CPI Helps Raise Funds for School for the Deaf in Kabul

CPI organized a fundraiser event to support a needy School for the Deaf in Kabul. On Friday, Feb. 11, art work produced by students and staff of the School for the Deaf went on sale to raise money that will keep the school operational during a funding gap.

The school is a public, free, Ministry of Education-certified, co-educational facility located in the Khair Khana neighborhood of Kabul. In service since 1994, the school had been operated by the Family Welfare Focus (FWF, an Afghan NGO), along with clinical support and vocational training for deaf children in grades 1-12. They have recently found themselves facing a short-term funding gap which has left them struggling to cover their operational budget for January through March. (Beginning April 1st, they have donor support in place again).



Closing the school for three months would certainly have jeopardized the progress of the more than 300 students currently enrolled and create obvious financial difficulties for the school's highly dedicated teachers (most of whom are women).

While the FWF School for the Deaf is not a CPI implementing partner organization for victim assistance programming, CPI's goal was to help them help themselves through organizing this first-ever fundraiser. The four-hour event generated more than $2,000 in sales of artwork towards the school's operating costs.

Subsequently, the staff of the Kabul offices of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) have organized a follow-up art sale fundraiser in this same style but at Kabul's Serena Hotel on Feb. 18. This follow-up event was organized by JICA staff as a direct result of CPI's original efforts at bringing attention to the FWF School for the Deaf.