The Ayenda Foundation is proud to announce that it has granted $10,000 in scholarships for two girls from provinces throughout Afghanistan to The American University of Afghanistan www.auaf.edu.af. A higher education for the young generation of Afghanistan, especially girls, is the key to unlocking a safe, happy, and prosperous future for not only them, but also for the country as a whole.

The American University of Afghanistan is built on a model of the American system of higher education, but is an Afghan independent and private higher education institution. The university believes that this is an institution for the entire country, not just those in Kabul. In fact, educational inclusiveness and equality, without any racial, ethnic, sectarian, gender, linguistic, provincial and geographical discrimination are some of main objectives of the American University of Afghanistan. Graduates of the American University of Afghanistan will gain much more than just a liberal arts-based education; they will also develop a strong sense of individual and social responsibility.

Prior to the Soviet and Taliban occupations Afghan women made up 50 percent of government workers, 70 percent of schoolteachers and 40 percent of doctors in Kabul. Sadly, the effects of three decades of war and the Taliban regime changed all that and left women solely to the domestic domain. With the fall of the Taliban women have been able to reenter schools and universities. In fact, girls composed a third of the nearly six million children who returned to school this past year. Women have also started serving as teachers and faculty members again and are filling political positions and participating in the national elections.

We hope that by helping these girls complete a higher education that they will be able to become thriving members of the Afghan community. This experience will allow them to open doors that they never knew existed, and maybe someday become the leaders of a stable and prosperous Afghanistan.