Deaf School

At 16, this teacher is little more than a student herself. She works at the Afghan National School for the Deaf (ANAD) in Kabul. Her training is limited to a ninth-grade education and the ability to sign. This is how she teaches other deaf students to communicate.

Remarkably, the deaf in Afghanistan are in the process of creating their own national sign language. There are few educational opportunities available, there are almost no qualified teachers, and there are no schools for the deaf outside of Kabul and Jalabad. Both are on the verge of collapse.

This is a community literally living in silence without the ability to communicate, get an education or find a job. The few hundred students that gather each day to learn to sign, read and write are the lucky ones. Thousands more exist in a world that offers them no hope at all. Language needs to be fully developed. Teachers and interpreters need to be recruited and trained. Schools need to be built. Trades need to be taught. Deaf children need the opportunity to thrive. Only then will the next generation of the deaf in Afghanistan be able to step out of the dark silence and play an active role in their communities.

Learn more about our collaborative initiatives with ANAD and Afghanistan's deaf community