By Promoting Women’s Capability by Education (PWCE)
Kabul, Afghanistan

Another academic year is ended. Despite enormous problem regarding security, and social restrictions, our educational center funded and supported by OBR has provided around 600 young girls and women the best free opportunity possible to fulfill their dreams. As previous years, our center has provided free and high-quality educational courses. Preparatory courses for university admission exam (natural sciences), computer, English language course and literacy classes have attracted the attention of hundreds of girls and their families.

14th of February has marked the end of one academic year and the start of a new one. With the initiative and active participation of the students themselves, the center has organized a big event to rise with our sisters around the world on One Billion Rising day. Around 950 women and girls rose to show their aspiration and determination for freedom, women rights and a violence-free society and world for women. They showed an utmost courage at the face of on-going violence, bombing and terror in Kabul. Neither bombing and social restriction, nor intimidations and threats stopped them to actively participate in the event.

Participants found a stage to express their stories and dreams through

poems, songs, a show and traditional Afghan dance. While through an theatrical show, they showed the sufferings and violence that Afghan women face at home and in society, through poems and dance they expressed their inner wishes for a society that provides them freedom, security, and opportunities to develop their skills and exercise their power for a better place to be born and live. Hundreds of girls also extended their heartfelt thanks for OBR for providing the direly needed opportunity for them to get educated.

The center is a ray of hope for those women and girls who have the inner talents as any other human, but don’t have the opportunity to develop and polish it. The center gives them the chance to get education despite dealing with daily hardships and sufferings.

We rose with our sisters to show the world that it is only through knowledge and worldwide solidarity that women can be empowered. Silence and tolerance is not the answer of violence and patriarchal laws and regulations. The vicious circle of violence can only be broken through resistance and rising and resistance and rising cannot be materialized if the minds are not equipped with knowledge and awareness. And at the face of daily violence, threats, bombings, intimidations and terror, this center is the beacon of hope to give that needed knowledge and awareness.