Girls playing football in Afghanistan

 

“Thank you for visiting my page. We raised just about enough after my last marathon to fund the first two teachers through teacher-training college in northern Afghanistan. They will soon be returning to their village (the village of my films’ main character Mir) to help give girls a better chance in a tough, so tough, life. But we don’t want just to fund two women and then forget about it. We are committed to two a year. Your help would mean a lot to us. Keep an eye on my blog at seventh-art.com for occasional news about this project. Thanks again!” – Phil

Since writing that blog, I can now bring you more news from the village. Both women, Nikbakh and Zahra, have been back from Mazar and in their holidays have begun teaching. Equally good news is that the school has built a new additional block just for girls – giving them more space and facilities. The village as a whole is delighted to have better education for its young girls which is one small demonstration that Afghan culture is not universally anti-women’s schooling. For my part, I had to pull out of the 2015 Brighton marathon as I hurt my Achilles tendon but am now in training already for the 2016 marathon. We continue to fund the teacher training – and would like to do more – so please, any donation helps, to Justgiving/philgrabsky