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Donation Brings School Supplies to Afghan Children
Written by Stephanie Kriner, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
August 14, 2002 —
America’s Fund for Afghan Children (AFAC) has partnered with the Academy for Educational Development (AED) to provide Afghan children with school and hygiene supplies.
Gerald Jones (right),Red Cross vice president of international services, and Stephen Moseley, AED president and CEO, pose with giant $750,000 check.
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Through a $750,000 grant from AFAC, AED will provide Afghan children with BluePacks, specially made backpacks containing chalkboards, pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, notebooks, rulers, writing tablets, ink, traditional bamboo pens and wooden “takhti” writing boards as well as soap, brushes, combs, balls and jump ropes. AED has set a goal of providing 200,000 BluePacks.
“The ultimate goal of AFAC is to help Afghan children,” said Malik Jaffer of the American Red Cross. “With school back in session, we’re seeing Afghan children who are having opportunities they haven’t had in years. However, they still lack many basic supplies. The BluePacks and school chests give children opportunities to practice skills and allow teachers to impart skills to students.”
Jaffer added that the school supplies and toys also have a psycho-social effect on the children, by providing them with opportunities to express themselves through writing, drawing and play.
Years of war have decimated the educational infrastructure in Afghanistan. Few schools are intact and supplies are virtually nonexistent. According to UNICEF, only about one third of all school-aged children in Afghanistan are actually in school. In some parts of the country, there has been no school in operation for more than 10 years.
BluePacks contain school supplies, hygeine items and toys.
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“The AED BluePack Project will target children in underserved areas and give them the basic materials they need for school, including pencils, a notebook, chalk and a slate,” said Stephen Moseley, AED president and chief executive officer. “This effort complements the direct school support being provided by other organizations and donors.”
AED began equipping Afghan children in refugee camps in Pakistan with BluePacks last March. In addition to providing funds for the BluePack project, AFAC has been distributing "School Chests" to children throughout the country.
President Bush created AFAC as a way for American children to help thousands of Afghanistan's most vulnerable citizens, many of whom are homeless and without food, clean water, clothing and school supplies. The President appointed the American Red Cross to use the funds, raised by American children, to set up programs to meet these needs by working with organizations such as AED, partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations.
AED is a nonprofit human and social development organization, dedicated to improving health, education, the environment and youth and leadership development around the world.
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