Seeds of Hope School

Education is one of the most vital needs in war torn Afghanistan. Only 58% of children have access to education and would otherwise be forced into work as early as 9 years old. Seeds of Hope (SOH) is a private school in Mazar-e-Sharif that enrolls students who have failed the financial means test to attend public school. Without SOH these impoverish children would not be attending school. Currently there are 190 students enrolled in classes 1-9. Most of the students are either orphans or live in homes where only one parent has survived the 30 years of turmoil that this country has faced. This one parent is barely able to provide for their family and see school as an unaffordable option. 

“Evaluating the lunch budget for our Seeds of Hope School this afternoon, I realized that we are able to feed lunch to around 200 students, for $38 a day. Some of these students would have otherwise squabbled with fellow street children over a handful of discarded food, or settled for a bite of bread with their five to six other siblings. It's a significant thing to provide each of these students with a meal, at least once a day. The fact that we give them two pens, three pencils, and four notebooks a month is another significant investment in the future of these children.”

-Seeds of Hope staff in Mazar-e-Sharif

Rehabilitation Efforts

Seeds of Hope has been working in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif for ten years now and  desperately needs maintenance and improvement funding for the school in order to continue the kids education. 

Reconstruction of roofs
In Afghanistan, many houses are built with a mud and hay concoction which is known for being warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. The problem that this type of facility poses is that the environment inflicts a great deal of wear and tear. This past winter the area faced an amount of condensation far above average, and the facilities at Seeds of Hope faced major damages. Several roofs have leaks, allowing water to seep into nearby walls. If the roofs are not repaired by next winter, the roofs will likely collapse or could cause electrical wiring damage.



Concreting "play" area 
In Afghanistan, the most popular sports are soccer for boys and volleyball for girls. The time spent at school is important period designated as Physical Education, wherein students get to be kids. Ten years ago, when the property was first built, an International NGO paid to lay concrete in the designated sports area. Now the area is facing issues which include: holes that are seen as tripping hazards, and chipped concrete near the foundations of the classrooms. The principal has decided to not allow the students to play sports or run on this area out of concern for the well being of the children.



Building a fence for more safety 
Upon entering the Seeds of Hope School property, one must only look to the left to see a makeshift plastic covering to protect students from falling into a 5-foot deep ditch. The Principal would like to build a 17-meter long fence to protect students and visitors from accident or injury. This fence would be made of durable materials, such as aluminum and wood.


Purchasing new updated textbooks
Every year the students return for the new school year, and each student is given textbooks for their classes. Many of them are excited to be given books from which they can study. The School tries to reuse books from previous years, but unfortunately many of them have become are very worn.

Repairing and buying computers
One of the pressing educational needs that Seeds of Hope is computers. In the one computer room over 30 students must share eight computers. Two of the computers need to be repaired. The cost of fixing one computer is $150, and the cost of buying a new desktop computer is $300. The computer teacher has requested the purchase of three new computers to accommodate the amount of students.

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