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Project Wonkhai
at a glance
In March 2009, following the traditional Afghan academic calendar, the doors opened at “Project Wonkhai,” a secondary school for 1200 girls. The Afghan government supplies teachers, who we will encourage and support with monthly salary supplements. We will provide school supplies and supplement textbooks. We are currently exploring teacher training programs as well as vocational training for the girls.
Construction cost $120,000.
collaborators and supporters
A Wonkhai village elder, Seraj Wardak, designated a plot of land, on which we have built, as the site for a girls’ school. Khris Nedam, who has built a nearby elementary school and orphanage, offers advice and insight as we work closely with our collaborator, Fahima Vorgetts, an experienced construction organizer and fund-raiser, who travels to the site and communicates with locally-hired workers on our behalf. Combined, Khris and Fahima have built over a dozen charitably funded structures in Afghanistan.
Fahima Vorgetts, a board member of Women for Afghan Women, a director of the Afghan Women’s Fund, and an honorary member of the Afghanistan Organization for Human Rights and Environmental Protection, has addressed the UN, advised the authors of two books, “Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Reclaiming the Future,” by Sunita Mehta and “Behind the Burqa,” by Batya Swift Yasgur, and won several awards for her humanitarian efforts. These include the 2002 Ann Arundel Peace Action “Lifetime Achievement Award,” the 2003 UN “Human Right Community Award,” the 2004 Ann Arundel “Most Outstanding Volunteer Award,” and the 2004 “Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice.” During frequent trips to Afghanistan, she founded the Humanitarian Organization for Orphans and Widows of Afghanistan, organized women’s literacy classes, and built over a dozen schools. Fahima raised her family in Maryland and West Virginia, where she lives.
Our local contractor, Fahima manages construction during visits to Afghanistan. Check out Fahima's blog, where she posts updates about Project Wonkhai, here.
In 1998, Khris Nedam, an elementary school teacher in Michigan, and her third grade class founded Kids4AfghanKids, a nonprofit organization that built a six- room, 1200-person schoolhouse. Since, the group has funded and constructed a medical clinic, a bakery, a guesthouse, and an orphanage, and a well in Wonkhai, Afghanistan. In 2002, the year Khris received the Governor’s Service Award, the Center for International Disaster Information of Arlington, Virginia named Kids4AfghanKids one of the most reliable humanitarian organizations. In 2003, the Michigan Association of School Board’s gave her the “Best of the Best Award.” She has taught in France, Turkey, and Afghanistan, where she met her husband. She lives in Michigan with her two daughters.
Close friends with Seraj Wardak, the village elder who requested our school, and a veteran school-builder herself, Khris advises us and faciliates communication with Mr. Wardak.
a message from Wonkhai
"Thank you very much for thinking about us, the Afghan people... you people with no help from anyone have built a school all by your own work... we will never be able to forget you and your kindness to our people. So everybody, all our girls, their families tell you 'Hi, how are you and thank you very much.'"
- Seraj Wardak, September 23, 2009.
why this will work
At first, our project seems dicey: the area is politically volatile, local obstacles can prevent girls from going to school, and distance makes our control over construction limited. Yikes!
Yet we’re confident our work is as wanted and safe as it is needed. We know there is a demand for education in this community: a nearby elementary school, which Khris Nedam built, graduates over 600 girls each year. Further, community support and the protection of village elders, who have requested our services, have prevented even attempts at attack. In the case of security threats, teachers shut down the school for several days to ensure the safety of the girls. We are hopeful that our school will meet with equal enthusiasm and safeguarding. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Taliban violence has concentrated in Helmand and Kandahar, rather than Wardak.
Over the last few years, we have made several contacts who are pursuing unrelated work in Afghanistan. These contacts, as well as our collaborators and advisors, allow us to keep an eye on our project from multiple angles and perspectives.
For more information on Project Wonkhai and Circle of Women, check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
Knowledge Bank: Afghanistan
Population: 32.7 million
Official languages: Dari, Pashto
Religion: 80% Sunni Muslim
Median age: 17.6 years
Life expectancy: 44 years
Fertility rate: 6.58 children born/woman
Male literacy rate: 43.1%
Female literacy rate: 12.6%
GDP: $35 billion
GDP per capita: $1,000
Unemployment rate: 40%
Population below poverty line: 53%
* all data obtained from CIA World Factbook (2008)
