AIL stories

Transformation - a story from Sakena Yacoobi
Fictional
Medical
Educational

Transformation
“ It is so important to see that people are transforming and people are changing. It’s gives me pleasure because when a woman come to my door begging for money and she had 5 children with her and all the children were in the street, and I said, “I am not a humanitarian to give you money. The only thing I can provide for you is education.” And she said “No, I really want  you  to help me.””

“ We said, “Okay, you can work for us as a cook, but  on one condition, you have to let your children go to a school.” She said, “No, my children are  breadwinners for me. They are begging in the streets and bringing money for me. I cannot put them in the school.” I said, “Then I cannot help you. The only thing I can do, I give you a job as a cook but you put your children in the school.””

“ So we convinced her. She did, and what do you know, today her daughter went to my school, finished high school, became a nurse, worked as a nurse in my own hospital, and then she went back to medical school, she became a doctor. She is now a doctor. And she took her mother out of the cleaning and cooking, and she's supporting her completely and still today she is working in my program as a doctor. This is something that you see that  the whole entire family life changed. She is supporting her sister and brother in a school. They are all going to a school.”

“ So for me, this is a power of education. Education changed my life, and I feel that education is changing everybody's life. There are many, many examples that many young woman are right now blossoming, they are they are holding huge job, and they are so proud of it.”

“ Education is like a light, leading people to a better life.”

Fictional Stories  - What is it like at AIL?
AIL has been reporting their achievements and the impact of their work for years.  Sometimes it is hard for those in the developed world to truly grasp how life changing an experience it is for a woman to go to an AIL facility.  We would like to imagine with you what it must be like.
First Day -  the AIL Learning Center
 No one in the U.S. has grown up with no expectations placed on their intellectual development – something was expected at the very least to read and write. The Afghan young woman from early on was expected to help with home and siblings and then soon, too soon, the expectation turns to early marriage and producing her own family and continuing to lead the life her mother has led.

We imagine a woman approaching the first day of attendance at a AIL Learning Center - feeling apprehensive? Maybe even scared? She has had a journey already to this point - maybe involving reasoning with male family members, or her mother in law? –“Why do you need to do these things.” they might say.  Maybe she has struggled  within herself – “Why am I doing this? Can I do this, really? What about the children? I don’t have time; there is always so much to do at home?”
 She has seen her friend do this, her neighbor – they seemed so happy with it “I should try, maybe it is for me”, she says. So she goes and enters the Learning Center feeling – what? – overwhelmed? “I can’t read that – I cannot understand even the letters on the poster on the wall. What was I thinking?”
The teacher is welcoming, she smiles, she knows what the woman is thinking – she has been there, long ago. She encourages with her smile and her manner. She explains what will happen that everything will be done step by step, everyone here can learn step by step, no one will be left behind,  all can do this.
And so they start – the woman becomes immersed in newness and she learns the meaning of the letters she has only wondered at before.  Before she realizes it, hours have passed and her school day is over. She rises differently, her self-esteem has risen.  “I know something. I have learned today.”
 She steps out of the building to the open air with a smile, an inner smile of knowing, knowing that she is an individual. She is capable. She is changing. Her life is changing, her future is now different.

First Day – the AIL medical clinic
People in the developed world grow up with the expectation that they will receive    some sort of professional health care.  A young Afghan’s first experience of health care is from the family and the extended family’s ideas of care which can be wrong and in some cases actually harmful. A young mother follows what her mother has taught her in caring for her baby. AIL staff come across women who have not fed a 3 year old solid food thinking milk is all that is needed, wounds that have been  treated with dirt, women in labor left in a barn stall to cope alone for 3 days.

We imagine a woman approaching the clinic with a toddler at her side and a baby in her arms.  She has walked for an hour and by now she is very tired and unsure. Her baby cries she cannot soothe him she has been frightened for him for many days. He has been so sick.
She has had a journey already to this point - maybe involving talking with her husband and  mother in law? –“Why do you need to go to this place.” they might say.  Maybe she has negotiated with herself – “Why am I doing this? The baby will get well here at home.  I don’t have time to go somewhere; there is always so much to do?”
Her friend has encouraged her, telling her the people at the clinic will help they know so much more and so she set out this day, determined.  She arrives and enters the AIL clinic and sees women like her with children, talking and sharing their stories. There is a welcoming attendant in a white coat who takes her name and then shows her where to wait. But almost immediately another person comes to talk to her and the other who are waiting. She explains about sanitation and clean water.  It is a surprise  to the woman to hear that  dirty water causes diarrhea. She learns about nutrition when to start feeding solid food and about vaccinations-  that it is possible to stop your child getting a disease. That seems too hard to believe but the others say, yes it does work, my son, my daughter has not had the diseases I had when I was small.
The woman feels overwhelmed there is so much to take in so much newness.  But as she absorbs it she feels determined to take care of her children using this new knowledge. She becomes curious and asks questions. Then it is her turn to see the doctor.  The doctor is a woman too, she gently takes the baby and listens to the mother’s story. A prescription is written and instructions given. He will be well.   The young woman learns that she can come to the clinic any time to learn about health issues. “Come again and talk with us” say the other women. “You are not alone. There is help for you.”
She rises to start the journey home, the weight lifted from her “I know something. I have learned today.”  She steps out of the building to the open air with a smile, her baby will be well and she has a new inner strength that comes from knowledge. “I know what to do now, how to care for my child. I don’t need to be so afraid. I have knowledge and I have some where to go for help.” 


Medical Stories
My name is Soodaba. I am 30 years old. I can’t read or write. I have brought my child to the clinic for one year now because he suffers from malnutrition. My house is a few kilometers far from the clinic, and I always have to walk that takes about one hour.

We are a family of 11 people including my father and my mother who live in the  house.  But I have five children, a son and four daughters. I was coming with my father and mother to the clinic for the few first sessions, but since  then I have been coming alone to clinic.

On the first day to clinic I was unsure about a cure for my child, I didn’t expect the good treatment from doctors, but then I found that I was wrong.  I soon found there was  a friendly atmosphere in the clinic. I could openly talk to all doctors there. The whole staff in the clinic had good behavior towards patients here. My child has soon recovered. They also give the patients good advice. For example, they said how recommend us to take care of our children, to be kind to every member of our family, and consider healthcare in our community.

My child was seven years old when he was suffering from malnutrition. He didn’t grow as he should for his age and that concerned me a lot. My child is now taking medicine. I myself sometimes take medicine from here when I get sick. I am very happy that we have a clinic in our area and we can go for treatment at any time we need to.

I have learned a lot about healthcare from the clinic. I am going to share all my knowledge with everybody in my family, in my neighborhood and even in my community. I advise them to eat healthy food for a better and healthier generation. I myself had always ignored feeding my children healthy food, but now after going to the clinic I am trying to feed them with healthy food.  I think everybody is supposed to come to clinic for a checkup every few months and I let my family see the doctor for any simple health problem. We should help our society lead healthy lives.

It would be better if there were more doctors in the clinic. We need more doctors in the clinic because some people get put off by having to travel long distances and then wait for long hours and so don’t come and that cause health problems in


A Pharmacist said: Farhad is 7 years old and lives in Maladan. One day he was very sick and his mother carried Farhad to the clinic. He had a very bad gastroenteritis and he had rapid heartbeat, dry mouth and severe vomiting and diarrhea so much so that he was unconscious.
Farhad’s Mother was crying "Why is my son dying" I said " Don’t cry we will help him and if God wants he will become well" I rapidly gave him a IV of Ringer Fluid Serum ,after one hour Farhad opened his eyes and said "I am thirsty give me water".
We gave him Pedialyte Solution. His mother said "I bought same ORS Powder from Pharmacy and the ORS is very tasteless so my son would not take the ORS". I said "This Pedialyte is not tasteless" . The mother gave it to him and he became better and better. The mother prayed for all the clinic staff.
I asked her "Why did your son have diarrhea?" she said: "We don’t have sanitary faucet water and we drink uncovered well water."
I told her "You must drink boiled water and you must cover your well soon". She promised that she would cover their well and boil their water.At the end of the Ringer Serum I said "Please give him Pedialyte on the way and at home". So Farhad was happy and well and was smiling and laughing when he left with his mother.

A Clinic Midwife said: When I was in the waiting room I saw a mother with a 8 or 9 month old child waiting to visit the doctor. The child looked very unhappy. I invited the mother into my room she was surprised.
I asked her if I could ask her some questions about her child: "How old is your child?" She said that he is one and half years old.
"Do you breast feed your child?" She replied no because I am not his mother, his mother died during delivery. I am his aunt, I give him a piece of bread and a glass of water with sugar.
"Can you cook food for the child?" She said no because I work on the farm with my husband and the boy during the day is at home and I do not have enough time to cook anything to eat and we eat bread with yoghurt every day.
The poor woman said our economic situation is poor so we cannot buy formula or concentrated baby food for the child. My husband and I work daily at a people’s farm and my oldest son is sometimes sick and sometimes well he cannot work and get a salary.
I said, "Do not be worried God may help you in the future and now listen to me I tell you a better way to make food for your child which is very easy and cheap." She asked how. I said," You can make foods like potato, vegetable sholah {a local food}, yoghurt and milk, in addition I gave her multivitamin powder and I told her to come here after one week. She went away happy.

A woman from a clinic who lost her child two years ago tells her story,
"My child died a few days after his birth. By the time I became pregnant for the second time, I came to this Clinic because I was suffering from weakness. During the examination, I was asked about my children. I told them about my experience. They asked me many questions and during answering to their questions, they figured out the cause. They told me that my child was suffering from Tetanus illness which caused his death.
The clinic‘s doctor prescribed me the Tetanus vaccine for two periods during pregnancy and when the child is born, he/she should be vaccinated as well. He also prescribed me some medicines for my strength and gives the mentioned medicines from the Clinic.
Every month, they come to the Clinic and finally my child was born at this Clinic. By the time my child was 18 months old, I came to Clinic to get the measles vaccine for the child. Now I have a healthy child. I am totally satisfied with the Clinic personnel and thank Allah and the Clinic personnel who provide services in the field of Health care."

Education Stories
Anisa’s story

My name is Anisa and I am 35 years old. I am literate and can read and write  as well as sew. I have been coming to the AIL Learning Center for 9 years. The center is a long way from my house and I get here by walking or sometimes by bus. I come 6 days a week.I live in a household of 3  my husband, my daughter and me. I come from a family of 6 children and I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters. All of us are literate and my two sisters are teachers. My father passed away and my mother is living she is illiterate and cannot read or write and is uneducated. 

I remember when I first went to the center. I was very excited and happy. It was something amazing when I walked into the class.  In fact it was something incredible to me. There were 15 of us students all housewives To be honest I was a little bit unsure in the beginning because I didn’t believe in myself and all my classmates were young women, so I was a little shy and I asked myself, Could I learn the lesson? Is there a day when I could read and write? But soon everything has changed. I learned all the lessons well and got the first grade in the class. 


The first thing I studied was the alphabet and then Arabic and Math. I have also learned about health and peace. I am able to share my ideas about  peace with the community because of what I learned. I have told my siblings and child about things I have learned including health information.
 My experience at the center was different than I expected.  I didn’t expect to be promoted so fast, to be educated and get a job. I had never believed that I could make a lot of friends in the center. My life has completely changed because of being here.
 The center has motivated me to start a new life with new thoughts. Before coming to the center I hated being a woman, but now I am proud of being a woman. I  know all my rights as a woman and my economical problems have been solved now.

I always hoped to study until twelfth grade (high school) and graduate because I wanted to be a teacher but here the classes are until ninth grade (school). I would like to continue my education, but I need to get a job to pay my family, because my husband is jobless and my daughter needs money for her school.  I am very happy and proud that I could help my family with the small salary I get. I had never believed that a woman  could support a family.
I will allow all my daughters to be well educated in the future because I don’t want my daughters to experience the economical problems I have had. I really want my daughters be self sufficient and live in complete comfort and relief.  I think it is impossible to live without education and a salary.
I think the center could improve by expanding the workshops, making communication with people, and more help from A.I.L. also by adding subjects such as English, and computer classes and long term workshops on leadership and democracy.

I would mention that during my studying at the center I once attended a workshop on leadership at the Department of Women Affairs held by A.I.L. I learned how to be a good leader. My life has been positively affected by the as I understood how to be a good mother to my children and help them in their education. I decided to study harder to graduate with a BA degree then….  

 Ahmad is 22 years old and he has been a student at a AIL Learning Center for one year. He said “ AIL  changed my life positively. I started to study


English and computer last year. Before I attended classes
in this center, I didn’t even know how to turn on  a computer,
but I have learned well now. In fact, I’ve learned 7 computer programs. In addition, I’ve learned English well since last year.
After I graduated, I took an entrance exam for a trading company in
the town and  I got the job. My salary is excellent and I pay for my family, my mother and my father with the money I receive from work. My cousin is also interested in learning computer and English. I owe all my successes to A.I.L.”

Rabea a student of AIL says:“I was not able to read and write in the past and I always hoped to able to do so. Every time when I saw a school student I got upset that I couldn’t continue going to school but, I had no choice because my father didn’t permit me to go to school or even  to talk about it. The situation continued until my brother started going to school, so I got a chance to study with my brother at home.

Once my father got a letter, but he found no one to read him the letter. He got upset, but I went to him to read the letter. My father ridiculed me because he couldn’t believe that I was able to do that. But he had no choice. I read the letter very well, and then my father was shaken and surprised. He got so happy even his eyes were filled with tears. Then he kissed my face and admitted that he made a mistake. He asked me to start going to school. When I got the permission I was so happy that I wished to fly to the sky. I thanked God.

Time has gone by and I go to school, I get good marks too. I make my family and my teachers happy and I owe God for this achievement.

I hope in the future we have no illiterate person in our country.”

 


Azita's Story "My name is Azita and I am 15 years old but I do not look it because I am backward. ( She is very short and looks like a 6 year old) I was born like this it is genetic. My mother always tells me that you were as small as a cat and I brought you up so carefully. When I was 6 years old I could not talk or walk and my mother had to feed me. When I was 10 my sister held my hand and helped me walk, but sometimes she has got tired and said: "One day I will leave you near a mosque that a dog or other animals eat you."

I have never gone into the street to play with other children, because they made jokes. I was always at home and did not have any hobby to do. I have a sister who is 5 years younger. My mother registered her in a literacy course and she was going to school after the course. Whenever she was not at home, I would take her pen and notebook and continue drawing nonsense lines until I learned how to hold a pen? Then I started to beg to my father to let me go to course with my sister, but he told me no because the students will make fun of you. I continued begging my father and finally he let me to go.

My mother brought me to AIL center and registered me. I was in the first class and my sister was in third. All teachers sympathized with me and then after that, they accepted me as a normal student and I went to class for first time and started lessons, and no one in that class made jokes about me. My hands did not reach the board, but our teacher hugged me and I have been able to write on the board. Every night I have cried and asked God to help me learn something. I was given notebook, pens, and books each month from the office supply because we are very poor and my parents cannot afford these things for me.

Now backward Azita can write and read but I just have some problems with spelling and that is because of my mental situation. We are very poor but now I am always happy because I am literate and I have become familiar with praying and Islamic rules before I did not know about religion. My mother did not take me out with her.
Now I realized that being backward is not something to be ashamed of and I always pray for Professor Yaccoobi and I hope the best for her who has provided us such services."


A 13 year old girl who is a student at a AIL center says, "My parents are illiterate and they suffer because of that. Fortunately they realized that literacy is very important for human beings to have a better life. They did not send me to school when they had to do because they heard the regular schools have no quality and they don’t have enough teachers and also they did not want their young daughter to walk a long way to go to school. But at the same time they would like me to be educated and tried to find an educational center safe for girls and that has quality. They found out the information about the AIL Center in detail from some neighbors.

To make themselves satisfied and make everything clear in detail they went to the center and saw that the center was run by women and all the teachers are women and the teaching system has quality. My 45 years old mother got admission for me and herself in literacy class. We started learning literacy and fortunately I go fast and during 9 months I finished 3rd grade because I wanted to reach higher classes. But my mother stopped learning when she learnt how to read and write. It was very interesting that we did our homework together and helped each other. We enjoyed being classmates. The teachers that have been trained by AIL are unique. The supervisors of AIL office regularly come and supervise the center and that is the reason the quality is good.

Now I am in 6th grade and I am very lucky to have this opportunity to continue my education. At the same time my mother learns tailoring. So this center really changed our life. This center caused my 45 years old mother to become literate and a tailor that now she supports the family too.

I thank God and AIL that provided this opportunity for me and my mother. I wish all the women will have the same opportunity because illiterate people are like the blind.

Leadership workshops
Story from a participant
“I learned how to empower people. Once when I was walking on the road I saw a woman who was begging. I gave her money and asked why are you not working, take this money and start your own business. After few months I saw her in the bazaar. I didn’t remember the women, but she introduced herself and said, “You helped me and now I have a small business. I bought a cart for my husband and he started work with it in the market and now I am not begging on the roads.” I am so happy that I was a leader and led a family and empowered them.”

Love and Forgiveness Training
The Director of Education Department of Heart says:

The love and forgiveness program of AIL explained to me how we can have an peaceful society. Because I am the director of Education Department of Herat and every day many people come to my office I should be patient with all of them. Before the love and peace program of AIL I became angry and sad against the people and participants of my office when I attend in the love and forgiveness program of AIL I understood that I should change my behavior.