Parallel Initiatives
A broader approach to education
Many needs can be identified throughout the villages of remote Pakistan and Afghanistan that come under the umbrella of ‘education’. While schools are its primary purpose, the CAI recognises that other basic facilities and amenities are required to offer support and education to all aspects of a community.
In addition to schools, their initiatives include:
- Health Clinics Funding for medical supplies and the training and placement of nurses.
- Women's Centres Literacy and skills programs for all women, vocational training and promotion of new business initiatives for economic independence and empowerment.
- Scholarships Needs-based selection for regional primary, secondary and advanced-education opportunities.
- Teacher Training Dedicated training programs for local teachers to enhance skills and provide consistency across CAI schools.
Women’s centres provide an important place for meeting, discussion and solving of problems in addition to the education provided.
“Hundreds of women gather for a few hours each day in CAI's women's centers for free lessons in reading, writing, math, conversational English, Dari, Arabic, hygiene, sanitation and nutrition, vocational and life skills. The centers, set up in the relative safety of rented houses or teachers homes, cater to women of all ages, from preteens to senior citizens.” Karin RonnowJourney of Hope 2011
Training in maternal health care and midwifery has shown startling results since the CAI began these programs in 1996. In the ‘90’s, in the Charpusan Valley in northwest Pakistan, child-birth claimed the lives of five women on average per year. Twelve years later, the legacy of one local woman trained as a health care worker is testimony to the success of that investment: not a single woman has died in child-birth . (Central Asia Institute 2009; CAI Programs 2009)