Help Afghan School Children Organization

Help Afghan School Children Organization (HASCO) is a Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

-based non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the promotion of education of Afghan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

disadvantaged children. HASCO was founded in 2002 by an Afghan humanitarian Hafizullah Khaled

Hafizullah Khaled

Hafizullah Khaled is an Afghan Austrian humanitarian,Peace activist, writer and founder of the Help Afghan School Children Organization based in Vienna ....

.

HASCO members work on a voluntary basis, HASCO volunteers in different countries spending their time and expertise to help Afghan disadvantaged children.
HASCO mostly focuses on the education of Afghan poor children and helping Afghan refugees families from refugee camps in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

and Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

to send their school-age children into school.

During last six years, HASCO has supported thousands of needy Afghan schoolchildren by providing them with school supplies, school bags, monthly contributions and other school necessities such as thermos, school caps, school clothes, and so on. Hasco volunteers also conducted rehabilitation works in schools recently burned by the Taliban in the eastern Afghan province of Laghman

Laghman

Laghman can refer to:* Laghman Province in Afghanistan* Laghman, a place in Jowzjan Province, Afghanistan* Lamian and variants thereof as soup...

.

HASCO's big school supplies distribution programme has been launched under the name of Hope's Journey Caravan in June 2005 with the full co-operation of local education authorities and representatives of the Afghan Ministry of Education. During this operation, a large quantity of school supplies have been distributed to tens of schools in the Shamali Plains north of Kabul

Kabul

Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

HASCO Volunteer gets UN Award

HASCO is a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

consisting dedicated volunteers from different countries, during last four year a large number of online volunteers have been introduced to HASCO by United Nations Volunteers

United Nations Volunteers

The United Nations Volunteers program is a United Nations organization that advocates the role and benefits of volunteerism for development, integrates volunteers into development programmes, and mobilises volunteers for development projects. It was created to be a development partner for UN...

Programme (UNV). These volunteers generously spent their time and expertise to make difference in the life of Afghan children.
HASCO volunteers are from different countries such as Afghanistan, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, Oman

Oman

Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

, UK, and United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

On 5th of December 2006 the United Nations Volunteers

United Nations Volunteers

Programme (UNV) selected HASCO online volunteer Mrs. Allwatiah with other nine volunteers as online UNV Volunteer of the Year 2006. Mrs. Allwatiah is an Omani national, a mother of five children and head of the English department at a school in Oman.
The United Nations Volunteers

United Nations Volunteers

(UNV) Program, has highlighted in the February 2008 newsletter the experience of HASCO Online volunteers to promote the ideals of volunteerism around the world. The UNV newsletter explained how HASCO online volunteer Daniela is helping the organization to reach out to the German-speaking public and potential donors by translating project proposals, reports and press releases from English to German. One day, her instant reaction to an assignment within a 24-hour deadline resulted in the donation of 1,000 schoolbags by the Municipality of Vienna.

In Afghanistan voluntary work plays an important role in the implementation of HASCO projects. HASCO volunteers, including female volunteers, actively participated in Hope's Journey Program to distribute school supplies to tens of boys and girls schools from Bagram airport to Kabul

Kabul

Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

city.

Programmes and Projects

During more than three decades war and destruction in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

, children were among the main victims of long year’s war and bloodshed in their country. War not only killed and injured thousands of innocent Afghan children but at the same time thousands others were deprived from their basic right of education and schooling.
Today one of the big challenges of Afghan poor families is how to provide their school age children with school supplies and school needs. The conditions of those Afghan families recently returned from Pakistan

Pakistan

and Iran

Iran

refugee camps are not better than those living in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

on arrival at their village. They met only the ruins of their houses and farms. These families need assistance to send their children to school.

Hope's Journey Caravan

To provide a large amount of basic school materials to thousands of needy school children in different communities and to avoid long bureaucratic barrier in distribution process, HASCO organized Hope's Journey Caravan in north of Kabul

Kabul

Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

.
During this one day humanitarian trip a large amount of school supplies have been distributed to tens of boys and girls schools in Qarabagh, Kalakan and Mir Bacha Kot districts in north of Kabul

Kabul

Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

. Additional to HASCO volunteers, local education authorities and representatives of the Ministry of Education also participated in school supplies distribution process.

The school supplies have been collected during first part of Hope's Journey in United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

by Mr. Cary Ragsdale, director of Hope's Journey Organization, Mr. Beau Moore, his closest friend, and tens of school children and teachers in United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

for supporting Afghanistan

Afghanistan

school children.

International Security Assistance Force

International Security Assistance Force

The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...

(ISAF

International Security Assistance Force

) in Afghanistan contributed to this programme by shipment of school supplies to Bagram airbase in north of Kabul.

School Rehabilitation Programme

With deterioration of security situation in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

, tens of schools have burned by Taliban extremists in south and eastern part of Afghanistan. With burning each school once again hundreds of innocent Afghan children have been deprived from their basic right of education.
These schools were set alight at the time while education authorities still are not able to rebuild hundreds of destroyed schools during civil war in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

and most of schools in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

are without class, desks and chairs. Children are sitting on the floor during school time.

Under HASCO School Rehabilitation programme five schools have been rehabilitated in eastern province of Laghman

Laghman

Laghman can refer to:* Laghman Province in Afghanistan* Laghman, a place in Jowzjan Province, Afghanistan* Lamian and variants thereof as soup...

Backpacks for Afghan School Children

Most of schools in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

province and districts are far and children have a long daily walk ahead of them in order to reach their schools. In some areas, children cross several hinders such as rivers, bridges and mountainous terrain to reach their school.
Providing Afghan children with schoolbag will help them to carry more easily their daily school materials.

Furthermore, to encourage Afghan families keep their children in school, additional to backpack and school supplies, other needs of school children such as school caps, thermos and school clothes were distributed by HASCO in different part of Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Orphan Sponsorship Programme

As a result of long year’s civil war

Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

and bloodshed today there are a huge number of orphans and disabled children in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

. Most of Afghan poverty stricken families are living without regular income. Their everyday life is a struggle for survival.
The aim of HASCO orphans sponsorship programme is to assist Afghan orphans and poor families by providing a specific amount of monthly contribution to cover school supplies and other necessities of their school children.

External links

Help Afghan School Children Org (HASCO)
Education in Afghanistan
Education in Afghanistan
Education in Afghanistan includes K-12 and Higher education, which is supervised by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education in Kabul, Afghanistan...
Development Gateway Afghanistan Reconstruction
UNV Online Volunteering Award 2006

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