At the October 10, 2014 Issues Breakfast on The Courage to Do Good, international activist Connie Schneider shared anecdotes from Afghanistan, Chad, Syria and Sudan, and reflected on her experiences with the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA), which runs the country’s first multi-ethnic girls’ boarding school. In response to multiple questions from the audience, Ms. Schneider later e-mailed the following to Beth Radow, LWV-LM program coordinator:
Dear Beth,
I have been meaning to thank you for organising the event on Malala and girls’ education in Afghanistan last Friday – it was such a pleasure to meet everybody, to share our story, and to meet such enthusiasm and interest, and I know that Sabira [Moradi, an Afghani student now] feels the same way.
In speaking to some of your members, several had expressed an interest in learning more about the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA). We are, of course, always happy to share information about the school, and I wanted to point out the following resources:
There is a popular and fascinating Ted Talk by SOLA Co-Founder Shabana Basij-Rasikh online: http://www.ted.com/talks/shabana_basij_rasikh_dare_to_educate_afghan_girls?language=en
There is a wonderful film on SOLA and what it means to its Director and its students, disseminated by the NATO channel, available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UlFSWGM1Tg and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfJo7JOyoJA
For those who would like to donate, please consider sending a check to: School of Leadership, Afghanistan; P.O. Box #603253; Providence, RI 02906
More information on how to get involved with SOLA is available from the website: http://www.sola-afghanistan.org/get-involved.html. SOLA is definitely always looking for mentors, host families, and volunteer teachers in Kabul (maybe some of you have adventurous family members or friends or students for whom this might be a good fit?!). Charles Fisher-Post, SOLA’s Assistant Director of Communications & Development and here in cc, can always provide more information on this.
There are a few accounts (blogs, articles, etc) of what volunteering for SOLA has been like. A selection of those can be found here:
Brooks teacher and SOLA board member Leigh Perkins talks about the summer she and her daughter spent at SOLA: www.kabulsummer.blogspot.com (see also attached PDF)
How to be a mentor (Sam Wood): http://jwa.org/blog/in-name-of-allah-what-young-afghani-woman-has-taught-me
A link to an article on education in Kabul and another to a larger post on Nat Geo’s site by SOLA volunteer Ian Lynch.
SOLA volunteer Schuyler Moore on her summer at SOLA: http://afghanishenanigans.blogspot.com/
Please feel free to share this information with your members, and I would obviously always be happy to provide more information.
Warmest wishes to all of you,
Connie
—
Cornelia Schneider
Advisor to the Board of Directors
SOLA—School of Leadership, Afghanistan