Kabul, Wed 29 Apr, 2009

On several separate occasions different fathers of students in our classes said how they never realized how important being able to read and write is.

They had all hesitated when asked if their daughters could attend the classes, thinking it would be a waste of time and achieve nothing. Since the daughters started the classes they had become different girls. Before they were sad, miserable, lethargic and had no interest in anything. Now they are alert, confident, happy and always smiling. Their fathers were so pleased with the change in their daughters that they changed their minds about the value of literacy and would send their younger daughters to school.

Another female student began to teach her five year old daughter some of the letters and words she had herself only just learnt in the class. One day she brought the child to class and was amazed at the interest the child took in the lesson and the ability she showed. The mother said then that she would make sure her daughter learned to read and write even though no-one else in the family could.