Midwifery is currently the only subject women are still allowed to study at local colleges. With almost three quarters of Afghans living in rural areas, we try to ensure our support is decentralised, reaching beyond the big cities.
We have initially funded 20 residential places for women to study the profession at the Sheefa Midwifery Institute in the northern province of Badakhshan, where a trusted resident German volunteer oversees the programme for us.
Funding study places for midwives will have a huge and long-lasting impact, reducing both maternal death rates and infant mortality – the average Afghan woman gives birth to five children and mothers are 50 times more likely to die giving birth than in the UK.
We plan to expand this successful programme later in 2024 by supporting a further 20 students.
Salima’s story
Salima is one of our residential students at Sheefa Midwifery Institute. After her father died when she was a child, her oldest brother joined the army to support the family, but was killed within weeks in an attack on his unit.
Her younger brother then took on work as a farmer to provide for Salima, her mother and three sisters. As the only member of her family able to finish high school, Salima is determined to thrive to make life better for the family.
She says, “I had not dreamt of such an opportunity, I hardly can believe it and I will work hard to reach up beyond expectation.”