A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Shirin Sahani and the Omid Learning Center

A cultural nomad, having been born and brought up in Iran but of Indian origin, and a consummate traveler, Shirin is utilizing her diverse personal and professional experiences to pursue a graduate degree at Georgetown University’s Master of Science in the Foreign Service program. Prior to joining Georgetown, Shirin developed and implemented marketing communications strategies for companies in the high-technology, industrial and medical markets. Having helped companies realize their marketing potential, Shirin decided to transition her skills to the international arena by helping civil society organizations working on women’s social and political development in the Middle East and Asia.

For The Advocacy Project’s 2005 Summer Internship Program, Shirin Sahani was placed with the Omid Learning Center in Kabul, Afghanistan (now named Oruj).

Omid specializes in girls’ education in Afghanistan. The organization was founded in 2003 by Sadiqa Basiri. When Sadiqa returned home to the village of Godah in an isolated valley outside Kabul after living in Pakistan, she persuaded her father to help start a program there for educating girls. Until 2002, when this local program began, there had been no girls’ school in the entire valley. This reflected a national crisis. According to some estimates, only one percent of the women in Afghanistan could read or write when the Taliban ruled. Afghanistan’s literacy rate has risen since the return of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan, but according to a recent report from the United Nations it still remains among the lowest in the world.

In 2003, a donor provided the funding necessary for Sadiqa to realize her vision on a larger scale and a formal girls’ education project sprang to life. At the time of its establishment, the project was called the Human Relief Foundation and Sadiqa managed it part time under the aegis of the Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) in addition fulfilling other responsibilities. Soon Sadiqa realized that the project would be more successful if she devoted herself to it exclusively and if the project became independent of AWN. In 2004, the foundation was renamed Omid Learning Center and Sadiqa began to work for it full time. Omid is currently working on a project intended to increase educational opportunities at the Godah school and two other remote villages.

Omid schools

Shirin’s prior exposure to Islamic cultures and her fluency in Farsi—linguistically, closely related to Dari, one of the two main languages spoken by Afghans (the other is Pashto)—expedited her transition to Kabul. Because Omid is staffed by only two people, Shirin had the opportunity to really impact the new organization. One of her most important contributions was modifications to the monthly Monitoring and Evaluation Reports, which are posted online on AP’s website and also submitted to the project’s underwriter for review. Shirin’s modifications included more appropriate educational indicators. Additionally, she was responsible for creating profiles of schools and girls, preparing a budget, and helping Omid register with the Afghanistan Ministries of Planning and Education.

Shirin also helped locate and hire a project manager for Omid after the previous project manager left to attend school in the United States. She established the parameters and responsibilities of the job, as well as guidelines for training the new employee.

At times, Shirin accompanied Sadiqa to assess the functioning of rural schools and to develop plans for their improvement. During her association with Omid, Shirin was particularly impressed and enthused by the dedication, optimism, and strength displayed by the women who staffed the organization.

Independent of Omid, another project undertaken by Shirin while in Afghanistan was completed with the assistance of another AP Intern, Carrie Hasselback, also in Kabul. Together they oversaw the creation of the Afghan Women’s Independent Advocacy Commission, an organization founded to provide support for females currently holding elected office.

While she was in Afghanistan, Shirin maintained an online report of her experiences in the form of blogs. Her entries cover a broad range of topics from the relationship between government corruption and the high cost of living in Afghanistan to the modernization of Kabul culture and society, as well as commenting upon the remarkable people working with Omid.

• Shirin Sahani's blog