Summer draws to a close and schools reopen. Girls flood back in, overjoyed to be back in a familiar social milieu and one where they are supported and encouraged to continue learning.

This support for continous learning becomes a struggle when girls graduate 8th grade from Barakat Pakistan schools. Their families prefer to keep them at home and begin to see them as future wives and mothers.

To begin again after being closed for two years is like coming awake from a long sleep. Tabarak Education Center was opened in November 2023 and finally received its official license from the Taliban government of Andkhoy, Faryab Province, in March 2024.

As asylum seekers and refugees from Pakistan are pushed back into Afghanistan, we are glad that our schools remain full. Students continue to attend and Barakat continues to provide for the needs of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Barakat's All-Girls School, 2 Evening Schools for Girls as well as the 3 co-educational schools remain open and our students are learning, holding fast to their dreams of a future where they will be able to use their education to achieve their goals.

As Barakat supported schools bring their first month of studying to a close in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, we are grateful that our schools remain open in the face of difficult circumstances.

While we work within the bounds of externally imposed restrictions in each country, the schools are safe havens where teaching and learning is prioritized even though the world outside is in upheaval.

Happy International Women's Day to all the Supporters of Barakat

It is the year of Women Suppporting Women. It is my hope that it will also be a year that sees girls going back to school till 12th grade and beyond in Afghanistan; that it will be a fulfilling year for Barakat's All Girls School in Pakistan, the two Evening Schools for Females as well as the Scholarship Program for High School Girls, also in Pakistan.

In India, where I am right now, I hope this is the year that The Ahimsa Pilot Initiative lays new seeds that sprout into action that in turn can save the lives of girls and women subject to violence, if not for that crucial intervention that allows them to break the cycle.

Samina's Letter

"My name is Samina. I am currently a student of Grade 10. I belong to Turkmen family. I graduated from Barakat Evening School two years ago.

Education has completely changed my approach to life. I feel more respected, confident and honored. Now my family is also happy when I read, write and speak not just in Urdu but even in English. Barakat is really doing great job to help us. My Barakat teachers and headmistress mean a lot to me as without their keen interest it was not possible for me to be where I am today.

Your giving goes a long way with Barakat Pakistan's All Girls School & Evening Schools:

$35.00 will cover one girl's annual school supplies

$54.00 will cover one female teacher's monthly salary

$120.00 will cover one year of Evening School for a girl

$180.00 will cover one year of regular school for a girl

$650.00 will cover one female teacher's salary for a year

Any amount you give will be a means of fulfiling our goal of keeping our girls in schoolscription goes here

In order to help Barakat school graduates, our Scholarship Program for High School Girls is working to provide financial backing as well as social support to girls like Nazish. They in turn will serve as role-models to others in their own Afghan refugee community in Pakistan.

Barakat's Female Students 

were back in school to give their final examinations at Mullah Kareem Nazar School in Andkhoy, Faryab Province of Afghanistan. This is a historic development since girls above 6th grade were prohibited by the Taliban from attending school over the last few months.

NEW REFUGEES FROM AFGHANISTAN:

NEW NEEDS 

LET'S MAKE IT A HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR ALL

These pictures are from the 5th Annual Graduation Ceremony at Mullah Kareem Nazar School in Andkhoy, Faryab, Afghanistan held on June 15th 2021. Less than ten days later Andkhoy was in the hands of the Taliban even though the capital city of Kabul only fell on August 15th, 2021.

Dear Supporters of Barakat,

As you know all too well that which is happening in India is on a scale unprecedented even during these dark times. People are dying like dogs on the street, families are being torn from their loved ones and the great sorrow and despair of the common people is echoing all around us.

As the threat of COVID-19 becomes an ever present reality in the lives of our students, they have responded by adjusting their response to meet the requirements of the times. It is not easy for us, as adults, and it is certainly not easy for the children.

AS THIS YEAR DRAWS TO A CLOSE

we appeal to your generosity and sense of one-ness, which has been made clear as never before in the history of mankind, to give with a compassionate heart and an open mind to the women and children who are Barakat program participants; to their families and communities who are impacted by every individual in their midst who gets an education.

Give to show your support for the education of girls and women.

Barakat Pakistan schools reach out to 673 girls and women this year through the co-ed Morning Schools & the Female-Only Evening Schools.

The 5 under 40 online auction for Barakat Inc.

Now in its eleventh year, the 5 Under 40 Awards spotlight the hottest emerging talent in high-end residential design in New England.

DescriptioWhat are your hopes for this year of schooling?

"I wish I could play with my friends and enjoy my normal routine life."

"We are hopeful that teachers will work hard to get us back to normal and we surely will love to cooperate."

"I hope that inshallah our school will run continuously and no corona virus will again stop our school working."

As 2019 draws to a close we, at Barakat, continue our work into the New Year. In asking you to donate generously to our work and our students, a few lines from the poet/philosopher Hafiz come to mind:

"Out of a great need we are holding hands and climbing.

Not loving is a letting go.

Listen, the terrain around here is far too steep and dangerous for that."

Let's bring these 4 UPS (uninterrupted power supply) back to life. We need 16 batteries (4 per UPS) for each of our four school buildings to combat the heat (between 99F and 109F) and power-cuts of Attock City, Punjab State, Pakistan.

Please accept the greetings of our students in Pakistan. In Andkhoy District, Faryab Province, Afghanistan where one of our schools and many of our literacy programs for girls and women are based, the Taliban (which is making its presence felt again) has forbidden women from stepping out of the house for two days before and two days following Nowruz. Their celebrations must, per force, be private, curtailed within the four walls of their homes.

International Women's Day Welcomes New Female Director to Barakat

"We, Afghan women, must remember that opportunities are rare. Therefore, we must use them efficiently to grow, to make ourselves, to learn and to improve. It is then that we will become a force for progress in our country and no one can deny our power." Sahraa Karimi, Afghan woman Filmmaker