A safe classroom shouldn't be too much to ask for.
There are a lot of roadblocks to education for girls in Afghanistan.
Many we can’t help with, but some we can.
We are high school students collaborating with students in Afghanistan to solve a major problem – safe and affordable heat and light in schools.
When winter comes, most schools in Afghanistan shut down due to cold (there is no central heating and unreliable electricity.) Schools which do stay open burn sawdust for warmth, or use heaters requiring expensive fuels that emit fumes, making students dizzy and sick.
We're students who want to help.
Our mission is to help our Afghan partners stay in school longer and in safe conditions that are conducive to learning. They should be focusing on the lessons before them, not the ink freezing in their pens.
They want to be in school. They want to learn more. But right now, they can’t. We will help our partner school, and with enough support, will be able to help many other schools, too. We can replicate this all over the country with your help!
Together, we can give Afghan girls a chance to SHiNE.
The sign above says: "We have problems with heating our school. We could either sit around and wait for winter to pass OR fix our problems so that the next winter is more comfortable."
Our goal:
We hope to raise at least $15,000 to build solar arrays we designed at our partner school, as well as installing solar hot water and other heating solutions. This will provide power for lights and computers when the city power (inevitably) goes out, and will give them warmer studying conditions. The more money we raise, the more schools we can help.
We are students learning about social entrepreneurship, and want to maximize the impact of our fundraising. So we're not offering fancy prizes (we know wristbands, backpacks and mugs are cool - but being warm enough to study is cooler). We will use the funds raised to help girls who really need it, instead.
You're making a real difference.
A few more hours of school. A light to study by. An hour working with a tutor in the US via Skype. A classroom in which students can take notes without gloves on. These are real challenges, and we will implement real solutions. We just need your help.
Share our story!
We'd love you to join our effort. Our first priority is to fund the project, and if you can donate, that's would be tremendous. If you can also share this page on Facebook or Twitter, that would be awesome, too. Spread the word! Even though we're "just" high school students, we know we can make a difference, and want to empower girls in Afghanistan to believe that about themselves, too!