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Negina is 25 years old and lives in Andkhoi Saqiz Khana, a ten hour drive north of Kabul and about one hour from the Turkmenistan border in the northern part of Afghanistan. It is a barren region, with perpetual drought and problems finding drinkable water. Homes are made of hard clay, and roads are giant wet ruts in winter, and giant dry ruts in summer – making movement among villages very difficult. Camels and donkeys are as common a form of transport as vehicles, adding to a sense that time stands still here. For the vast majority of women in and around Andkhoi, weaving is the only possibility for work. Weaving can be done at home, and family members can help. Through the education component of the Arzu program, they are given a chance to be the first in their family to have an option beyond a life of weaving. Negina is the first woman in the Arzu program to complete the standard 12 grades in Afghan education and yearns to continue her education. She has chosen to attend the Sheberghan Midwife School in the city of Sheberghan, approximately an hour and a half south of her home. For two years, she will study from Saturday through Thursday, then return to Andkhoi on Thursday night to spend the holy day, Friday, with her family before returning to Sheberghan. In school she will learn how to deliver babies and assist pregnant mothers, including how to conduct antenatal and postnatal check ups. These skills are in desperate need in Afghanistan, a country with the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world, and where 25% of children die before their fifth birthday. Negina says, “When I graduate from midwife school, I would like to work with an NGO that focuses on health or at the Andkhoi District Hospital to serve the Andkhoi people.” Negina, the oldest child of Rohi Jan, has three brothers and three sisters. “My family faced many, many difficulties during the Taliban regime, and we were not permitted to go to school,” she says. “But now I am very happy to join the midwife school so I can help others. This is the happiest time of my life. I thank you for this opportunity.” A grant from the Beyond the 11th Foundation has made the scholarship for Negina possible. |
