Laila is 32-years old and lives in Asadabad, a city in the center of Kunar province in Afghanistan. She is a teacher whose lifelong passion for learning and teaching has begun to reshape her community.
Laila graduated with distinction from the Kunar Teacher Training Institute; however, she had difficulty finding work for a few years after. Her village offered neither government school jobs nor other employment opportunities. As a mother of four children, she also felt acutely aware of the low literacy rates around her, and the urgent need for change.
Her circumstances began to shift when Shining Star Educational Organization of Afghanistan, with the support of Central Asia Institute, started a community-based primary school and teacher training program in her village. Laila was quickly hired as a teacher. She embraced new instructional techniques and methodologies. Shining Star also provided her with a complete set of teaching materials. She continues to receive ongoing support from the program.
Participating in CAI and Shining Star’s community-based education program has led to significant changes for Laila. She now has greater confidence in herself and is independently supporting her family financially with her teaching income, as her husband is unemployed. Her own children now attend the school and are learning to read and write. “Now I feel I and my children are luckier than before,” she says, “because they are studying better and in a more suitable environment with updated facilities.”
Today Laila is a respected and trusted figure in her village. She has become a role model for many girls. Parents now enthusiastically send their daughters to school, encouraged by Laila’s example. Laila’s story is a powerful reminder of how passion paired with opportunity can lead to meaningful change. Her efforts have inspired the women in her community and showed them the importance of educating girls, not only as a human right but as a path to independence and to brighter futures.