EnLighten a Mind arose out of the goal to provide an education for street children in Afghanistan. The program’s goal is to provide remedial education for up to a one-year period, preparing the children socially and emotionally for formal education. It began as a six-month pilot program to determine program guidelines and effectiveness, after which it can be expanded as a model program by other organizations or supported by donors. In October of 2019, 20 children were identified by a local organization who was working on the streets of Kabul and the journey began.
100 X 100 CAMPAIGN
FOR EDUCATION
Vision
The vision for the program is to eradicate child labor not only in Kabul, but in other cities in Afghanistan.
After meeting benchmarks and raising enough funds, the goal is for EnLighten a Mind to be implemented as a model by other local qualified nonprofit organizations in different cities. Each organization would focus on supporting groups of street children in that city, who become “cohorts” of support for each other. NF would serve as the organization that obtains grants for the program, monitors allocation of funds, and assesses program effectiveness through independent third-party monitoring.
Goals
The goal of EnLighten a Mind is to find a Mentor for each child while they are in the program who will then sponsor the child for education at a private school.
The child receives a video message once a month from their Mentor. In addition, the child sends one video message to their Mentor creating a regular form of communication.
This is all facilitated by a Communications Liaison, who is compensated a modest amount for their transportation to the program and the time it takes to coordinate this exchange of video messages via WhatsApp.
The hope is that by seeing and hearing from the child, the Mentor will feel more connected to his/her progress. Also, the child receives motivation and emotional support, knowing that they have a Mentor who cares about their education and life.
The hope is that the Mentor will continue with a long-term commitment to the child until he/she completes primary school and high school.
Program History
Based on its ten (10) year track record of working with the most vulnerable women and children in Afghanistan with low overhead, Masaseh Sadaye Mazloomeen Afghanistan or MSMA (“Organization for the Oppressed People’s Voices of Afghanistan”) was selected as the first implementing partner. The program was designed to assist the most vulnerable children- those working on the streets to support their families as they have lost a parent, one of their parents is ill, or one of the parents is a drug addict. MSAM identified children working on the streets in one area of Kabul and completed a home visit to assess and verify the child’s situation. Program staff spoke to the parent(s) regarding the importance of the pledge that once the child is in the program, he/she will not work. If the child is seen working on the street, he/she will be removed from the program. This is to provide the child and family with guidance that lying/cheating will not get them ahead.
The curriculum includes core curriculum mandated by the Ministry of Education to include basic reading and writing, math, science, social studies, and Islamic studies. The Communications Liaison, who is a Computer Science major in a local university, volunteered to teach the children basic computer literacy. Most had never been able to touch a computer or phone and received useful instruction from the first class held called “Basic Computer Knowledge.”
For the first EaM pilot program class, out of the 20 children, two of them were caught working on the street. After giving them a warning, they were caught again and then removed from the program. It was a difficult decision, but the Foundation had to stand by the principles that it was seeking to teach. After the first four months of the program, it became clear that the pledge was working, since the other children and their families became aware of the decision regarding the two children whose families had lied to the program, and such behavior was eliminated.
Given the availability of space and the success of the program, five additional children were added to the program, with a total of 23 who will be attending private school. The class size for the second EaM class will be 25 students. The students started class in late August 2020 and will become prepared to attend private school beginning March 2021. After this class has graduated, the next incoming class will begin in the spring and attend until the next school commences in March 2022. This size cohort has been deemed as a good class size as it provides an opportunity for sufficient attention to individual child needs but allows for the cost per student for Mentorship to be manageable. (The class size can be increased by a maximum of two students each session). The students also become friends and can support each other when attending regular school together.
Budget + Costs
When the program was launched in October 2019, a budget was developed based upon needs identified. After two months of implementation, in December 2019, it was determined that the budget for the program needed to be adjusted given changing needs. That change was made, which led to a monthly increase of about $200/month.
For the allocation of the stipend to the children, the teacher takes attendance each day. The child must attend all classes in order to receive their stipend and receive twenty-five percent (25%) of the monthly stipend at the end of each week. If the child is sick or family member is ill, then they can be excused from such absence(s). For the pilot program, attendance was not an issue and most students attended all classes, barring an illness.
Program Monitoring
In December 2019, the Ghafoor Foundation (“GF”), the organization that handles monitoring of the program, completed a site visit and provided a written assessment of the program. Besides some minor adjustments to be made, the program was showing to be highly effective in boosting the children’s self-esteem and vision for a future. The report is being shared with donors and prospective donors so that donors are aware of the challenges and progress made.
Donate
You can support the EnLighten a Mind program in whatever way that you feel would add positive value to the children’s life. You can make a one-time contribution for the classroom, give support for school supplies, clothing or uniforms for the students, and/or become a Mentor who provides a monthly contribution of at least $85/month. As a Mentor, you would be providing a scholarship to the child to attend school and give the student a monthly stipend so they don’t need to work on the streets to provide for their families.
Mentorship
The monthly budget for Mentorship of each child needed to attend school is as follows:
School Donation: $55 USD
Stipend: $25 USD
Transportation: $8 USD
Uniforms/Backpacks/School Supplies: $5 USD
Communications Liasion, Program Management & Program Monitoring: $7 USD
USD Total= $100 USD/mo