Mountain2Mountain breaks ground for deaf school in Afghanistan

From Mountain2Mountain:

Approximately 10,000 deaf children live in Afghanistan. Most live without any communication with the hearing world. Afghanistan has a higher prevalence of deaf people due to several factors including a lack of preventative services and vaccinations; the high rate of complications during childbirth; inter-marriage; and injury from bombs, mines, trauma, and torture.

M2M believes the members of the deaf community in Afghanistan deserve the same access to education as their hearing counterparts. Working with the Afghan National Association for the Deaf (ANAD) and two innovative companies, we have forged a sustainable, locally-driven solution that serves thee deaf community while it creates jobs and brings renewable construction technologies to the underdeveloped world.

Thanks to a five-acre land donation from the Karzai government in April 2010, we are breaking ground for a permanent deaf school in Kabul. Two construction companies will partner with M2M to build the school using innovative, green technologies. InnoVida, and International Home Finance and Development, LLC (IHFD) will provide materials, plans and construction supervision for Phase One construction of a primary school, a combined and generous in-kind donation of more than $200,000. When complete, the facility will house primary and secondary schools that will serve 800 students, a teacher-training center, the headquarters of the Afghan National Association for the Deaf (ANAD), and a farm to provide vocational training in agriculture for the deaf.

We need your help. With the land and a construction partner in hand, our immediate efforts are focused on raising the funds necessary to complete the project. M2M must assemble $400,000 for construction of a perimeter security wall, the Phase Two secondary school, and plumbing, electricity and furnishings to finish the primary school. Both schools must be completed before teachers and students can occupy the facility. IHFD is advancing the money and materials to build the security wall. Construction of the wall began in early June.

You can make a secure, online donation here on our website. If you prefer your donations to have a voice — we have set up a fundraising page on Crowdrise — your donation can encourage others to give, and you can challenge friends and family to get involved and match contributions. You can also post our link: www.crowdrise.com/deafschoolwall/fundraiser/mountain2mountain to your Facebook or Twitter accounts to share the project and help us spread the word and raise the money.

Our goal is to train enough teachers to open additional schools in more remote parts of the country. Long-term success will require interpreter training, mentorship from the West and the creation of a sustainable program that trains graduates to become teachers and compensates them for their work. Our vision is a vibrant, educated deaf community that contributes to the entire Afghan society.