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Afghanistan's fractured society is recovering from three tumultuous decades that followed the Russian invasion of 1979. Since then, several regimes have dominated this country, robbing it of a stable government. The fundamentalist group, The Taliban ruled the people of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. These circumstances have forced Afghanis to be refugees for years, seeking shelter in neighboring Pakistan, Iran, and other countries. Only since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 have they had the opportunity to return to their homeland, where they continue to live in fear and women have few rights.
Barakat Afghanistan is the local affiliate through which Barakat, Inc. coordinates its efforts in education in the region.
Through Barakat's schools and literacy programs, we enable the people of Afghanistan to improve their community by encouraging them to participate in the national political process.
Through education and by bringing students from different backgrounds together in a school, we hope to teach citizens to achieve positive changes through non-violence, to promote tolerance and to create a more vibrant community through the exchange of ideas and interaction of cultures.
Barakat works in the Faryab and Jowzjan provinces of Northwest Afghanistan, home to the Turkmen and Uzbek poeple. Many students at Barakat's intiatives in Afghanistan come from low-income families and are first-generation students of their families.
Students are provided with transportation, uniforms, and textbooks at no cost to their families. Female participation is increased by creating female-only sections for each grade. |
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Faryab and Jowzjan provinces in the north border
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan
Barakat has been working in the two adjoining northwestern provinces of Afghanistan, Faryab and Jowzjan, since 2003. The provinces are home to diverse ethnicities, primarily Turkmen and Uzbek. A twelve-hour car ride separates Kabul from Andkhoy district in Faryab. One would traverse through the imposing mountains of the Hindu Kush range, cross Salanag Pass to reach the flat, arid plains of Faryab and Jowzjan. The desert stretches out as far as the eye can see, dotted by low-roofed, domed mud houses, which are typical of the region. |
- We work through dedicated local staff who stand out as respected representatives of the regions where Barakat programs are housed.
They command respect and have a voice in the communities benefiting from our projects. We have a Barakat head office in Kabul and a field office in Andkhoy, Faryab. Barakat differs from most foreign non-profits in that Barakat is composed of and run by the people who we serve. Barakat's staff is the best of the best - welcomed into the target communities, they are able to influence local opinion on controversial issues such as female education; they are fluent in local languages, including Dari, Turkmen, Uzbek and Urdu; they are role models to the younger generation for their commitment to the humanitarian ventures of Barakat; they are able administrators; and last but not least, they pose less of a security threat to themselves and to our target communities than expatriates do. - Barakat works by expanding current programs to meet new challenges and/or demands as they arise.
For example: When Barakat staff discovered that addiction to smoking was becoming a common malaise in the women's section of the household, we started a no-smoking campaign in our schools and literacy courses directed specifically towards girls and women. Similarly, our health programs for women and children build upon our current educational initiatives by providing free healthcare and medicines to Barakat school families. A strong foundation is a must for growing our endeavors - our roots go deep, and we trust that Barakat programs will continue to flourish and shade the communities where we work. - Barakat works as an integrated whole with few breaks in communication - either physical or cultural.
Barakat has a field office in Andkhoy, Faryab; a head office in Kabul; and an international office based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The channels of communication between all three offices remain open and connected in the planning, implementation, monitoring and finally, evaluation stages of a project. For example, the upcoming Teacher Training for Human Rights program was planned together by all three offices, with regular exchange of information and ideas, before a final proposal was realized and submitted to the funder. The implementation of the program, its monitoring, and its evaluation will be carried out in a similar fashion, including field visits from the Kabul and USA office staff. Another point of key importance is that Barakat staff in Afghanistan and the USA share the values and beliefs that define and give direction to our work - the fundamental rights of education, health care, human rights, especially women's rights. Barakat staff have to maintain a fine balance between current cultural practices, awareness of how these practices need to be changed, and the over-arching fact that change can only be manifested over time, and requires patience as well as perseverance.
 The green pastures of Samangan  Salang Pass en route to Andkhoy, Farayb - Barakat works in conjunction with government efforts for development.
The Government of Afghanistan has a massive task on its hands - to re-build a democratic, functioning society from the ashes of twenty-five years of war. In this endeavor Barakat works collaboratively with the government. A few examples illustrate this point: Our schools are officially government-designated schools, though funded and run by Barakat - in return, our students, upon graduating from Barakat schools, receive certificates that carry the seal of government approval, allowing them to continue their education in government schools and to apply for government jobs. At the end of our Literacy Courses for Girls and Women, the students receive certificates from Barakat, as well as from the Government of Afghanistan. In Maimana, the district education authorities, knowing they could trust Barakat's work and track-record, approached us to run Literacy Courses in their district as well. - Barakat projects are our raison d'être - we will support them from inception through their lifetime.
The problems of Afghanistan will not vanish in five years or ten; sustained commitment to this country is a must and that is what Barakat will stand by. Barakat staff share a style of working that emphasizes long-term commitment to projects and seeks to build consensus and support in the local community in a low-key, unobtrusive fashion, with an eye to years of work together in the future, as has been in the past.  The ship of the desert is a common mode of transport  The flat lands of Andkhoy, Faryab |
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Under the umbrella of education, Barakat's work is concentrated in two main areas: - Human rights, including women's rights
- Nation-building and promotion of democracy
 Literacy Course for Women and Girls  Children at Mullah Kareem Nazar School, Andkhoy, Faryab The importance of re-establishing the value of respect for human rights, including women's rights, is a matter of utmost importance if the diverse ethnicities and tribes that constitute Afghanistan are going to live together and re-build their war-torn country. Afghanistan is home to a number of different ethnicities including Turkmen, Uzbek, Tajik, Hazara, Pashtun and Balouch, among others. A country so diverse must balance the demands of the various ethnicities for their sense of a separate identity with the necessity for national integration and a national sense of a shared purpose and vision. This goal can only be accomplished by a system of education which reinforces human rights while also recognizing the diversity and plurality of cultures existing within the nation. At the same time, education must reach both men and women equally such that both sexes can contribute to the re-construction of their shared communities. Education, both formal and informal, is the most fundamental peaceful instrument of change known to humankind. Its judicious use can expand people's minds towards a greater awareness of their own potential, as well as bolstering their respect and understanding for other individuals, irrespective of their tribe, gender, religion or ethnicity. Barakat runs schools and Literacy Courses in Afghanistan. Attached to these educational programs, we also have other development programs which are long-term in nature, as well as projects which are of shorter duration. |
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Afghanistan
