Givology - give to learn, learn to give

Kabultec, Inc. is a registered non-profit organization in the state of Virginia. It provides information in the United States about the current state of women in Afghanistan. Additionally it collects donations and funds for its sister organization in Afghanistan, the Roqia Center for Women's Rights, Studies, and Education in Afghanistan. The Roqia Center is an Afghan civil society organization officially registered in the Ministry of Justice. The Center aims to assist the cause of women as an integral part of the country's democratization and reconstruction. Nasrine Gross, the founder, began her work in Kabul in early 2002. To maximize the Roqia Center's effectiveness in areas such as fundraising and exposure, Nasrine also created Kabultec, a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, as a partner to the Roqia Center. As such all contributions to Kabultec in the US are tax-deductible, and are used for Roqia Center projects in Afghanistan. The Roqia Center has three divisions that conduct all in-country activities:

1) The Rights Division pursues women's rights issues in Afghanistan. In 2003 Nasrine and her colleagues held numerous conferences throughout the country in preparation for the Constitutional Loya Jirga (grand council), which Nasrine attended as a guest. In 2004 the Roqia Center participated in several conferences explaining the articles of the Constitution that pertained to women. In 2005 the Roqia Center conducted seminars for the female candidates to the Parliament and Provincial Councils of 14 provinces. Between 2005 and 2009, the Roqia Center held and participated in many seminars for women’s rights, democracy, and the electoral process. In 2010, the Roqia Center held seminars in four cities for female candidates (from eleven provinces), many of whom had never stood for elected office.

2) The Studies Division publishes and distributes academic books and articles. In 2003, the Roqia Center published "Women in the Koran," a compilation of verses of the Koran that mention the word woman, and distributed it to participants of the Women's Conference, delegates of the Loya Jirga, and civil society organizations. The book was published in its third edition in December 2010. The Roqia Center also published “Afghan Women’s Guide to Winning in the 1389 (2010) Elections”. The Roqia Center has also researched and published articles pertaining to women and Afghan society, several of which can be found on Kabultec’s website, www.kabultec.org.

3) The Education Division houses an innovative literacy program. It began as a course on reading, writing and arithmetic for a group of 13 to 21 year-old boys and girls who worked as apprentices in various trades. The couples-only classes -- comprised of only husbands and wives -- were soon added. In these, students are ages 15 to 85 and each course lasts one year covering the equivalent of three years of literacy curriculum. Each year on average, the Roqia Center conducts five such courses in Kabul and Mazar.

In addition, the Roqia Center supports several orphanages and their associated schools (in three provinces). Donation drives of clothing and school supplies are collected in the US, shipped to Afghanistan, and distributed to three orphanages and their schools, as well as to ten low income public schools.