AFGHANISTAN

In July 2013 I went to Afghanistan. I saw for the first time the orphanage we had built in Kunduz. I met Zabi Majidi, our agent and field man who oversees the management of the Center. I also met the vice-governor of Kunduz province who approved our plan to transform the orphanage into a school and daycare center. In summary, it is our Vox Infantis Kunduz association that manages the structure, and Vox Infantis Switzerland who finances it.
Despite the difficulties, the efforts undertaken during the past seven years have paid off and the house now hosts nearly 300 children and youth. This demonstrates the real needs of these communities who suffer the consequences of a war lasting for 40 years.

The school and daycare center – Cycle 1 school year April to December.

Since the opening on 21 August 2013, the house welcomes every day 65 boys and girls between 4 and 13 years old. They receive a breakfast, a hot lunch, and follow the classes given by our teachers.

School Program

Languages - Dari (Persian of the region) and English
Mathematics
General culture
Religion
Sport
Health
Click here to see the weekly timetable of the school.

Staff

Our staff of 14 employees includes:
1 manager and 1 assistant
5 teachers
2 cooks
2 house-keepers
2 guards (night and day)
1 gardener

English and Computer School – Cycle 2 January to March

In Afghanistan, the public schools are closed from January to March, during the three months of winter. During this period, we use the house to provide disadvantaged children and youth English and computer lessons. The first session opened in late December 2013 with 60 children. Its success was tremendous. By late January 2014, the school was attended by 250 students between 8 and 18 years old, and the demand is still growing. The school has nine teachers, some of them work as volunteers. Their needs are significant, including computer equipment to be sourced locally.

After 3 months of school holidays, the school and daycare center opens again in late March to December 2014.

Our Partners in Afghanistan

The Vice-President of Vox Infantis Parwareshgah Kunduz Zabi Majidi and the members of our local association.

The governorate of the Province of Kunduz
The Directorate of Social Affairs in Kunduz
The Mayor of Kunduz
The Ministry of Education in Kabul
The Ministry of Justice in Kabul

Why support our action in Afghanistan?

The region of Kunduz is far away from the capital, where most of the NGOs are located.
Children are the ones most affected in times of war. They have to work to help their families. They don’t receive any instruction and often they don’t get enough food to satisfy their hunger.
Our association contributes to the local development through its employees who are Afghans and who will not leave the country when ISAF (International Security Forces) withdraw.
By supporting Vox Infantis, you help the future generation to learn to read and write. You offer them a place where they can learn, eat, socialize and share ideas, a place where war is forgotten for a few hours and where they can dream of a better future.

Why did we choose Kunduz?

Fateh Emam, my late husband and co-founder of Vox Infantis was originally from Afghanistan. When we began to collect money to help children and mothers in Tunisia, he felt the need to also find a way to help the children of his homeland.
In 2006, while on holiday in Bremen, my hometown, we met Shaista Alikhan, an Afghan woman who also had the desire to help the people of Afghanistan.
During one of her missions with the German Army based in Kunduz, she and her friend Soraya Alekozei visited the children in the state orphanage, discovering their poor living conditions. She won our confidence to join her cause to undertake every effort to improve the lives of these children, and she became our main partner and delegate for Afghanistan.

Vox Infantis started the construction of a new orphanage in Kunduz, inaugurated in 2010. It was managed by the Directorate of Social Affairs and gave shelter to 82 orphans aged 4-16 years, 68 boys and 14 girls.

Here are the children in the state orphanage in 2005:

June 2010 The new orphanage dormitory:

27 March 2010 Inauguration ceremony:

March 2010 The new orphanage

Budget and Financing

Between 2007 and 2013 Vox Infantis Switzerland has invested in Kunduz: CHF 261’000
of which CHF 55,000 had been donated in 2010 by a Swiss charitable foundation to finish paying for the construction of the house.

Budget 2014
For the annual running of our school and daycare center we need at least CHF 60’000 :

Annual Expenses

Cycle 1 School and daycare center:
Food for 65 children: CHF 40’000
Salaries of 14 employees: CHF 13’000
Miscellaneous (electricity, rent, repairs, etc.): CHF 2’000
Cycle 2 English and computer lessons: CHF 5’000

For a total of CHF 60’000

Through membership contributions, donations, sponsorships and events we collect about CHF 40’000 per year composed as follows:

Membership contributions: approximately CHF 10’000
Donations: approximately CHF 10’000
Sponsorships: approximately CHF 10’000
Events: approximately CHF 10’000
Total Revenue: CHF 40’000

We therefore need to find CHF 20’000 to be able to run the school and daycare center in the year 2014.
Click here to find our accounts for 2013. – And here is the global budget 2014 for Kunduz.

Media Review

Article in Dari in a Kunduz newspaper on the founders of Vox Infantis 21.11.2012. To read the original version click here – or here for the German translation.

January 2014, lesson of religion in the winter school: