Sixteen years after the war in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban, an estimated two-thirds of girls do not attend school. Government and international donor efforts since 2001 to educate girls have significantly dropped in recent years reported Human Rights Watch in October 2017.

In this patriarchal society, there are significant barriers to girls attending school ranging from the necessity to earn an income to support the family, the obligation to do domestic chores, to the lack of public provision as well as physical risks from male aggression. Yet, the girls want to learn. There are many young women who hunger to be treated at least the same as their brothers, who have understand the transformative power of education and are desperate to improve themselves and the state of their country. For more info see: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/10/17/afghanistan-girls-struggle-education

SOLA – The School of Leadership Afghanistan is a boarding school for girls from all over the country which provides refuge from these societal dangers and a rigorous education. They are seeking to build a new campus, thus improving facilities and safety for their students. I am supporting them as in my conversations with their President and Co-Founder Shabana Basij-Rasikh, I was struck by her mission and vision. I believe education is a basic right for every girl (indeed person) regardless of where they are born.

We are fund-raising for the brave girls of Afghanistan to be properly educated and not to be left to ruin. As part of the fund-raising efforts, Sam and Hugo are cycling from Switzerland at the beginning of July - a whopping distance of 800km's which they are aiming to do within 5.5 days! Thank you so much Hugo and Sam for supporting the fundraising!