There's a new focus on women worldwide. The New York Times magazine dedicated their entire issue one week in August on women in the developing world. Of particular focus was a newly launched book written by the well-known Pulitzer winning couple Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl DuWunn titled: "Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide". The press focus on this timely book is significant- from reviews in Harvard and People magazine, to upcoming segments on shows like "The Today Show", the time has come for women and their issues worldwide to be in the spotlight.

Sakena Yacoobi and her organization the Afghan Institute of Learning is one of the topics in Chapter Nine of the book. Dr. Yacoobi grew up in Herat, Afghanistan and then came to the United States to study at the University of the Pacific and Loma Linda University. Concerned about the condition of her people back in Afghanistan, Sakena returned to Pakistan to work in Afghan refugee camps and later went to Afghanistan. Although the Taliban forbade girls from getting an education in Afghanistan, Sakena was instrumental in establishing a string of secret girls schools with community support.

Today, the Afghan Institute of Learning has multiple education programs in Pakistan and in seven provinces of Afghanistan. There are educational learning centers for women and children, preschool programs, post-secondary institutes, a university, and teacher training programs. In addition, AIL has an in-depth program of health education and treatment for women and small children. Since its start in 1995, AIL has trained nearly 16,000 teachers and over 3.5 million women and children have received a quality education. With the health programs included, AIL has directly impacted over 6.7 million Afghans.

Sakena has been and continues to be recognized for her work. Her philosophy is to develop a program from the grass-roots level so the community members are an integral part of the process. State Kristof and DuWunn in their book Half The Sky- "American organizations would have accomplished much more if they had financed and supported Sakena, rather than dispatching their own representatives to Kabul...The best role for Americans who want to help Muslim women isn't holding the microphone at the front of the rally, but writing the checks and carrying the bags in the back."

Dr. Yacoobi and the work of the Afghan Institute of Learning have been supported by multiple grantors and organizations over the years. "I wish to thank everyone who has helped in this important work," states Sakena. "I want to share with each and every contributor the joy of seeing a young woman, who has a renewed interest in life because she can now read, or the happiness of a widow who has learned a skill that will allow her to support her children.

"We now have children who are healthy because of inoculations, and women who did not die during childbirth who have happy, healthy babies. My wish is that these small steps that allow awareness and growth in families will lead to the growth of our country."



Recently, we spoke with Sakena, and she has this message to all the supporters of AIL:


"It is an honor to be included in Nicholas' and Sheryl's book Half The Sky. So many foundations and individuals have contributed to the work that the Afghan Institute of Learning has been able to do in Afghanistan.

"From the bottom of my heart I want to thank all who have understood the plight of Afghan women and children, and have reached out with compassionate, caring support.

"May God reward your generosity......."

Sakena

Recently, AIL was asked by the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs to report on the impact AIL’s programs have had. We were amazed by our findings. Since beginning in 1996 through May 2009, 220,970 Afghans have been educated and received skills training in AIL schools, centers and post-secondary programs. 27, 619 Afghans (more than 70% female) have received teacher training or capacity-building training. AIL has supported 13 clinics serving 998,088 patients and providing health education to 1,520,374 women and children. Overall 6,778,026 Afghan lives have been directly impacted by AIL programs.

During 2008 AIL’s four clinics treated a total of 147,889 patients and provided health education to 84,614 Afghans. In addition, the Community Health Worker program in Herat reached out to 76,345 families.

In June 2009, AIL opened a new clinic to treat patients in Kabul Province. During the first 6 months of 2009, these five clinics have treated 97,816 patients (an increase of 34,470 patients from this time last year) and have provided health education to 45,406 Afghans. The Community Health Worker program has reached out to 33,906 families so far this year.

In addition to AIL’s usual health activities AIL is holding a nine month training in health for 215 teachers from Herat area schools. After being trained, the teachers are returning to their schools to teach students about health and train other teachers in their school to teach health to their students. Topics for the workshops include basic health care, personal sanitation, infectious diseases, first aid, how to tell when a student is sick and many others. Here is what a few of the teachers had to say about the new School Health Program after their first workshop:

“The workshop was excellent because I learned about many personal and social issues and I can convey this information to my students. The trainers implemented student-centered methods and they let all of the participants take part in the discussions. They were kind and respected all of the ideas they heard. The atmosphere in the workshop was so friendly that everyone felt comfortable and could learn easily. The most interesting subject for me was health education and private sanitation. The day after learning about these things I went back to my school and taught all of my students to have their own hanky, soap and glass for water. I also taught them that they must not use things from others to prevent the spread of infectious disease.”

“The teaching methods were excellent and we received a lot of information about school health. The trainer’s behavior was so kind, and the most interesting subject for me was infectious disease. I learned to prevent the spread of infectious disease, which I think is very important for school teachers. I am so happy to have had the chance to attend this workshop. I can teach all of these topics to my students to increase their awareness.”

“I thought all of these subjects were interesting and useful because they have a direct effect on our daily life. Every day we face these issues in the school, and outside them too. The problems that students in my school are facing are diarrhea, typhoid, dysentery and eye problems. The day that we studied cholera and diarrhea in the workshop, I involved myself in the discussion. The trainers told me to make sure that I help students with diarrhea is by making sure they are getting liquids, use medicine and pay attention to personal and environmental sanitation. I did as our trainers said, and it helped my students. It was a very useful workshop. I hope all the issues which we studied can be implemented in all schools and help us to have healthier students. Being healthy will help them to learn their lessons better because as our trainers said, a sound mind is in a sound body.”

AIL has recently held several health education workshops and we’d like to share some comments made by participants after the workshops.

“From this workshop I have learned many new things and plan to implement them in my life. I have learned that it is important for a mother to try and prevent herself from getting sick since prevention is better than curing a sickness. I plan to implement the preventions I’ve learned in my life and teach it to my children.”

“I did not vaccinate my child because I did not think it was important, but now I will do it as soon as I leave the workshop. Now I understand how important it is for my child’s health.”

In 2008 AIL provided health services to 156,966 women through its fixed and mobile, rural health clinics in Herat and Kabul provinces and through Community Health Worker outposts. In conjunction with health care service,112,674 women received health education. AIL believes in providing education at every opportunity as this is the way to help people improve their health and welfare.

In the past in Afghanistan, women did not come to clinics for assistance because they did not find that they helped. Over the last seven years, a great deal of trust has been built between the AIL clinic staff and the villagers in the rural areas that they serve. The result is that villagers are now coming to the clinic for delivery of their babies, a rarity in the past. Following is a story from one of the AIL clinics in Herat which shows the positive results that come from having a clinic that is used by people in the area that they live. In the past, this baby probably would have died.

A clinic midwife said: "Parimah came to the clinic for delivery at 11 am. She gave birth but the baby was not breathing. We quickly suctioned the baby's nose and mouth kept him warm. We started 40 breath/second and we saw movement of his chest; after two minutes of assistance, his chest moved and he gave a weak cry. The baby was cyanotic so we gave him oxygen. After the resuscitation, the baby got better and his breathing was good and he was able to nurse. We referred him to the vaccine room and educated his mother about breast feeding, post natal care and how to take care of her newborn."

With the support of all of you that have donated to this project, this baby's life was saved!

Thanks!!!

Following is a story as reported by a female nurse at one of AIL’s clinics about a woman that came to the clinic for treatment after being injured while working with her husband on their house.

One day in early July a woman was brought to the clinic by her husband and her mother. The woman said “My husband was building rooms on our house this morning, and I was helping when suddenly a brick dropped on my head, and my head was broken. My mother put black tea on the wound area to stop the bleeding, but the bleeding did not stop. My husband brought me to the clinic.”
A female nurse dressed the injured area with anti-septic liquid and then sent the woman to the OPD room for examination and advised her to come to the clinic to have her dressings changed every other day. The OPD doctors asked her about her mental condition (did she have vomiting or vertigo), and she had no problems. She was in good condition, and was then discharged from the clinic. The woman and her family thanked AIL and the health staff.

Creating Hope International’s partner, the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), has 3 rural health clinics—Imam Shish Nur and Jagartan Clinics in Herat Province and Mir Bacha Kot Clinic in Kabul Province. From January through June 2008, AIL’s three clinics:

- treated 63,345 total patients
- treated 9,347 reproductive health patients
- vaccinated 17,977 women and children
- gave health education lessons to 31,563 women and children
- treated 182 children for malnutrition
- held reproductive health and women’s health workshops for 697 women

Nearly all of the patients treated at AIL’s 3 rural clinics are women and children. In the first 6 months of 2008, the rural clinics treated 12,258 more patients than in the same time period during 2007.

The Community Health Worker (CHW) program in the Herat clinics continues to be a great in building the “health capacity” of the rural communities where the CHWs work. In the first six months of 2008, CHWs visited 39,781 families and provided health services to 18,791 patients. During each visit, CHWs also give health education information to the families. Since the Afghan government recently said that no fees could be charged at clinics resulting in many more patients, most of whom are not ill, coming to the clinics, the CHW program will continue to be helpful in alleviating the patient load at the clinics.

Following is a story demonstrating the dedication of the clinic staff and the benefit the clinic’s services are bringing to those who live in rural areas:

Pharmacist of Iman Shish Nur Clinic in Herat said: “The 12th of January was a cold and snowy day; with a lot of problems when we arrived at the clinic. When the people who had been to the clinic before saw us, they were happy. They said ‘we didn’t think that you come to the clinic.’ That day we visited more than 50 patients. It was very helpful for the people because this clinic is their only hope.”

The Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) has 3 rural health clinics—Imam Shish Nur and Jagartan Clinics in Herat Province and Mir Bacha Kot Clinic in Kabul Province. From January through June 2007, AIL’s three clinics:

•   treated 51,087 total patients
•   treated 8,039 reproductive health patients
•   vaccinated 24,717 women and children
•   gave health education lessons to 41,534 women and children
•   treated 184 children for malnutrition
•   held reproductive health and women’s health workshops for 812 women

In Herat, a new, larger clinic building was constructed to replace the old existing building in Jagartan and a new wall was built around the clinic in Imam Shish Nur.

Because of the emphasis that AIL places on health education, there has been a significant decrease (50%) in the number of children being treated for malnutrition.

The Community Health Worker (CHW) program in the Herat clinics is greatly helping to build the “health capacity” of the rural communities where the CHWs work. In the first six months of 2007, CHWs visited 38,862 families and provided health services to 13,956 patients. During each visit, CHWs also give health education information to the families.

A few reports from clinic staff and patients follow:

The outreach vaccinator of Iman Shish Nur Clinic in Herat reported," One day when I went to a village, a lot of women gathered round me for vaccinations for their children. In the beginning I explained to them the advantages of vaccination. When I finished, a woman asked me why I vaccinated women and children. I answered because the vaccine prevents you and your children from getting some dangerous diseases. The TT vaccine protects you from Tetanus and Polio; Diphtheria; Pertussis; TT; Hepatitis B and Measles vaccine protects children. She asked me again, why do you vaccinate the women between the 15-49 year olds? I answered because you have menstruation and give birth to babies. If you don’t get vaccine, you will get different illnesses. She said if we get TT vaccine, will it prevent us from getting tetanus disease? I told her yes, when you have completed your five periods of vaccine you are fully immunized and your children too. In the end, all the women were happy because they and their children will be fully immunized against dangerous diseases.”

The midwives of Jaghartan Clinic in Herat said," This month we gave more information to women about family planning methods including IUD and its benefits. They were encouraged to use this method and they promised to talk to their husbands and then come back. We encouraged the pregnant women to come for a safe delivery in the clinic and showed them the sterile midwifery area, delivery room and its equipment.”

Some CHWs in Herat from different areas said," Now it is the season of reaping wheat and other grain. During the reaping the farmers cut their hands or feet and they need dressings and so the CHWs dress the injuries. The people are happy with the CHW services because they are able to provide health services for the people.”

Pictures:

• Doctor examining patient in Herat clinic (JPG)
• Doctor examining patient in Herat clinic (JPG)

I wanted to let you know about a piece on the AIL health programs on Yahoo that was up this weekend. A staff person from Direct Relief was recently in Afghanistan visiting
AIL programs. The link below is a piece he put together with Yahoo about AIL's programs.

Click below to see the video!

Links:

• Afghanistan: New Births, New Hopes

The Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) has 3 rural health clinics—two in Herat Province and one in Kabul Province. From November 2005 through August 2006, AIL’s three clinics did the following:

-treated 86750 total patients
-treated 16108 reproductive health patients
-vaccinated 75704 women and children
-gave health education lessons to 75704 women and children
-treated 295 children for malnutrition
-held four-day reproductive health workshops for 352 women and 5 men

Creating Hope International shares this mid-year report from the Afghan Institute of Learning, highlighting some of AIL's recent successes!

Attachments:

• AIL Report (DOC)