Creating Hope International (CHI) isexcited to share with you some of theamazing work accomplished in 2015through the Afghan Institute ofLearning (AIL), the Tibetan Project andother private programs.

In this newsletter you will learnabout the prestigious recognitionawarded to AIL’s founder, Dr. SakenaYacoobi, for her extraordinary work ineducating and empowering the Afghanpeople. You will read about AIL’s Loveand Forgiveness Conferences and theWomen’s Legal Center. You will hearhow Dr. Yacoobi’s radio station isaffecting Afghan life. And, you will findan update on the Tibetan project.

To support these projects, CHImanages an annual budget of $1.3million, funded through grants,contributions from the communities weserve and through individuals like youwho believe in our mission to empowergrassroots community developmentthrough support for quality education,health, social and economicprogramming.

Our plans for the coming year aremany and their scope broad enough toreach thousands more with themessage of hope and the promise of apeaceful and prosperous life. Yourgenerous tax-deductible donations arevital to the success of this importantwork. Please mail your check madepayable to Creating Hope Internationaltoday. Or, donate online by credit cardat creatinghope.org or afghaninstitute-oflearning.org.

On behalf of all those we serve,we offer our sincere gratitude for yourcontinued financial support.

Dear Friends,

Annual UpdateDr. Sakena Yacoobi named 2015 WISE Prize Laureate

2015

We are pleasedand proud to

share the good news that Dr.Sakena Yacoobi, CEO, AfghanInstitute of Learning, was namedthe 2015 WISE Prize for EducationLaureate.

The prestigious award waspresented by Her Highness SheikhaMoza bint Nasser, Chairperson ofQatar Foundation for Education,Science and CommunityDevelopment (QF), during theOpening Plenary Session of theseventh World Innovation Summitfor Education (WISE) in Doha,Qatar on November 4, 2015.

"Our WISE Prize for EducationLaureates embody the spirit ofWISE. They are tireless advocatesfor the right to education. This year’sLaureate is distinguished by herdetermination to bring education toher fellow citizens in the most

adverse conditions of war and occupation,” said HH Sheikha Moza. “From refugeecamps to secret night schools, and often at great personal risk, she established anetwork of organizations that provide general education as well as public healtheducation. While her work focuses on girls and women, it also benefits boys and men.Millions have benefited from her optimism.”

The WISE Prize for Education was established in2011 by HH Sheikha Moza to recognize outstanding,world-class contributions to education. Candidates arenominated by individuals and institutions with ademonstrable commitment to education and are screenedby the WISE Prize for Education Committee. Finalselection is made by an international jury of distinguishedindividuals. The WISE Prize for Education Laureatereceives a gold medal and $500,000. Dr. Yacoobi received the award before some 2,000members of the WISE community from diverse fields andover 150 countries.

“I feel honored and blessed to be chosen as this year’sWISE Prize for Education Laureate. It is particularlymeaningful because this is such a crucial time in Afghanistan. My people live in terrorand poverty. They are suffering and feeling hopeless,” she said.

“Yet, at this moment a light has appeared. With this Prize, we know that we cancontinue to educate more and more Afghans, giving them hope and encouraging themto go forward no matter what they are facing. It is such a great gift to me, and Idedicate the Prize to the Afghan Institute of Learning and all of the women, men andchildren we are educating.”

Honors

Creating Hope InternationalP.O. Box 1058, Dearborn, MI 48121

chi@creatinghope.orgwww.creatinghope.org

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser presentsDr. Sakena Yacoobi with the 2015 WISE Prize forEducation Laureate in Doha, Qatar in November.

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi with HHSheikha Moza bint Nasser andFirst Lady Michelle Obama.

©Creating Hope International, November 2015

A long-helddream of

AIL’s founder, Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, cameto life last May when Radio Meraj beganbroadcasting to millions of Afghans in eightdistricts of Herat City. Now airing 16 hours a day from AIL’soffices, the private radio station offers avariety of scientific, social and culturalprogramming, along with news and music.

Many families listen in and participateregularly through call-ins to talk showstargeted to teens, housewives and menand women of all ages on topics such astrending social issues, health matters,family success models, human rights,poetry, music and much more.

Listener feedback has beenoverwhelmingly positive, as theprogramming resonates with the Afghans’desire for peaceful and prosperous lives.

Samaya, a high-school senior whopreferred music stations over talk showsbefore finding Radio Meraj, wrote to sayshe is grateful for the educationalprogramming that has awakened her to anew way of thinking.

“I have decided to study harder andto pass the college entrance exam. I havestarted buying new books and studyingwith my classmates. I thank Radio Merajfor waking me up,” she wrote.

One of the broadcasts made a bigdifference for a remote village in Herat. Agovernment official was tuned in whenHaji Mir, a radio audience listener, calledin to express his frustration about thevillage’s lack of drinking water. The officialtook action and solved the problem.

“We now have enough drinking waterin our area,” Mir said. “Radio Merajchanged the lives of thousands of peoplein this far distant village.”

Dr. Yacoobi is grateful to those whohave made the station possible.

“I am so happy to have the stationbroadcasting and to see its impactalready. It’s amazing,” she said. “As thesecurity situation in Afghanistan continuesto worsen, the station is giving us animportant tool to reach people, especiallywomen, who cannot travel to AILworkshops or Learning Centers.”

Radio Meraj

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, the deputy governor, Herat government officials, university professors, socialactivists, journalists and others were on hand for the grand opening of Radio Meraj in July.

Broadcasting hope, changing lives

Justice Work Working withthe Ministry

of Women Affairs (MOWA) and theHuman Rights Commission (HRC), theAfghan Institute of Learning recentlyopened the first Women’s Legal Centerin Herat to provide legal support forindigent women.

Staffed with five experienced,female lawyers in an office nearHerat’s courts, the Women’s LegalCenter assists women referred byMOWA and HRC, as well as womenwho hear about the project on theradio or through other means.

“Thanks to AIL’s training inleadership and human rights, Afghanwomen have become aware of theirrights as women and are seeking waysto secure those rights,” said Dr.Yacoobi. “However, many women donot have the funds or support topursue their goals. This center will givethem the help they need.”

Women with no financial resourcesare represented for free; others pay asthey are able.

Staff lawyers work on a variety ofcases affecting women, including childcustody battles, protecting property orinheritance rights, and securing justicein cases related to child marriage,marriage without consent of the girl,and abuse.

The lawyers also host regularbroadcasts on Radio Meraj to informwomen of their rights and the center’sservices.

AIL opens first centerto provide legalsupport for indigentwomen

Sakena had the privilege of speaking atTEDWomen 2015 in September. Log on

to TED.com and search “Sakena Yacoobi” tohear her inspiring message, “How I stopped theTaliban from shutting down my school.” In herwarm and endearing way, Sakena shares howshe stood up in the face of adversity to openschools in Afghanistan and Pakistan andreveals her motivation for continuing her work among the people there.

TED Talk

What the world needs now is love and forgiveness

The theme that gets to the heart of thosewho participate in AIL’s Love andForgiveness conferences is this: The worldis a better place when people choose loveover hate and anger. And, where there islove extended one to another, there is thehope of peace.

Thirteen hundred Afghans, including740 women, heard this simple, yetprofound, message at the 10 Love andForgiveness conferences held since 2012,and it is shaping the way Afghans seethemselves and how they relate to oneanother.

Participants report being more trustingand positive and less negative towardothers. They have established moreharmonious relations with their families,neighbors and colleagues. One conferenceparticipant was encouraged by thediscussion on mutual respect.

“I had not been able to control myanger in my classroom, and I could notgive love and forgiveness to myclassmates,” she said. “But my mind haschanged now. I know I need to considermutual respect if I want to enjoy living inmy community.”

Other participants said theyrecognized their responsibility in promotinglove and forgiveness and were empoweredto become leaders who advocate, byexample, for an end to hate and fear inAfghan society. Many said they are nowmore hopeful that Afghanistan can be apeaceful, respectful place to live.

The first Love and ForgivenessConference held in Herat in 2012 gatheredpeople from seven provinces and manytribes embracing a wide spectrum ofAfghan society, including multiple levels ofgovernment officials, educators, socialactivists and university students.

A worldwide audience developedthrough media coverage from more than adozen Afghan TV and radio stations andvia social media discussions gone viral.

The remarkable success of theconferences underscores the value ofAIL’s process of involving the people itserves in planning, implementing andcontributing to a project. Each event wasskillfully organized and managed byAfghan youth and women from thecommunity who are eager to see the corevalues of Afghan culture restored.

Exceptional local speakers ledworkshops on a variety of topics includingthe value of all human life, mutual respect,listening, trust, sacrifice, sharing,leadership, safety and peace. TraditionalAfghan music and the poetry of thebeloved Mawlana Rumi provided a movingbackdrop for interludes of reflection andsparked an almost immediate sense ofunity among participants.

AIL looks forward to holding moreconferences in other provinces where thepeople have requested them and will seekfunds to accommodate the need.

“We also want to incorporate thismessage into the regular school curriculumso children will learn from an early age thattheir country was not always a place ofstrife,” said Dr. Yacoobi.

Transformational

Dr. Yacoobi calls formore involvement frombeneficiaries ofhumanitarian efforts

Dr. SakenaYacoobi,

was among a handful of honoredguests on the panel “HumanitarianAction in 2025: A Forward-LookingAgenda” at the Global Consultation(GloCon) held in Geneva in September.

Glo-Con was the last of a series ofmeetings held over the past 18 monthsbringing together some 23,000stakeholders from more than 151countries as a lead-up to the UnitedNation’s World Humanitarian Summitscheduled in 2016.

Dr. Yacoobi’s panel addressed thequestions of how to better place peopleat the heart of humanitarian action, how

to best buildpeople’sresilience tocrises andhow to bettermanagefuture risk.

In herimpassionedreply, Dr.Yacoobi said:“We need tohave nations,regions andinternationalorganizationsat every level

of the process to commit to having atleast 50 percent of the planners andimplementers from the most vulnerablebeneficiaries of aid. And of the totalnumber of people involved, 50 percentmust be women and 10 percent youth.”

To illustrate her point, Dr. Yacoobiexplained what she did when membersof an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistanasked her for education.

“I took the time to listen to thepeople’s concerns, so I was able toidentify the silos and find a solution tothe problem,” she said. “A year later,15,000 girls were being educated byAIL-trained teachers. If each person istreated with respect and listened to, youwill be amazed at the results.”

Call to Action

Hundreds of people from numerous villages attended the first Afghan Institute of Learning Love andForgiveness Conference in 2012. Thanks to strong media coverage and discussions that went viral oversocial media channels, the message went around the world.

If eachperson istreated withrespect andlistened to,you will beamazed atthe results.

DID YOU KNOW ? Since its inception in 1995, AIL has served more than 12 millionpeople through its programs of education, health and teacher training.

Mobile LiteracyTailoring tools Art skills

Dr. Yacoobi’s vision for aprogram to encourage Afghanchildren to excel at learningwas realized this year, thanksto the generosity of a long-time supporter of AIL’s work.

Students attending theSakena Yacoobi Private Schools were invited to enter the competition. Those who didwere interviewed and then tested in seven subject areas, including English/Computers,Sports, Music/Poetry, Science, Math, Logic and Chemistry. Gold medals were awardedto the top students in each subject and a cash prize and book was give to secondplace winners.

In addition, special prizes were awarded to three teachers at the school. A goldmedal was given to an accomplished teacher of miniature art, and cash prizes wereawarded to the painting and tailoring teachers.

Expectant Mother Program –AIL’s three-hour workshops on pre- andpost-natal care and safe birth practicesare making a huge impact ondecreasing the infant and maternalmortality rates in Afghanistan (thehighest in the world). Among the 80%of participants who reported after theworkshop, there were no infant ormaternal deaths and all deliveries weredone in a hospital or clinic.

AIL Learning Centers –AIL’s Learning Centers continue toeducate young girls and women whoare unable to attend public schools.Traditional academics are offered, aswell as income-producing classes suchas sewing and tailoring.

The centers are also a natural spotfor Afghan youth to hang out and sharetheir ideas and desire for the peacefulrebuilding of their country. Classes areoffered in miniature painting, calligraphyand other art forms/media to helpbroaden their education.

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi Private Schools –In an effort to provide high qualityaffordable education for youngAfghans, Dr. Yacoobi opened fourprivate schools in her own name – twoin Kabul and two in Herat. Althoughmany of the 1,290 students receivescholarships through AIL to attend theschools, all four schools are financiallyself-sufficient.

Mobile Literacy –With cell phones and text messaging,AIL’s Mobile Literacy program ishelping young Afghans learn to readand write. Students study literacymaterials and respond to questionsfrom teachers sent via text messaging.In only four months, young girls andwomen who entered the programunable to read the alphabet are nowreading at a second to fourth gradelevel!

Fast Facts on AIL

Pictured here are some of the students who received awards for theiroutstanding work and commitment to excellence.

Top studentsand teacher

awards

Students at the Bon Children’sCenters are continuing with theirstudies, and annual prizes forexcellence in academics andsports were recently awarded.

There are 230 studentssupported by scholarships at thecenters, and there is a growinglist of students who also needhelp.

“Bon children are arriving atMenri from the borderlands including Nepal and Tibet and are in immediateneed of food, shelter and education,” said a Children’s Center staff member.“Some boys are placed in the Bon Children’s Welfare Center as youngmonks, and some girls go to the Redna Menling Nunnery as young nuns.Together, they attend the local Central School for Tibetan Children for theirgeneral education. After completing their education, they may choose to entermonastic life as young adults, or be trained for vocations in the secularworld.”

These children are the future of the Bon, and to survive and succeed,they need our help. CHI’s financial assistance helps all Menri children byproviding resources for clothing, nutrition, healthcare, and educational needs.

Bon children from Tibet and Nepalstudy at Menri