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CREATIVETIMES A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION FALL 2008 AFGHANISTAN: HELPING CHILDREN LEARN BY asia REVITALIZING SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS AFGHANISTAN: ENABLING GENDER EQUITY IN NGO MANAGEMENT This fall, the Capacity Development Program trained 19 Afghans from eight NGOs in the ways management practices can develop gender equity in their services to their com- munities and initiatives. “Gender inequality in a NGO’s organization can be one of the main obstacles to success and sustainability,” said Mohammad Nassir Anwari, Program Coordinator and Trainer for the Capacity Development Program (CDP). Held in Bamyan, Afghanistan, a region known for inequality among women and men, participants – including 7 women and 12 men – who gathered in the three-day awareness and sensitivity workshop, came PHOTO BY: BESST STAFF PHOTO BY: away with new perspectives on developing LOCAL LEADERS, SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, AND DT3 MEMBERS DISCUSS EDUCATIONAL PRIORITIES DURING A SIP MEETING IN KHOST PROVINCE. equity strategies in organizational planning, policy and operation. fter successfully training more than Following the fi rst school improvement 49,000 educators, the Building meeting, where the principal and teach- Helping NGOs deliver vital services and AEducation Support Systems for ers articulated the school’s needs, Mr. advocate on behalf of citizens is at the core Teachers (BESST) project is taking steps Hayat agreed to cover the entire cost of of the U.S. Agency for International Devel- to maximize the impact of its interven- digging a well for the Taraki High School opment-supported Capacity Development tions by supporting school managers in Bak district. “When the teachers told Program. The CDP’s NGO component is and community leaders in creating and me that the students needed safe and implemented by Creative Associates Interna- implementing School Improvement Plans clean drinking water, I fi nally knew how I tional, Inc. as a member of the BearingPoint (SIPs). could help.” consortium. CDP is designed to support Afghan efforts to build good governance and So far, communities even in insecure BESST is funded by the U.S. Agency for democratic practices by focusing on NGOs areas, such as Khost province, have International Development (USAID) and which deliver services in education, health, responded enthusiastically to the task managed by Creative Associates Interna- women’s rights, human rights and vocational of revitalizing the school environments tional, Inc. training, among others. Creative provides where their children learn. in-depth training and analysis enabling NGOs Working with district and provincial Min- to build internal organizational capacities to “I remember being fond of school when istry of Education staff, BESST’s District better serve civil society over the long term. I was a child,” said Mr. Hayat Mangal, a Training Team (DT3) trainers have helped tribal elder in Bak district, Khost province. principals, teachers, elders and com- In total, the CDP NGO team has delivered “But the poor conditions of my school munity members organize meetings and more than a dozen training sessions on In- always made me sad.” facilitate the drafting and implementing tegrating Gender into Management training of SIPs. to over 196 persons from the 150 Afghan Mr. Hayat, now in his fi fties, added, “I NGOs that CDP targets all over Afghanistan. always knew I wanted to help and that These SIP shuras, or local councils, meet I wanted to improve the education we on a regular basis and discuss challenges “Gender equity policies in a NGO have a provide to our children here, but I wasn’t and issues that are most important to direct impact on reducing gender inequality sure how…until I met these BESST train- them. In many cases, these shuras de- ers.” sign plans to create a school environment PAGE 1 STORIES CONTINUE ON PAGE 2>> - 1 - >> CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 AFGHANISTAN: HELPING CHILDREN LEARN BY REVITALIZING SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS that is safe, clean, pleasant and large Haji Muhammad Din, 70, told BESST that >> CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 enough so that students themselves are he was proud to help the local school comfortable and motivated to learn. Some fi nancially, but more than that, “It was AFGHANISTAN: ENABLING SIP shuras have prioritized safety, such very satisfying to see the wall constructed GENDER EQUITY IN NGO as a community in Khost where mem- by the hands of the villagers themselves. MANAGEMENT bers donated funds, time, and masonry Afghanistan has always had a tradition of expertise to build compound walls around ashar (communal works) but BESST train- in the community the NGO serves, es- the school. ers have provided our communities with pecially in Afghanistan where male staff a more organized and effi cient way to get cannot, in some communities, work with Others, as in Sar-e-Pul province, found lo- students what they need.” females because of restrictive codes,” cal engineers and doctors willing to volun- Anwari said. teer their time to teach science and math BESST hopes that these visible achieve- classes in the local secondary school; still ments, carried out by local communities Participants chose the CDP workshop be- others, as in Kandahar province, recruited and facilitated by BESST’s trainers, will cause of the fi ve steps the program advo- a local dentist, who agreed to donate a encourage an increasing number of com- cates for mainstreaming gender equity in few hours every month to examine stu- munity members to participate in the SIP NGOs. In particular, the group addressed dents’ teeth and gums. shuras throughout its 11 provinces. the issue of gender equity in the context of Afghanistan and the traditions of its In Bak district, news of Mr. Hayat’s In addition to training about 50,000 teach- many tribes and ethnic groups, whose generosity quickly spread. Within two ers and principals in multiple MoE-ap- perspectives on gender can differ from weeks, parents and community members proved curricula, BESST is supplementing province to province or even household collected 700 kilograms of wheat from those face-to-face trainings with educa- to household. It was agreed that explor- local farmers. The proceeds from sales of tional radio programs, as well as working ing gender roles in Afghanistan requires this harvest bought the pipes and a hand- with the Ministry to help develop national a study of Islamic laws, which are not pump for the water well under construc- competencies and credentialing systems always refl ected in traditional practices. tion at Taraki School. Shortly after that, for both teachers and school managers. in the neighboring district of Ismail Khel, “In the Holy Quran there are many state- a tribal elder working with the SIP shura — Alison Long, BESST External Relations ments concerning women and men being donated the equivalent of $100 to recon- Manager in Afghanistan. created from one single soul, which indi- struct a part of Sarband High School’s cates the equality of men and women,” compound wall, which had been destroyed Nassir said. “It shows that in Islam there by a heavy storm last year. is no superiority of men over women and that both deserve equal treatment.” Acknowledging that gender equity is a AS A RESULT OF A SIP MEETING, A WELL AND HAND PUMP WERE INSTALLED AT THE TARAKI HIGH SCHOOL. long-term goal for Afghanistan, partici- pants noted the importance of sensitizing their communities. “They said that … their work was to raise awareness about equity issues starting with themselves, their families, their immediate communities,” Anwari said. The training has already had a personal impact on one male participant. “The training was very good, even for me,” said the man. “Before, when I went home, I did not play with the children or help my wife with the housework. I was not talking to them and spent the time working on my laptop. Now, I leave the laptop at the of- fi ce and spend time with the family – and help my wife.” — Alexandra Pratt with reporting and writing contributions from Carla Rosa Borges and Nassir Anwari in Afghani- stan. PHOTO BY: BESST STAFF PHOTO BY: - 2 - GUATEMALA: TEN FORMER GANG MEMBERS GET A latin america NEW START AS PEPSI EMPLOYEES hen Dervyn Hernandez started ica thought that one of them could work Letona and his team provided solutions his new job at Pepsi Cen- with us,” Letona said. “Sometimes you to some of the challenges former gang Wtroamerica in Guatemala, Human have to take the risk. Really, it’s one of the members confront, such as a lack of funds Resources Manager Fernando Letona, most beautiful experiences that we have to pay for transportation to and from work. told only other managers about the young had. We saw that he wanted to work hard “So, we started to give them money at the man’s past life as a gang member. and change his life, so we just gave him beginning of their employment with us,” the opportunity and helped him to start his Letona said. “But we didn’t just hand them But Hernandez’s hard work soon caught new life.” the $80 dollars or so, that pays for trans- the attention of several coworkers. Along portation and lunch, we added an extra with growing acceptance of Hernandez, Throughout northwest Central America hour to their work day.” came the realization that former gang – notably in Guatemala, Honduras and members like him can be helped with job El Salvador – the spread of youth gangs When they fi rst arrived at Pepsi, the 10 opportunities. has lead to an increase in youth violence. former gang members were given jobs According to The New York Times, Guate- cleaning and sweeping because of their Pepsi soon hired nine more former gang mala has about 6,000 murders a year – a lack of education and work experience.

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