The Hidden Schools of Afghanistan - Featuring PARSA

10455 Northeast 5th Place,Bellevue WA 98004

05 May, 2023

Description

The Humanity Funds, Civility&Unrest and The Lakehouse have joined forces to support PARSA, a Washington State based non-profit organization that runs leadership and educational programs in 17 provinces in Afghanistan since 1996. Ronald E Neumann will provide the keynote. Ronald Neumann is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and current Head of the US Academy of Diplomacy; he served three times as the Ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain and finally to Afghanistan. Marnie Gustavson, founder and Executive Director of PARSA, will provide insights into the current state of education for girls and women under the Taliban and the unbroken will of families across Afghanistan to have their girls educated. The Hidden Schools are very much alive! PARSA and its work in Afghanistan Due to the tightening restrictions on women and girls, PARSA launched a new community based approach to the education and advancement of girls and women: PARSA Family Schools. The program aims to enroll up to 10,000 girls and young women in homeschooling programs supported by its flagship national program, the Afghan Scouts, as well as by three pilot programs in Kabul: Sisters 4 Sisters Youth, Brothers 4 Brothers Youth, and Sisters 4 Sisters Professional. The program is carefully driven by locally trained Afghan staff and volunteers mobilized across Afghanistan and respects the determination of Afghan families to take care of their children and communities and to drive positive outcomes in what currently is a very difficult and dynamic situation in the country. In the first six weeks of 2023, 1,500 children and youth in 17 out of Afghanistan's 34 provinces have been enrolled in the Family Schools and working on their studies three to fives times per week.