We have a number of current and pending projects through other non-profit organizations and educational institutions. All of these projects contribute to advancing the status and care of women in or from West Asia, as well as promoting understanding of West Asian and Muslim communities. Further, our partners work directly in the communities served in order to identify needs and maximize community involvement and support.
The Professor Sakena Yacoobi Private High School opened in Kariz Mir, Afghanistan in May 2010. There are presently 226 students attending in grades 1-12.
The staff includes 14 teachers and 6 in administration. There are also 2 guards for security and a janitor for cleaning.
Fifty seven percent of the student population has supplemental scholarships. There are 109 students with a full scholarship, and 20 with a 50% scholarship. Students come from the surrounding areas and a local orphanage.
The building itself has 12 rooms. Final details are nearing completion. The students and teachers have planted a number of trees and bushes and are interested in making the grounds peaceful and plant-friendly.
Murals cover many of the hallway walls and add a cheerful accent. There is also a computer room which offers modern computers and internet access.
Following are additional photos of the school and students.
Unique Zan Foundation has provided a $50,000 grant to help realize the dream of Malezi 3.
Since the beginning, the mission of the Malezi Centre & School has been to offer low-cost and, in many cases, free education to vulnerable children who otherwise would have no option for going to school. Hardly any attention has been paid to the long-term viability of the center because the sheer volume of challenges it has faced (paying teachers, hunger issues, insufficient school supplies, etc,.) has made it difficult to ever see past any given month.
UZF is happy to be a supporter of Families of Children with Disabilities. For additional information of if you would like to donate please click on the link below:
www.supportforfamilies.org
Unique Zan is proud to announce it's first project and collaboration with Moms Against Poverty(MAP) this year. We are delighted to have this opportunity to work on a joint project with MAP in educating and empowering young girls at Shaheed Shojaie Orphanage, in south of Tehran, Iran.
Shaheed Shojaie is home to 25 teen girls. This project will provide them with computers and computer trainings and prepare them for a bright future and career in today's world.
MAP's OFAC permit allows them to work with various orphanages in Iran to help provide the children with a safe and nurturing living environment with the proper tools and training that children need to thrive as healthy productive adults.
Unique Zan Foundation provides support for PARSA's work with the most vulnerable populations in Afghanistan. In 2011, the Foundation will continue its support for PARSA's Chagcharran Children's Center in Afghanistan, which serves 345 orphaned children. PARSA also received support from UZF to launch two Widows Garden business cooperatives for mothers who have been widowed and have no means of support, and for women in the refugee camp on the plain above Chagcharran.
www.afghanistan-parsa.org
Turquoise Mountain is investing in the regeneration of the historic commercial centre of Kabul, providing basic services, saving historic buildings and constructing a new bazaar and galleries for traditional craft businesses. It has established Afghanistan's first Higher Education Institute for Afghan Arts & Architecture gathering some of the greatest Masters in Afghanistan and training students to produce masterpieces in wood, calligraphy and ceramics.
The Institute has been used to develop new Afghan designs, promote Afghan handicrafts through national and international exhibitions and media campaigns, open new markets, restore key parts of the Kabul museum collection, renovate public spaces and build capacity in the government and universities.
The Asian University for Women's mission is based on the firm belief that education, especially higher education, is a critical pathway to sustainable development, economic progress, and social and political equity for underprivileged communities. The University will educate promising young women of diverse cultural, religious, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds from across South and South-East Asia and the Middle East, with a particular emphasis on the inclusion of women from poor, rural, and marginalized communities. AUW seeks to cultivate future leaders whose life experiences will combine with an extraordinary education to help them address the imperatives of social and economic advancement in Asia, and will in turn elevate the status of women in society.Over the next six years, Unique Zan Foundation is committed to supporting five women students from both Pakistan and Afghanistan to complete their studies at the Asian University for women.
www.asian-university.org.
My Summer in Tehran, produced and directed by Justine Shapiro, is due for release in 2010. In this documentary, Ms. Shapiro embarks on a journey to Tehran and into the lives of three Iranian families from diverse religious and social backgrounds: a conservative, religious family; a secular family; and a single mom/actress. This project was partially funded by the Unique Zan Foundation, and is part of a larger project on "Global Moms." To watch excerpts click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-jIh5YcIP8
Over the next six years, Unique Zan Foundation is committed to supporting five women students from both Pakistan and Afghanistan to complete their studies at the Asian University for women.
www.asian-university.org.
IASF is a national scholarship fund. With 75 scholarships awarded to date, they are proud to have taken on this task and with the support and help of the community throughout the nation have reached a decade of community service at its best.
www.iasfund.org
We are working with Dr. Sakena Yacoobi to help her continue her work in educating and providing health services for women in Afghanistan. We are also working with Dr. Yacoobi to build a private school for girls in Kabul, Afghanistan.
www.creatinghope.org/ailprograms
National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement (NLSCA), is an organization dedicated to ensuring the human rights and dignity of Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (MEMSA) peoples. NLSCA was founded by Banafsheh Akhlaghi, Esq. in order to promote: (1) legal defense of civil rights; (2) responsible media coverage and depiction; (3) proactive collaboration with governmental and non-governmental institutions; and (4) education and community outreach.
www.nlsca.com
Founded in 2003, The Translation Project is a nonprofit (501(C)3) organization. Their mission is to promote contemporary Iranian literature to a worldwide audience in multiple languages and media.
www.thetranslationproject.org
Provides scholarship funding for low-income Iranian-American students to continue their studies.
www.iranianscholarship.com
Through the HAND Foundation we are sponsoring The Bita Daryabari Scholarship for Women in Economics. This scholarship will provide financial support, in the form of tuition, fees and a stipend, to an Iranian woman working toward her Ph.D. in Economics.
www.thehandfoundation.org
Women's Global Health Imperative, University of California, San Francisco The Women's Global Health Imperative's mission is to develop public health interventions that prevent HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unintended pregnancies, and maternal mortality through collaborative research, academic and clinical training, community education, and the study of gender inequity. With Unique Zan Foundation funding, WGHI will be able to sponsor one Iranian woman, who specializes in Women's Health and HIV/AIDS, to come to the UCSF campus for a seminar on Women's Leadership Training.
www.wghi.org
Baivoter is an Iranian American Voters Association working to encourage and facilitate the informed and active participation of Iranian-Americans in the democratic process. Baivoter also organizes the annual spring Persian New Year (Norouz) Festival in Vasona Park, located in Los Gatos, California, in order to celebrate and promote Persian community and culture.
www.baivoter.org.
www.norouzfestival.org.
This project is designed to utilize the medium of the traditional American comic book genre in order to introduce an important Iranian/Persian literary work - The Shahnameh to a western audience. The intention is first, to rekindle the knowledge and serve as a quick and easy to read reminder of how great and valid the Shahnameh lessons are even today to adults. Second, to provide Iranian youth, a character and story presentation that is just as cool and attractive as the best comic book heroes, and finally, to provide non-Iranians with access and introduction to one of the true cultural gems of Iran. This exposure to the positive and fascinating aspects of Persian storytelling, will do much in educating and advancing the understanding of what contributions Persians have made to society at large.
www.theshahnameh.com
is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing information and support to people dealing with breast cancer or with breast health issues.
www.cbhp.org.
