Arghosha’s first two scholarships in higher education have been assigned
Amina Mohseni and Fawzia Hashimi are shy and quiet, but their bright, intelligent eyes are ready to smile. They are two young Afghan women from the rural areas of Bamyan Province, in Afghanistan’s Central Highlands, and have just started their first year of law at the Gawharshad Institute of Higher Education in Kabul.
They meet us in the office of the Chancellor, Dr Mohammad Jawad Salihi. Amina, 21, and Fawzia, 19, are the first recipients of Arghosha Scholarships, established by the Arghosha Committee in 2014 to allow students graduating from high schools built with funds raised by the Committee to pursue higher education.
The Committee has raised funds to build 10 schools in the Central Highlands since 2004. More than 3,600 pupils (two thirds of whom are women) are currently able to study in proper buildings thanks to the cooperation between the provincial education authorities, the Afghan NGO Shuhada Organization and the Arghosha Committee, the mandate of which supports efforts to bring primary and post-primary education to remote areas of Afghanistan.
Amina and Fawzia
The Arghosha Committee decided to observe the 10th anniversary of its engagement in the country by establishing these scholarships. Donors with a specific interest in this project committed funds initially sufficient to support two students for the duration of their university education – four years in the case of Fawzia and Amina, who were selected among students categorized as “deserving and needy”, ie those with the best results in the school leaving exams, and who could not afford to pursue higher education. Amina went to the Chardeh school (built with Arghosha Committee’s support in 2008-2009); Fawzia attended the Zarin school (funded by the Committee in 2011).
Filippo, Fawzia, Amina and Marco
Thanks to the scholarships Fawzia and Amina were admitted to Gawharshad, a private university established in 2010 by Dr Sima Samar, Chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. “It is the first time in our lives that we have seen Kabul,” they say. They tell us that they live in dorms for female students not far from campus, and attend classes diligently.
The Arghosha Committee wishes to establish six further scholarships in 2015; two more are already funded, therefore additional resources are needed for four. Scholarships cost approximately US$ 2000 per student per academic year and cover tuition fees, books and stationery, food and accommodation. It is a modest amount, but which allows young people to develop valuable potential that would remain otherwise untapped.
Amina and Fawzia with a teacher and, far right, the Chancellor, Dr, Mohammad Jawad Salihi
Fawzia and Amina were adamant: once they graduate, they want to return to their province and be a resource for their communities. This is why we at the Arghosha Committee do not simply consider the scholarship project as a complement to our many years of work to help build infrastructure; we see it also, and especially, as a small but crucial investment which will yield the biggest and best of returns – the development of human resources in one of the country’s poorest regions.
Sima Samar, founder of Shuhada Organisation and Gawharshad Institute, with Filippo and Marco
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