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“ Society ideally believes that we are all human and we are equal, and you look to others as equal and really try to watch out for humans rights, women's rights... the right of every individual to have dignity, to have respect. When we abuse and don't look for gender equality we discourage people from their rights, we discourage people from their value and their ethics, they feel low. And that is not the way to look to other human beings.” "I think AIL is not an NGO but AIL is a big university in Afghanistan because it produces leaders and managers." Workshop participant “ Again you go back again to education. The more education people have, the better they can understand that they don't do something to others that they don't want to be done to them.” |
Human Rights and Leadership Training
_Human Rights, Leadership, Peace Training
AIL has trained many people, mainly women but including several hundred men in human rights, leadership and peace workshops in addition many have received training in capacity building and information technology. Human Rights Workshops relate the struggle to eliminate violence (of all types) against women in society to empowering women. Afghan women have learned how to advocate for their basic human rights and to develop leadership skills with self confidence through these workshops. Women learn that religion does not condone violence against people including within families. Women develop skills in communication and ways to prevent violence against themselves and the knowledge of how to effect positive change within their families and communities. Leadership Workshops enhance women’s leadership skills, empowering them to participate in local, regional, country wide decision making. Empowered by Leadership and Human Rights workshops, women now ask for more Learning Centers, take literacy courses, and stand up to abuse directed against them or others. AIL uses materials developed by Sisterhood is Global Institute in its human rights and leadership workshops. As a result of employment opportunities, education, and empowerment through AIL programs, women have moved on to be advocates at all levels of society even becoming representatives in the Loya Jirga (Afghan Assembly). In the words of Habiba Surabi, Afghan Minister of Women’s Affairs and a former AIL employee who was trained as an AIL Teacher Trainer: “It was AIL that trained me and was sending me to camps in order to hear and feel the problems of my poor countrymen, that is why people in America call me ‘People Minister.’ The training and experience I received from AIL is unforgettable for me.” |
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Emerging Leaders Training
The Emerging Leaders (EL) workshops were begun after a group of young Afghans who had attended AIL Leadership Workshops wanted to work with other young people who had or wanted to take leadership positions in their communities. The first core group attended a conference in India in 2009 and upon their return, began the process of creating EL groups in both Heart and Kabul.
These groups grow with every meeting and are made up of members of AIL staff, teachers, government workers, staff members from various NGOs, business people, health care workers and university students. A typical meeting in August of 2010 showed that 15% were under 20 years of age, 60% were 21-30, 15% were 31-40, and 10% were over 50 years old. 75% of the members were 30 years of age and under which shows that Afghan’s educated young people are energized and ready to move ahead.
In 2010, the EL groups set the following objectives for their activities:
•To raise awareness of democratic principles and fundamental rights and strengthen leadership skill among civil society leaders and public servants.
•To raise awareness on peace-building and conflict resolution techniques among civil society leaders and public servants.
•To encourage youths’ civic engagement in their communities.
Follow-up surveys and impact evaluations are being developed to measure the success of these activities to meet their objectives. Members are in their communities offering workshops in leadership, health and grant writing and are working to develop relationships among each other as well as with local government entities. An excellent example of ELs identifying creative solutions to real problems is the Women Association Revolving Loan Fund.
Women Association Revolving Fund Project
Two of the women who attended the India meeting and the subsequent Emerging Leader meetings have joined together and created the Women Association Revolving Fund Project. Both women had attended different leadership and democracy and capacity building trainings and were motivated by the Emerging Leaders meeting in Herat, Their desire was to play a leadership role in their community to help their people. After its successful implementation for over 5 months, these women asked AIL to support them and their efforts to expand the project so in October 2009, AIL hired them part time with a small stipend so they can continue with the success of their first project, and also expand this idea to other communities in 2010.
The first Project is located in one of the subdivisions of Herat city. The women leaders gathered 120 women who have no access to credit from their community. These members have been selected based on their commitment and honesty. These women agreed to join together, put money into a loan fund, and abide by the rules of the group. The group meets weekly and each brings what they can and these amounts are recorded. Each week, the names of the contributors are put in a bowl and one name is drawn. That woman receives all the money in the loan fund for her chosen needs. All of the women have agreed to continue contributing money, so that there is always money in the fund. This project has been very successful. Women have been able to pay for operations for family members, for weddings and for housing using this pooling of resources.
This program empowers women to work together as a cohesive unit, and to be empathetic to other women’s needs. They have built a long-term sense of trust within the group. They are able to receive a loan without typical high interest rates (if obtained from lending sources). The women learn to be accountable to others and are building a sense of community.
Peace Training
Today is a Good Day for Peace
In the classes and workshops of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), everyday is a good day for peace. Since 1996, AIL has included peace messages in all of its classes and all of its workshops. Its leadership and peace workshops emphasize how to discuss issues with others in a peaceful way. The participants are trained to work to resolve conflicts in their daily lives in a peaceful, non-confrontational way….and AIL’s strategy is working.
"After participating in this Peace Workshop,I will try to bring a major change into my own personality and this will be the solution of interior problems within myself . Then I will try to solve the conflicts existing in my family, workplace and environment" [leadership workshop participant]
"Following this workshop, when I face conflicts, I will try to solve them by patience, good skills of communication, preservation of opposite side’s personality…. as I learned these skills from this workshop….my first step will be to work hard for the removal of rancor and negative perceptions which I have against someone … and then I will try to behave positively to everyone with a spirit of being in a peaceful environment. " by a participant in an AIL Peace Workshop.
Again and again, AIL students find ways to help their Afghan relatives and neighbors to resolve family conflicts peacefully, to stop abuse, to convince male relatives that education is valuable and not harmful and that violence is never the answer.
You might ask, but how does that lead to peace? Where there are conflicts and different ways of thinking, even very small resolutions in a peaceful way are a model for peace rather than conflict. In the areas where AIL has been working over the last 15 years, community members, who are now educated and have improved health, are also learning to work together and to solve their problems peacefully. Most Afghans want peace, not conflict. As they work together in this way, their peaceful resolutions become a model for others and peaceful resolutions, rather than conflict, grow.
"Peace is every one’s need and it is every body’s responsibility to work hard to bring peace" [AIL leadership workshop participant]
In 2012, AIL held a Conference on Love and Forgiveness highlighting the work about peace of Afghan poets and artists. The conference was a great success and well received by those attending and the media. Since then workshops have been requested by school and so AIL has continued this valuable work promoting peace in society.
The Emerging Leaders (EL) workshops were begun after a group of young Afghans who had attended AIL Leadership Workshops wanted to work with other young people who had or wanted to take leadership positions in their communities. The first core group attended a conference in India in 2009 and upon their return, began the process of creating EL groups in both Heart and Kabul.
These groups grow with every meeting and are made up of members of AIL staff, teachers, government workers, staff members from various NGOs, business people, health care workers and university students. A typical meeting in August of 2010 showed that 15% were under 20 years of age, 60% were 21-30, 15% were 31-40, and 10% were over 50 years old. 75% of the members were 30 years of age and under which shows that Afghan’s educated young people are energized and ready to move ahead.
In 2010, the EL groups set the following objectives for their activities:
•To raise awareness of democratic principles and fundamental rights and strengthen leadership skill among civil society leaders and public servants.
•To raise awareness on peace-building and conflict resolution techniques among civil society leaders and public servants.
•To encourage youths’ civic engagement in their communities.
Follow-up surveys and impact evaluations are being developed to measure the success of these activities to meet their objectives. Members are in their communities offering workshops in leadership, health and grant writing and are working to develop relationships among each other as well as with local government entities. An excellent example of ELs identifying creative solutions to real problems is the Women Association Revolving Loan Fund.
Women Association Revolving Fund Project
Two of the women who attended the India meeting and the subsequent Emerging Leader meetings have joined together and created the Women Association Revolving Fund Project. Both women had attended different leadership and democracy and capacity building trainings and were motivated by the Emerging Leaders meeting in Herat, Their desire was to play a leadership role in their community to help their people. After its successful implementation for over 5 months, these women asked AIL to support them and their efforts to expand the project so in October 2009, AIL hired them part time with a small stipend so they can continue with the success of their first project, and also expand this idea to other communities in 2010.
The first Project is located in one of the subdivisions of Herat city. The women leaders gathered 120 women who have no access to credit from their community. These members have been selected based on their commitment and honesty. These women agreed to join together, put money into a loan fund, and abide by the rules of the group. The group meets weekly and each brings what they can and these amounts are recorded. Each week, the names of the contributors are put in a bowl and one name is drawn. That woman receives all the money in the loan fund for her chosen needs. All of the women have agreed to continue contributing money, so that there is always money in the fund. This project has been very successful. Women have been able to pay for operations for family members, for weddings and for housing using this pooling of resources.
This program empowers women to work together as a cohesive unit, and to be empathetic to other women’s needs. They have built a long-term sense of trust within the group. They are able to receive a loan without typical high interest rates (if obtained from lending sources). The women learn to be accountable to others and are building a sense of community.
Peace Training
Today is a Good Day for Peace
In the classes and workshops of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), everyday is a good day for peace. Since 1996, AIL has included peace messages in all of its classes and all of its workshops. Its leadership and peace workshops emphasize how to discuss issues with others in a peaceful way. The participants are trained to work to resolve conflicts in their daily lives in a peaceful, non-confrontational way….and AIL’s strategy is working.
"After participating in this Peace Workshop,I will try to bring a major change into my own personality and this will be the solution of interior problems within myself . Then I will try to solve the conflicts existing in my family, workplace and environment" [leadership workshop participant]
"Following this workshop, when I face conflicts, I will try to solve them by patience, good skills of communication, preservation of opposite side’s personality…. as I learned these skills from this workshop….my first step will be to work hard for the removal of rancor and negative perceptions which I have against someone … and then I will try to behave positively to everyone with a spirit of being in a peaceful environment. " by a participant in an AIL Peace Workshop.
Again and again, AIL students find ways to help their Afghan relatives and neighbors to resolve family conflicts peacefully, to stop abuse, to convince male relatives that education is valuable and not harmful and that violence is never the answer.
You might ask, but how does that lead to peace? Where there are conflicts and different ways of thinking, even very small resolutions in a peaceful way are a model for peace rather than conflict. In the areas where AIL has been working over the last 15 years, community members, who are now educated and have improved health, are also learning to work together and to solve their problems peacefully. Most Afghans want peace, not conflict. As they work together in this way, their peaceful resolutions become a model for others and peaceful resolutions, rather than conflict, grow.
"Peace is every one’s need and it is every body’s responsibility to work hard to bring peace" [AIL leadership workshop participant]
In 2012, AIL held a Conference on Love and Forgiveness highlighting the work about peace of Afghan poets and artists. The conference was a great success and well received by those attending and the media. Since then workshops have been requested by school and so AIL has continued this valuable work promoting peace in society.
 Peace in the Afghan culture |
 Teaching about peace to the very young |
