New Training Project for Women in Afghanistan
Cap Anamur now also offers a three-year nurse training opportunity for Afghan women.
After completing their training, the graduates improve medical care in rural areas as registered nurses.
Cap Anamur has successfully implemented several training programs for midwives and community health nurses, and completed a training program for nurses last year. Now the aid organization has once again launched a training program – specifically for women in terror-stricken Afghanistan. Since we have already been able to train enough medical professionals in some regions, we have specifically advertised our latest training in the provinces of Ghor, Herat and Badghis, where medical care is not yet widely available. Unlike our last training, which was offered to both young women and men, this new training is designed exclusively for women, as there have been few women trained in these regions in the past.
All training courses have been agreed with the Afghan Ministry of Health and are state-approved. After successful completion of the training, the students return to their home village as certified and highly qualified nurses and commit themselves to working there in their new profession for a period of at least three years, thus improving health care in rural areas.
Project coordinator Faisal Haidari oversees the training project with a total of 44 participants. The program is run in cooperation with the Afghan Ministry of Health. It concludes with a nationally recognized diploma as a nurse.
The participants learned about the program from a notice posted at the health center in Herat, but above all through recommendations and reports from those who had already completed their training. Out of a total of 320 applicants from Ghor, Herat and Badghis provinces, a total of 150 women were invited by project coordinator Faisal Haidari to take the exam in Herat. This was compiled by the Ministry of Health in Afghanistan and by some teachers and included questions from all areas of the General Higher Education Entrance Qualification in Afghanistan, this corresponds to the German Abitur. The 44 best female graduates of this exam were finally accepted for the new apprenticeship.
There will be no cost to the students for the next three years. The dormitory, meals, transportation to the school, teaching materials and even kindergarten care are completely covered by Cap Anamur. In addition, of course, we pay teachers and classrooms for training.
The content of the training is based on the state curriculum. Regular supervisions are conducted by the Ministry of Health in Kabul. Subjects taught include anatomy, physiology, and the study of disease. Much of the training focuses on learning practical skills. Thus, two-thirds of the training program takes place at the provincial hospital in Herat. The future nurses are deployed there in block assignments and can thus directly apply the knowledge they have learned.
In addition to some intermediate exams, all graduates must take a major final exam after three years. After passing, they receive a nationally recognized diploma as a nurse. As after our previous trainings, all trainees have committed to return to their home village after graduation and work there for a few years in their newly learned profession.
The results of Cap Anamur’s various training projects in Afghanistan so far
Our success has proven us right. We have already succeeded in adding 130 midwives, 76 community health nurses and 47 nurses to Afghanistan. In three years, 44 more female physicians will now go to acutely underserved areas and not only permanently improve the medical situation there, but also act as role models for women and girls.
The situation in Afghanistan and our approach to sustainably counteract the causes of flight with local education
The suffering in Afghanistan is enormous after decades of terror. For years, people have been fleeing terror and the lack of prospects in their own country. Since it is mainly the financially better-off circles that can afford the high costs of emigration, Afghanistan has for years been experiencing a huge loss of talented academics, artists and skilled workers, who are now no longer available for the political, social and infrastructural reconstruction of the country. This also affects those who do not want to or cannot leave their country. We are observing this trend in the medical sector, especially in rural regions that are already less well connected. To counteract this development, we have now again initiated training for Afghan women in Herat, which will not only provide new medical professionals, but also more independent women.