COVID-19 Response: Help Afghan Girls and Families

Dear Friend of Sahar,

Thank you for your on-going support of Sahar Education. Your generous contributions are especially important as we continue to work with Afghan communities to respond to the on-going challenges of COVID-19.

In the months of July and August, schools were closed due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases. Schools reopened briefly for a short exam period. At this time, due to the recent increase in security concerns across Afghanistan, we have made the difficult decision to pause program operations and the construction of our boarding school until September 12, 2021. We will continue to employ and support our Afghan staff during this time. The safety of our staff is our priority. It is our hope that we will be able to resume operations in the fall. 

Sahar believes in the future of Afghanistan and its people and we must support them now in every way possible. We have taken down our social media accounts to protect the women and girls we have served. 

As members of our community, donors, and champions of girls’ education, we ask you to join us and continue your commitment to the education of Afghan girls during these challenging times.   Thank you for standing with us in support of Afghanistan and girls education.

We are incredibly grateful to have you on this journey with us. 

Warmly, 

Malahat

Dear Friend of Sahar,

Thank you for your on-going support of Sahar Education. Your generous contributions are especially important as we continue to work with Afghan communities to respond to the on-going challenges of COVID-19.

Promoting mask-wearing and social distancing remains key to decreasing infections and ensuring the ability of local hospitals to respond to severe cases. Despite increased rates of infection, public schools are still open and students continue to receive in-person classes. While COVID-19 is still prevalent in the area, it has fallen into the background given other challenges facing the country. At the same time, Afghanistan is beginning vaccine distribution as well. We continue to encourage wearing masks in our program classrooms and to provide PPE and sanitation items. Given that our programs take place within these schools, our priority is to ensure the safety and security of both students and teachers. 

With your generous contributions, we’ve been able to maintain COVID-19 compliant learning environments by providing masks, hand sanitizer, and requiring students to pass temperature checks before coming into the classroom. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been able to supply our students and staff with over 3,000 masks. Additionally, Sahar has implemented a module on public health and COVID-19 prevention methods via WhatsApp. 

Despite the complications of the pandemic, 148 students have graduated from our Men as Partners in Change program and 127 students have graduated from our Early Marriage Prevention program this year. COVID-19 has been an immense challenge for Sahar and the communities with which we work but, thanks to your support, we’re able to continue the fight for girls’ education and gender equity in Afghanistan. 

We are incredibly grateful to have you on this journey with us. 

With Gratitude, 

Ginna Brelsford