More About My Job....

I work for Creating Hope International. It's a nonprofit that is the USA partner for an Afghanistan nonprofit called Afghan Institute of Learning. Their purpose is to give educational and health improvement options for Afghan women and children. CHI also does work for a group of Tibetan Bon refugees in India.

Toc Dunlap is my boss and the executive director of CHI. She worked in the Peace Corps years ago and served in Afghanistan. While there, she met the Afghan family of Sakena Yacoobi. Sakena wanted to go to a university in the USA, and Toc worked with her to overcome the challenges to get there. After that, Toc went back to law school and then spent several years working as a lawyer. Toc then spent a number of years working in Pakistan with the International Rescue Committee.

In the ensuing years, Sakena got her degrees at 2 universities and was a health consultant and teacher in the US. She then spent three years in Pakistan working with Afghan refugees for a couple of organizations.

In 1995, Sakena founded the Afghan Institute of Learning. In addition to education, AIL was the first organization to offer human rights and leadership training for Afghan women. AIL supported 80 underground home schools for 3000 girls in Afghanistan after the Taliban closed girls’ schools in the 1990s. AIL was the first organization that opened Women’s Learning Centers for Afghan women—a concept now copied by many organizations throughout Afghanistan.

Using their grassroots strategies and holistic approach, AIL now serves 350,000 women and children each year through its training programs, Educational Learning Centers, schools and clinics in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since 1996, over 6,700,000 Afghans have benefited from AIL’s education and health programs.

In 1996, Toc and Sakena worked together to form Creating Hope International. CHI works on behalf of AIL to prepare grant proposals and reports for existing grants from companies that support the work of Sakena and AIL. The Afghan Institute of Learning funds all its programs from private and corporate donors. Organizations like Nike, the Oprah Network, and Abbot have allowed AIL to continue their important work for the Afghan women and children.

Two interesting and dedicated women, two nonprofits that do great work. I learn more everyday, and I only become more impressed....