Author: Sahar

International Women’s Day 2017 is just around the corner! On march 8th, we will celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day will also mark a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Here at Sahar, we urge you to participate in a variety of ways on this important day:

1. Reach out in your community and celebrate some of the incredible women that make up the fabric of your life. Whether it’s your aunt, neighbor, or co-worker, celebrate their achievements and acknowledge the challenges they’ve faced to get where they are today. This can be an in-person conversation, a note, or an email! The important part is to strengthen the bonds in your own community.

2. Research events and organizations in your area by going to https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Events! Bring a buddy and make it a way to engage in your community.

3. Think big picture. Here at Sahar we help more Afghan girls get in school and stay in school. If this mission resonates with you, learn more about our programs here. We rely on donations from people like YOU to continue doing important work, please click here if you’re interested in supporting. If a donation isn’t the right fit for you at this time, please join our mailing list to hear about other ways you can be engaged: click here.

What is International Women’s Day?
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

When is International Women’s Day?
International Women’s Day is March 8th of every year!

What is the theme for International Women’s Day 2017?
The theme of International Women’s Day 2017 is “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”. In 2015, world leaders at the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. They placed gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Why is International Women’s Day important?
While many strides have been made worldwide in the advancement of women, there more to do. There is still a significant wage gap, a lack of access to basic healthcare for women, policies that do not count the overwhelming majority of women in the informal economy, lack of protection for women from violence in the work place, etc. International Women’s Day is a reminder that significant work still needs to be done to dismantle the historic unequal rights of women.

What does International Women’s Day mean for Afghan women and Sahar’s girls?
IWD is an opportunity for us all to celebrate the challenges that Afghan women and Sahar’s girls have overcome to get to where we are today. It’s understanding that many courageous steps have been made by women on a day-to-day basis that have created change. International Women’s Day is also a reminder that we need to keep providing Afghan women and Sahar’s girls with empowerment opportunities and to be the change agents they want to see.

When did International Women’s Day start?
It’s difficult to say exactly when IWD (as it’s known) began. Its roots can be traced to 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding voting rights, better pay, and shorter working hours.

A year later, the first National Woman’s Day was observed in the US on 28 February in accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America.

In 1910, a woman called Clara Zetkin – leader of the ‘women’s office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany – tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She suggested that every country should celebrate women on one day every year to push for their demands.

A conference of more than 100 women from 17 countries agreed to her suggestion and IWD was formed. In 1911, it was celebrated for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on March 19.

In 1913, it was decided to transfer IWD to March 8, and it has been celebrated on that day ever since. The day was only recognized by the United Nations in 1975, but ever since it has created a theme each year for the celebration.
Link to article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/international-womens-day-2016-everything-you-need-to-know-about/

Can men celebrate International Women’s Day?
Of course! Men are welcome to and in fact encouraged to celebrate IWD. A world where not everybody is valued equally is a world where everybody loses. Bridging the gap of equality between men and women is work that must include men too.

Thanks to our fantastic donors, we have successfully reached our fundraising goals for 2016!

This year, we raised $45,600 for our computer center, $5,760 for teacher transportation, $63,528 for our teacher training center, and $45,600 for our early marriage prevention program. Each of these centers and programs will touch thousands and thousands of young Afghan girls. We have provided more girls in rural northern Afghanistan with the opportunity to learn.

Education may seem like a simple action in a nation ravaged by war for the last several decades, but we have seen tremendous change in the status of girls and women. Providing quality education experiences is about more than just getting more girls into the classroom, it is about empowering them to be free, creative thinkers who can engage in the public discussion of their country’s culture and politics and be respected and heard. We are a long ways off from achieving our goals of gender parity in the Afghanistan education system, but we continue to see tremendous growth in our capability to make this a reality.

We are excited and invigorated for what’s to come in 2017! We hope you’ll join us in continuing the gift of education.

by Malahat Mazaher

Designing a boarding school for Afghanistan is as complex to the University of Washington students of architecture as the concept of having one is for Afghans. This quarter these aspiring architects are taught by our own Board member, Dave Miller, and their project is to design a boarding school in Afghanistan.

Rebecca Thompson, a native of Seattle, like many of her classmates, chose this studio because of its focus on a project design overseas. Her design projects have always been in the Pacific Northwest. She is especially excited about this design because she gets to work on a boarding school so far away. She says this project is challenging compared to the designs she has worked on so far.

Jeremy Smith, one of the other students in the class told me about the different types of research each one of them did before starting the design. Students have had to research culture, security, advocating for funds, typology, local materials and environmental conditions. Being mindful of these aspects of the design is a challenging task, and unlike many other designs done by other students at their level of studies.

Rebecca and her classmates find designing the boarding school challenging because it goes beyond the conventional process of structure design, such as having to actively think of security, and cultural sensitivities to certain structures like the dorms, bathrooms and dining halls. When I asked Rebecca why she took this studio course, she said that “the main factor was designing a passive design that reflected the context environmentally and culturally, instead of a glass and steel structure, which does not make sense in Afghanistan as it would here in Seattle..” Passive design means using as much of the sun, natural ventilation, day lighting, cooling and heating, instead of relying on electrical and mechanical systems as well as using traditional materials and building methods. These aspects have inspired her to come up with a design of arches and vaults that create opportunities for outdoor courtyards and indoor sunspaces.

Rebecca likes being part of this studio course because of its focus on integrating architecture and social issues like education for girls in Afghanistan. She adds,“I think a lot of times architects want to make a difference in the world through their designs and sometimes it does not happen. It is exciting to impact girls’ education by designing a school.” Rebecca focuses on capturing the emotional comfort in this space through her design. She further adds that it is a life-changing opportunity for girls to attend the boarding school but also a challenging one, leaving their family while still feeling safe in an unknown space is difficult and it is important that they find not just physical comfort but also emotional comfort.

Khwaja Atif, an International student at the UW architectural studio from Pakistan, is impressed with the idea of a boarding school for high school students. This concept is new to him, as Pakistan does not have girls’ boarding schools. Additionally, Atif ‘s design is focusing on how to engage local community with the school. He suggested that the library of the school should be open to public so that an open and intellectual environment is encouraged. This idea makes the school not just a structure for the rest of the town rather a reminder of the impact knowledge can have.