Kashmir Family Aid

Kashmir Family Aid
Abbreviation KFA
Formation October 2006
Type 501(c)3
Legal status Non-Profit
Purpose Promotes education
Headquarters Bend, Oregon
Region served
 Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Northern Pakistan and India Kashmir
Leader Sam Carpenter
Website http://www.kashmirfamily.org/

Kashmir Family Aid is an international non-profit organization, founded in the wake of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, focused on the victims in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Northern Pakistan and India Kashmir.[1] The charity provides aid primarily by building, improving and supporting the operational costs of secular schools in the quake-affected areas.[2]

History

For more details on this topic, see 2005 Kashmir earthquake.

Sam Carpenter, an American businessman familiar with the area, traveled to the Kashmir region following the major earthquake that struck the region on October 8, 2005. Carpenter wrote several freelance articles about life on the ground for schoolchildren in Muzaffarabad in the weeks following the 7.6-magnitude earthquake.[2]

KFA and mission

Carpenter decided to create an organization with the goal to "counter poverty and terrorism while promoting women's rights by providing secular education to quake-affected children". He subsequently developed an international perspective on issues related to the area and the impact of education. Carpenter registered Kashmir Family Aid as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2006.[3][4][5] The organization's focus is on combatting illiteracy and poverty with non-religious schools that would be an alternative to the Madrasas, much in the model of the Central Asia Institute. Secular schools offer a child a chance to learn math, science, and history to provide the student with an alternative to warfare training and jihad, which the World Bank estimates is the fate of 15-20% of Madrasa students.[1] The organization provides support directly to schools, their staff, and the students. Carpenter has been petitioned to allow the local governments to disseminate the organization's funds and refused, which has led to political tensions and at least one expulsion of Carpenter from the region.[4] In 2012, KFA began an initiative to bring better sanitation, especially toilets, to schools beginning in the Karka area of Muzaffarabad.[6]

Programs

School building, maintenance, equipment, and supplies: Projects in this category are related to the direct costs of building new schools, updating and/or maintaining existing schools including the installation of toilets, and providing necessary materials for the schools. This often includes ongoing support for uniforms, school equipment, and individual school supplies for students. Each of these projects includes the participation of local people.

Teacher support: KFA provides funding for teachers’ salaries and gifts.

Public health: KFA provides funds and goods directly to the impoverished and displaced population of the area as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, the remote northern area of Pakistan, from toilets to Eid gifts to orphans. (The quake displaced 2.8 million refugees.)

Global outreach: KFA promotes the importance of education and literacy via the website, fundraising, as well as promoting working outreach trips from the United States to Kashmir.

Projects

Schools built or supported by KFA:

• Sarli Sacha Village School, Neelum River Valley, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

• Bright Star Rehman Public School, Langla village, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

• Girls High School Noora Sairi, Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

• Sawera School, Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Stoller, Christopher (June 27, 2008). "In Their Eyes: Assisting the Quake-Affected Children of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir". World Press.org. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hawryluk, Markian (January 20, 2006). "Building more than houses". The Oregon Bulletin. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Staff. "Kashmir Family Aid AKA KFA : Guidestar summary". GuideStar. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Strauss, Daniel (September 19, 2008). "Fighting Terrorism With Education". The American Prospect. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Stoller, Christopher (February 19, 2008). "Fighting poverty with books in Pakistan". CNN.com. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Carpenter, Sam. http://www.kashmirfamily.org/''. Missing or empty |title= (help);

External links