Julia Bolz, left, is the founder of Ayni International. As a result of her visit last fall, students at Sitka High School and Mt. Edgecumbe High School are raising money for a girls' school in Afghanstian. (Photo provided)
Students from two local high schools are working together to raise money for a school on the other side of the globe.
The student councils from Sitka High and Mount Edgecumbe High School want to raise nearly $60,000 to benefit a girls’ school in Afghanistan.
Shanti Friedman is on the student council at Sitka High School. She says the particular school they’re working to improve needs resources badly.
“It’s a real basic education if they are able to go to school,” Friedman said. “The school itself is bare walls and even some windows are missing. They have desks and benches to share. They have basically not that many supplies. They work out of one book.”
The students were made aware of the situation in Afghanistan by a visit last fall from Julia Bolz. She’s the founder of Ayni Education International, which builds and supports schools in Afghanistan.
The money the students in Sitka hope to raise could provide enough for more than 200 additional girls to go to school. Mamie Clare is a student at Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
“It’s going to help build four classrooms, and equip them with desks and supplies,” Clare said. “Also, it’s going to make a literacy center for the women of the town, too, and provide safe transportation for their teachers.”
Education of young women was forbidden in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. That’s changing now, but girls still have trouble accessing education. The school Sitka is supporting is in Qara Ghojila, which is still under some Taliban influence.
Friedman says the student councils are holding a few events to raise the money they need, including a basketball game between teachers from Sitka and Mount Edgecumbe high schools.
“I think it’s going to be a game for fun,” Friedman said. “I know a lot of the teachers are not going to be experienced in basketball, even though there are some that are probably going to be pretty good.”
The basketball game takes place Friday in the Mount Edgecumbe High School gym. The students are also planning a Facebook auction and a movie to raise money for the school in Afghanistan.
