Afghanistan Women Council

LITERACY PROJECT

We strongly believe that literacy is an important means of empowering Afghan women and increasing their sense of self-worth. By providing literacy education for Afghan women, we aim to assisting them to live as independent, self-respecting individuals in the community, and to contribute positively to the rebuilding of the nation, in their roles of mothers, or even breadwinners.

One literate woman in a community can have a dramatic impact on her family's attitude towards education, and their entire life-style. AWC has implemented a number of literacy projects in Munda camp in 1986.

This project aims at continuing the literacy activities in five-and-a-half-month literacy course for women from Hesa e Awal, hesa e Doo and Hesa e Sheh Khair Kahana, Kabul. We propose to offer 33 level one classes. These women will learn to read and write in their mother tongue, and also be able to handle everyday practical situations needing a more advanced level of literacy. The GTZ literacy curriculum will be used.

Teaching Materials and Methods

AWC will also try to procure supplementary teaching material for teaching math to level 2 students. BBC has developed some books, which AWC will attempt to procure. AWC staff will also develop its own supplementary material according to the need.

In the first month of the project, AWC will appoint 3 literacy teachers, one Project Supervisor 2 Monitors (one for literacy and one for day-care activities). The literacy Monitor, along with one literacy teacher/master trainer, will attend a 5-day training workshop organized by ERIC. They will in turn, train the other literacy teachers.

The trained staff will identify a group of 8 women from among the community literacy teachers trained for the previous project, and replicate the training they received for the camp teachers, to enable them to provide better quality instruction and hence lead to the desired outcome.

In the first month of the project AWC will also identify 3 sites in the area, to house the literacy classes, and day-care center. Two hundred and thirty women will be enrolled in 11 groups of 20 and one group of 10 women each. Eight of the literacy teachers will be selected to teach 8 class groups.

Literacy Classes

Each of the 8 community-based literacy teachers will organize a 2-hour literacy class for one group of students, five days in a week. The three AWC teachers will each be responsible for one model class, and will teach one two-hour class, every day, five days in a week.

Classes will be held in two sessions, and the model teachers will assist community teachers in planning lessons, completing students' records, and doin g corrections. Teachers' meetings will be held once a week and in-service teacher training sessions will be organized twice a month.

Regular progress tests will be taken at the end of each month and the results of students will be used to monitor their progress in literacy. A day care center will offer quality supervision and care for under-five-year-old children of students, and supervision and pre-school teaching for pre-school aged children, to enable the mothers to come out to study.

TRADE TRAINING

The children and widows live in an abnormal environment. Most of them are either severely malnourished or they face mental problems. To Improve living conditions and assist them on a sustainable basis, training is needed.

Training courses in trades will he lp to remove some very needy families from their abnormal environment and provide a good income alternative in the future. Training in carpet weaving, sweater knitting, and leather purse/handbag making are ongoing.

Carpet weaving
A shop will be acquired in the city just after the start of the project, for storing the carpets for sale. The income so accrued from the sale of carpets will be spent for nursery as well as literacy courses in the same camp for the Afghan children and mothers. The most qualified teachers will be employed in the nursery and teach literacy courses. The personnel working in the project will also receive training in childcare. Our office will exercise full control and after completion of the course a tool kit will be distributed to the trainees.

SWEATER KNITTING

Objectives:

To train 250 vulnerable women in sweater knitting skills in the targeted area.
To establish income generation program for the vulnerable female section.
250 female trainees with improved skills in sweater production.
To make sure there is availability of the said item in the area as well as expand the range to the other parts of the war-ravaged country.

LEATHER PURSE PROJECT

This project will train (250) vulnerable men in handbag making skills in order to better prepare them to earn their livelihood. AWC will enable and familiarize trainees with handbag making and how to market their articles. (250) women will also be trained in handbag making. The same 250 women will attend the literacy classes as well as the necessary health education awareness classes at the same time as their main training.

Even during breaks various discussions about human rights and women rights will be conducted.This training is aimed at revitalizing the destroyed trades and increasing the self-help capacity among the vulnerable Afghan women in the capital of Kabul surrounding areas.

TBA HEALTH TRAINING

The non-availability of medical facilities and unaware, unqualified women result in many women and children dying during delivery. The TBA Health Training Project strives to provide basic health training to women during pregnancy, delivery and the post-natal period.

Direct Beneficiaries
40 female TBA training students; 4 Doctors (from AWC centre) who will be employed as Supervisor, Monitors (2) and four teachers/ trainers (3), and 4 area workers who will train cleaners, and 3 day care teachers. (60 women)

Indirect Beneficiaries
Families and children of the TBA training and literacy teachers and students, and families of support staff hired from among the camp residents. Families and children of women who will attend the TBA & literacy classes.

Curriculum
1. Treatment of TBA's with pregnant women.
2. Diet to be taken during pregnancy period.
3. Measurement to be adopted during pregnancy.
4. Methods to be shown regarding vaccination of TT during pregnancy.
5. To make aware to the pregnant women, that in case of bleeding during pregnancy they should immediately approach any clinic/hospital.
6. Information about malaria to the pregnant women.
7. Information abut bleeding in 3rd trimester of pregnancy.
8. Information about edema and anemia to pregnant women due to malnutrition.
9. Information about the health care at the time of delivery and afterward.
10. Vaccination of child at proper time.
11. Diet to be used by mother during lactation period.
12. Interval between the birth of one child and the other.
13. To be informed about the sign of tetanus to the mother as well as child.
14. Information to be provided about first aid in emergency cases.

HEALTH KIT CONCEPT

Goal/impact:

To improve the health status of recently arriving returnees by providing hygiene kits.

Objective/Effect
To distribute hygiene kits for up t o 2500 families of the most recently arriving returnees in the three areas of Kabul city named Kart e Parwan, Khair Khana and Shashaheed areas by the last week of March 2002.

HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT

A Human Rights Project for 200 educated Afghan women will empower them to improve their knowledge of awareness about Human Rights, Women and Children Rights, Peace Building and Conflict Resolution. We strongly believe that such awareness is an important means of empowering Afghan women and increasing their sense of self-worth.

AWC has implemented a number of Human Rights training course projects in Peshawar since 1986. This project aims at continuing the Human Rights activities in six months courses for women in Kabul City. We propose to offer 8 classes. These women will learn how to deal with the Human Rights issues in the national and international level.

Also they will be able to handle everyday practical situations in the daily life as well as in the Government system. The ITM tuters will be used for the training. AWC will also try to procure supplementary teaching material about Human Rights, Women Rights, Children Rights, and Peace building and conflict resolution and democracy.

In the first month of the project, AWC will appoint 4 trainers; one Project Supervisor 2 Monitors. The monitor, along with one Human Rights teacher/master trainer, will attend a 5-day training workshop organized by ITM. They will in turn, train the other Human Rights teachers.

In the first month of the project AWC will also identify 4 sites in the area, to house the Human Rights classes. Two hundred women will be enrolled in 8 groups of 25 women each. Eight of the literacy teachers will be selected for training to teach 25 students groups.