Monday, June 1, 2009, Calgary, Alberta — Calgary, Alberta may be a long way from his home in Afghanistan, but Ehsanullah Ehsan will be at SAIT Polytechnic’s June 2 graduation ceremony to represent 12 female Afghan graduands unable to make the trek due to safety concerns.

Ehsan’s journey began with a vision to provide women in Afghanistan with something they never thought possible – an education. “We need to make every effort possible to ensure humanity has access to justice, education, love, freedom and prosperity,” said Ehsan, Director for the Afghan-Canadian Community Centre. “We should speak out and do what is required to ensure that men, women, boys and girls have free and open access to education.  This should be done not only out of personal interest, but for the shared interests of humanity as a whole.”

Part of Ehsan’s vision became a reality through the Afghan School Project and online distance courses SAIT provides to females in Afghanistan who have had the courage to seek education while living in a country infamous for oppression of women.

“The courses these students studied were selected to provide the skills and knowledge that are in the greatest demand for the reconstruction and development of the Kandahar area,” says Gord Nixon, SAIT’s Vice President Academic. “The Afghan women will each receive the Business Management certificate for completing courses in project management, organizational behaviour, financial accounting, leadership development, human resource management and financial management.”

In 2007, the Afghan School Project, with the help of SAIT and financial donors, opened the Afghan-Canadian Community Centre in Kandahar with just two volunteers and 100 students, including the 12 women taking SAIT’s online program. Despite persecutions, threats, political turmoil, and an ultra-conservative culture that discourages educational opportunities for women, the school, which offers courses in business management, computing, health care and English as a Second Language, has grown to service more than 700 students. The Afghan-Canadian Community Centre is the only school in its area that offers vocational training for women.

“The Russians left for us arms and dumps of ammunition from which we have been suffering for decades. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban left for us the culture of extremism, terrorism, narrow-mindedness and suicides. But you – the great, the peaceful, the most generous Canadians – are leaving us with enlightenment," says Ehsan.

For more information on the Afghan School Project or to schedule interviews with Gord Nixon or Ehsanullah Ehsan, please contact:

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