With their profound and inspiring work, it’s no surprise that Kravis Prize winners are acknowledged worldwide by prestigious organizations. In fact, 2009 Kravis Prize winner and Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) Founder Sakena Yacoobi was honored as the 2006 Skoll Social Entrepreneur. The Skoll Foundation also produced a great video of Sakena Yacoobi telling the story of the people of Afghanistan. In the video, she says that the Taliban in Afghanistan caused the country to lose an “educated society.” So how is AIL remedying this problem? Yacoobi explains it best:
“Afghan Institute of Learning is a non-profit organization mainly run by women. We run program[s] in the area of education, health, leadership, human rights, women’s rights, gender issues, management and peace education. So far AIL has trained 16,000 teachers and we have reached 6.8 million people.”
One of the driving forces behind AIL’s success is Yacoobi’s optimism and persistence:
“The future is bright because the people have this strength in them that they really want to be independent. They want to be self-sufficient. Believe me, the people of Afghanistan have the potential, have the energy to overcome and to that, I see a beautiful, very bright future of people in Afghanistan and for the new generation of Afghanistan. That would be my dream come true.”
Enjoy the video below and let us know how Sakena Yacoobi and her work with AIL inspire you!
