45/month sponsorship fee. Sponsorship of a teacher means giving education to 10-15 Afghan women.

RAWA photos, July 2002 - October 2004

Natasha Walter reports from a RAWA literacy course in Kabul (The Guardian, July 20, 2002):

"... One day, for instance, I visited Sarasia, a bleak little village west of Kabul.... In one of the stark white houses, a literacy class is in progress. The women in this class couldn't be further from the educated elite. Soraya, for instance, is a widow of 50 and has been illiterate all her life. "If you are illiterate, it is as if you are blind," she says.

...Aisha, a middle-aged woman whose husband is too old to work, says, "Because we are uneducated, we can't speak out and defend our rights. We don't want that for our daughters. We want them to know how to speak up in front of outsiders." ... "Of course we want more freedom," says Soraya. "Even women who are not allowed to come to this class want that. But our husbands and brothers and fathers don't want it. The mullahs keep saying freedom is not good for us."

The literacy course in Sarasia is funded by RAWA. This extraordinary organization has been going since 1977 and is a testament to the determined resilience of Afghan women. "

RAWA secret classes under Taliban

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