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Educating girls in Afghanistan is a dangerous, of not deadly at times, proposition. Appearing on COMMUNITY CONNECTION on Tuesday, Pam Crawford and Elizabeth Thrash with Daybreak Rotary told us how people in the Bartlesville area are helping a school in that nation thrive.

 

 

 

About Razia's Ray of Hope Foundation:

 

Founded in 2007 by humanitarian and social innovator Razia Jan, an Afghan native, Razia's Ray of Hope is supported by a global team of women leaders and visionaries committed to peace. At Razia's Ray of Hope, we know that community-based, culturally-aware education is a pathway toward meaningful change for future generations. Our core project since 2008 is the Zabuli Education Center (ZEC), an all-girl K-12 school in the district of Deh'Subz (30 miles outside of Kabul) that provides free, exemplary education to more than 700 students. In March 2017, the adjacent Razia Jan Institute was opened, which provides our graduates and other community members career training opportunities as midwives, in addition to classes in English and computer literacy. This initiative has brought critical medical services to women in rural Afghanistan.

 

Of course, safety has the primary focus of the school. As the elders of the 36 surrounding villages have become more respectful of Razia and more important for their little girls to get an education, the villagers provide security for the villages that surround the school to protect the girls and faculty. The school continues to have a large security patrol around the school and tests the water of poisoning every morning before the girls arrive.  

 

Village elders race to turn in school enrollment applications to be sure their little girls get into the Zabuli Girls’ School. There are currently 756 in the K-12 school and approximately 300 on the wait list to enter kindergarten. Therefore, the construction is under way for an expansion building that will be for the elementary students. The current building will be for the high school students.  

 

The opening of the new school expansion building is planned for March 2022, will allow the school to double its capacity, helping to alleviate its years long waitlist of hundreds of girls. 

 

Razia has worked after 911 for many years to forge connections between Afghans and Americans. ·Razia Jan continues to be recognized globally. She has been named CNN’s Hero in 2012 and recognized by Rotary International as a speaker of the Rotary International Conference.  

 

The K-12 Zabuli Education Center - - a private, all-girls, "excellent," "exemplary" school per Afghanistan's Ministry of Education, has been producing top-notch students since 2008. When graduates had no option to continue their education beyond high school (per cultural norms re leaving the village), Razia built them a post-secondary institute. Graduates are now pursuing degrees in international relations and political science, as well as certifications in Midwifery, bringing vital medical support to a community in a country where a woman dies every two hours from childbirth related complications. 

 

If you are interested to know more about the fundraising efforts to help Daybreak Rotary Club provide a new classroom in Razia’s girls school new elementary school building: 

 

Donate to Daybreak Rotary's efforts  www.bartlesvilledaybreakrotary.com under DONATE with a memo of Girls’ school building. 

 

Bartlesville’s community is such an inclusive group of people in action. This building expansion effort may be completely on the other side of the world, however, Razia Jan, the villages, the school community including the students and Razia’s staff continue to work for a peace in Afghanistan and around the world which affects us here in Oklahoma.  

 

For those who do not know about Rotary International’s purpose:

 

Rotary International is a global service organization with 1.2 million members around the world with a motto of SERVICE ABOVE SELF and 16 million volunteer hours around the world. Rotary International has been instrumental in eradicating S.polio around the world.

 

The members of Bartlesville Daybreak Rotary are men and women of all ages who are interested in serving our community. Some of our serving opportunities: Agape Mission, Mary Martha, CONCERN, Salvation Army.  We are continually seeking new opportunities to provide “Service Above Self” in our local community, in our workplaces, and throughout the world. We partner with the Bartlesville Noon Rotary