Andeisha Farid:
The war is all I have known: I was born in war, and I have lived my entire life in war. I want it to stop. Through education – at a fraction of the cost of war and rebuilding – we can eradicate the soil that feeds hatred and oppression in Afghanistan.

As a child in a refugee camp in Pakistan, I was inspired by fellow Afghans who believed in education as the path to peace, democracy and well-being of our devastated country. Soon I was teaching and caring for other refugee children in a place I would call (for lack of better words) an orphanage. It was more than that – a family, home, and meeting place where Hezara learned to love Pashtun, and Tajik learned to love Nuristani. Most children were orphans or lived in such such devastating conditions that we could call them orphans.

Since those days, I founded a formal organization in Afghanistan called Afghan Child Education and Care Organization. The organization has added other orphanages and requires each under its umbrella to harbor children from all corners of the country. Children’s families, or surviving custodial guardians, have to accept our basic mission of equality, tolerance, and a liberal arts education. Because ideology has brought misery to Afghanistan, we ban promotion of religious or political dogmas.

When I moved to Kabul with my family and we opened three orphanages in the city, we were noticed by international media. This led to support for the organization and recognition for myself. Coupled with forces for positive change within Afghanistan, international support has made it possible to bring the total number of orphanages to 10, including two in Pakistan.

But with 1.3 million orphans in the country, there remain tremendous needs and challenges. Most of our children are connected to their native villages, where people hope they will return one day as a midwife, engineer or teacher, and where we hope they will bring the values they live by. If other educators stick to these values, we can reach the point at which no violence or suppression will overpower the force of freedom.

Alyse Nelson:
Andeisha’s devotion to her cause really strikes you when you meet her in person. She tells you about life as a child in the refugee camps of Iran and Pakistan, where all she had to hold on to was a dream about one day returning home to Afghanistan. When she finally did return, the place from her dreams was nowhere to be found. For example, girls were restricted from going to school and were often abused or trafficked.

But conditions that would leave others to despair led Andeisha to a simple and powerful vision — education would transform Afghanistan.

Vital Voices recently recognized Andeisha for her commitment to build a more prosperous and tolerant Afghanistan by investing in the education of her country’s orphans. At a time when the challenges are perhaps greater than ever before, she has grown more determined to create a space for freedom and development, where girls and boys of every ethnic group learn tolerance and respect.

Andeisha knows that education has the power to release a child from oppression and inspire progress within entire communities. Like any force for change, education expands its reach when it’s shared. When we invest in the promise of one child, that child learns his or her worth and wants to give another the same chance to develop.