Author: Isabelle Shively

On May 4-5, Sahar attended Dining for Women’s 2018 National Conference in Washington DC. The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) hosted the conference, a wonderful location to discuss topics such as, “The Impact of Violent Extremism on Women and Girls”, “Engaging Men in Advancing Gender Equality”, “Women’s Role in Nonviolent Movements” and “Empowering Girls, Transforming Communities”, just to mention a few. It was an absolute pleasure to be a part of DFW’s 15 years anniversary celebration, the world’s largest educational giving circle dedicated to ensuring gender equality and eradicating global poverty. And we are very grateful for DFW’s $50,000 grant to deepen the monitoring and evaluation elements of our pioneering Early marriage Prevention Program.

The two days at DFW conference was a powerful reminder for us that how critical it is to ensure that girls and women around the world have equal opportunities for growth. They should not only survive but to thrive in their communities, their nations and the world.

Additionally, we are thrilled to share with you that our senior fellow advisor, Airokhsh Faiz Qaisary, was one of the panelists on “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” panel. Airokhsh talked about Sahar’s successes and challenges on Early Marriage Prevention Program, and more importantly about our strategies to overcome the challenges and continue to transform Afghan girls’ lives through our programs.

Here is Airokhsh’s reflection on Anucha Browne’s talk:

“There was something about what the Luncheon Keynote speaker said on the second day of the conference that stuck in my mind. As she shared her experience and challenges of being a female and black athlete she said that “women and girls shouldn’t have to just survive but they also should have opportunities to thrive.” I think the reason that it stuck with me is because, many girls that we work with hustle to survive every day. They want to survive daily street harassments, survive forced marriages, and survive poverty. The time that they are at school gives them a chance to thrive and not worry what they will face when they step out of the school compound. Understanding that they can thrive is itself a form of liberation.”

Conference selfie with Anucha Browne, the Chief Strategy and Engagement officer for UNICEF USA, and May 5th Luncheon Keynote speaker

Thank you for your generous support of Sahar on Seattle’s day of giving, #GiveBIG! In just one day we raised over $2,500 for Afghan girls education! Thank you!

Rahela, 11th grade student in our Early Marriage Prevention Program:

“My life has changed by participating in this program. I decided to continue my studies in order to become a teacher in the future – I would like to serve my people, especially other girls. Thanks Sahar for this good program!”

Thank you for making #GiveBIG a special day!

-Ginna, Qxhna, and Mahsheed

Sahar’s Early Marriage Prevention Program received a $50,000 grant from Dining for Women in 2017. With similar missions of focusing on women’s empowerment, it’s no surprise that we continue to partner with an organization doing such important work.

The Knowledge is Power conference in May of 2018 will celebrate Dining for Women’s 15th Anniversary of empowering and engaging women and girls around the world. Dining for Women members and volunteer leadership will learn about world issues and current events impacting women and girls globally and connect with Dining for Women grantees and each other. Located at the The United States Institute of Peace in Washington DC, the beautiful and iconic building sits at the northwest corner of the Washington National Mall and provides the perfect setting for a national conference.

Our Senior Fellow Advisor, Airoksh Faiz Qaisary (pictured), has been invited to contribute as part of the panel “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” at the conference:

“”Women’s Rights are Human Rights” has been a rallying cry since 1830 and was given new life at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Much progress has been made through the decades for women and girls, however around the world challenges remain for women and girls in reaching their full potential. This panel presents perspectives from Sahar in Afghanistan, Safe Hands for Girls from the Gambia and Women’s Justice Initiative in Guatemala.”

Sahar’s presence will be expanded via an information table as well as the attendance of Sahar Executive Director Ginna Brelsford and Sahar Fellow Mahsheed Mahjor. We’ll see you there!

Fore more information about the event, click here.

The overall purpose of the Capital Campaign Cabinet is to provide Sahar with the ability to deliver a best in class first ever public boarding school for rural Afghan girls. The Campaign Cabinet works closely with Miller Hull Partnership LLC, Sahar’s Executive Director, Campaign Manager, Afghan fellow, and Board of Directors to launch and carry out a 3-year fundraising campaign, ensuring that the campaign stays on schedule and progresses towards our $1.5 million dollar fundraising goal with a high level of visibility and momentum.

Miller Hull Partnerships LLC architects Dave Miller and Margaret Sprug are providing pro-bono design creation and oversight to the boarding school project. The University of Washington School of Architecture design studio also contributed design input.

Without further ado, here are our cabinet members:

Patti Meyers

After a career in higher education at Claremont McKenna College in California, Patti returned to Washington with her family. She has always had an interest in education and at-risk youth. She is past Board President of The Overlake School, Northwest Children’s Fund and the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. Currently, Patti is on the board of the Washington Women’s Foundation. Patti received her MA in Government from Claremont Graduate University and her BA in Political Science from Scripps College.

 

 

 

Jim Moore

Jim Moore’s international development interest began with 3 years of Peace Corps service in Nepal. Subsequently, he led multi-cultural project teams in 20 different countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, focusing on water, agriculture and infrastructure development. Jim has served on the Board of Trustees of the Seattle Rotary Service Foundation, as Rotary District International Service Chair, and Rotary’s District Global Grants Coordinator. In private business, he has helped startup enterprises grow, raise capital, and build boards of advisors/directors. He is a former CFO and COO of small and medium scale manufacturing and service companies as well as serving on the board of 2 private companies. Jim earned BA, MBA, and MRP degrees from Harvard University.

 

 

Catherine Gelband

Catherine’s interest in education and empowering girls has defined her career and volunteer involvement. Catherine has been the President of Sahar’s Board of Directors since 2009. She also served as Board President of Girl Scouts of Western Washington and recently retired from over 25 years of service to Pacific Crest School, a Seattle Montessori School, including serving as Board chair and Admissions Director. She began her legal career as a corporate lawyer at a large Seattle law firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions. After the arrival of her two children, she began a private practice. Catherine attended Yale College and Northwestern University School of Law. She retired from the practice of law in 2006.

 

 

Leslie Lackey 

Leslie Lackey has a strong desire to make a difference in the lives of people through education, the arts and movement. She is currently working in the non­profit arena as a fund raiser, board member and volunteer for various local and international organizations. Her background includes 26 years as a senior manager in the Boeing Commercial Airplane group in a wide range of positions including contracts, sales and marketing, public relations and quality improvement. She received her Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University and also was a candidate for a Masters in Organizational Psychology from Bastyr University. Leslie is a lifelong student of Spanish, French, and Classical Piano.

 

 

Tom Grant

Tom Grant was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan, in Kabul in 1967 – 69 and Heart in 1972 – 73. Mr. Grant’s career also includes working as an attorney at the California Public Utilities Commission, serving as a legislative assistant to a Seattle City Council member, and working at the Battelle Seattle Research Center on environmental, nuclear safety, and nuclear security issues as a consultant and project manager. He currently works on environmental projects for a Washington, D.C. consulting firm, is a volunteer naturalist at Seattle’s Discovery Park, and serves on the board of a nonprofit organization. Mr. Grant lives in Seattle with his wife, Julie, and dog, Mingus.

 

 

Carla Corkern

Carla Corkern has over 20 years of experience in high-tech and supply chain management. She has helped build a number of highly-successful technology companies. Carla is also active in a number of charitable organizations, and serves on the Girl Scouts of Western Washington’s Board of Directors. She was named one of the Top 100 Women in Seattle Technology and is a strong advocate for women seeking technology careers. Carla graduated from Louisiana Tech University and did graduate work at Southern Methodist University.

 

—Mahsheed Mahjor

More than three decades of war and conflict  have not only damaged Afghanistan’s infrastructures, social, political and economical institutions, but have also damaged many of its people’s mental health. Although accurate data on mental health issues in Afghanistan does not exist, according to the recent data collected by World Health Organization  (WHO) “ more than a million Afghans suffer from depressive disorders while over 1.2 million suffer from anxiety disorders. Actual figures are likely to be much higher.” Moreover, mental health issues “could be one of the factors contributing to violence at community and household level.” Therefore, it is vital to not only understand the long-term intergenerational effect of mental health disorders, but also to take action. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) tiered pyramid  approach for mental health, “the majority of mental health care can be self-managed or managed by informal community mental health services.” We at Sahar are trying to create that “informal community” – to provide girls with opportunities to talk about mental health and its challenges.

Even though mental health issues are very prevalent in Afghan society, the discussion around this topic remains a taboo. Therefore, we at Sahar are taking a step towards sparking conversation and providing basic tools for the girls that we serve in Northern Afghanistan, to discuss issues of mental health. Our Early Marriage Prevention program (EMPP) was designed in 2015 to address the the dropout rate for middle school and high school Afghan girls. EMPP is a 23-day  after-school program designed for girls in grades 5 through 12. Our EMPP was originally designed with 12 modules. Each module covers a different topic, for instance the girls learn about their rights according to the Afghan laws and international human rights laws. We bring motivational female and male speakers to talk to the girls and highlight that they can achieve their goals and dreams with tenacity and perseverance. The speakers are lawyers, doctors, politicians, female police officers and university professors. Additionally, we have other engaging workshops for the girls that help them with their self-confidence as they continue to pursue their education.

The year 2018 marks the third year of our EMPP. Over these years the program has grown to be popular among the students and they feel comfortable to share their  feedback and highlight their needs. Therefore, the girls in our EMPP have requested a module about mental health issues. Given all the violence against women and girls on a daily basis in Afghanistan, the rate of women who suffer from mental health disorders is higher. This 13th module will enable girls to have conversation about mental health issues. The module is designed to create an informal safe space for girls to hold conversations about the issues that they most likely are not able to talk about with anyone else. Moreover, it highlights the urgency of the mental health issues and how to talk about topics such as depression and trauma. This module also familiarizes the students with coping methods such as art therapy. Here at Sahar, we hope that this will be small platform to fight the stigma that has surrounded this topic for way too long.

 

References:

• World Health Organization (WHO)
• National Public Radio (NPR)
• Human Rights Watch (HRW)
• The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
• Pajhwok Afghan News
• The Guardian

International Women’s Day means something different to each person. That’s what makes it a unique day – there are multiple ways to engage and celebrate it! For this year’s International Women’s day we decided to ask Sahar Staff: “What does International Women’s day mean to you?” Read their perspectives below!

Mahsheed Mahjor, Afghan Fellow: 
“International Women’s Day is a celebration of courageous and bold past and current actions towards equity. International Women’s Day is also a reminder that it is pivotal that everyone realize and recognize that without women and their equal participation, peaceful and equitable families, societies, nations and world will not be possible. And that is the very reason for all of our work in Afghanistan!”

Ginna Brelsford, Executive Director: 
“IWD is a day that creates time and space to honor generations of pioneers who stood up and said, “Girls matter. Women matter.” This is especially important to our work in Afghanistan where those voices are routinely silenced. Sahar provides access to education which in turn boldly celebrates Afghan girls’ voices reverberating around the globe.”

Catherine Gelband, Board President: 
“To me International Women’s Day is a celebration of possibilities. Girls represent a powerful force for change. There is so much potential that we can unleash.”

Qxhna Titcomb, Operations and Campaign Manager:
“International Women’s Day means celebrating all those that have come before me that have courageously pushed for equal rights for women – whether those are small steps of bravery like the girls that Sahar serves facing insecurity as they walk to and from school every day or larger displays of progress like the opening of Sahar’s Gawhar Khatoon High School in 2015. And it’s taking that sentiment, holding it dear, and working harder to push so that future generations of women all over the world reap the benefits of even more progress.”

 

 

*** Photo of 6th grade graduates from Sahar’s Early Marriage Prevention Program.