International Support for the Afghan-Canadian Community Center in Kandahar

We are a small, community-based post-secondary school that has provided valuable, cost-effective education to the men and women of Kandahar. We believe that education is a fundamental human right, and are seeking to expand our school to meet the ever-growing need for post-secondary training. To do this, we need your help.

Our school, the Afghan Canadian Community Center provides students in Kandahar, primarily young women, with employment-oriented education in business management, Information Technology, English and health care.

Approximately 700 female and male students are presently enrolled at the ACCC. Female students attend at no charge, while a small group of male students pay a modest fee to offset the cost of their instruction. The ACCC also operates an Internet lab that is available to women in the community at no charge.

The school’s programs help students develop the skills they need to secure employment which provides a living for themselves and their families and often allows them to assist with the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The skills we teach are in high demand by international development agencies, local businesses and the Afghan government.

The ACCC operates on a cost-per-student of less than $15 per month and, since being founded in January 2007, has enabled over 100 students to secure high-paying employment ($600-800 per month).

The operating costs of the ACCC are paid for by private donors, modest student fees for male students, and a grant for over CAN$60,000 from the Government of Canada, which is administered by the Canadian International Development Agency.

The ACCC is seeking additional funds to hire additional teachers, install a solar power system, rent additional buses, purchase new computers, further improve our courses and purchase our own facility.

The purpose of this petition is to recognize the Government of Canada's support for the ACCC, and to request further assistance from national and international governing bodies and development organizations, such as the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations, USAID, and others.

We hope that this petition will not only benefit our school, but other small, community-based organizations that are making a big difference, despite limited resources.

For further information, please visit our website at www.theafghanschool.org. Thank you for your help!