Development Ratings

Afghan Connection built Shari-Khoona School in 2005, for 1,400 girls. This was after a visit in 2004 by Dr. Fane when all the girls were in tents. The charity built a further annexe in 2007. Girls can now study in 2 rather than 3 shifts, giving longer and more effective study periods. Zouhruddin School for Girls had 10 classrooms built in 2007. It proved so popular that 8 new classrooms and a wall are needed in 2008. At the Aliki School, 414 boys have a school building but 59 girls still study outside. The average number of children studying at each school is just over 1,000, varying from about 300 to 2,700. 9 school building works are due for completion in 2008/9.

Afghan Connection’s medical volunteers have trained 27 medical staff over recent years, 16 obstetric and 11 paediatric. The trained local medical staff will be able to more effectively treat at least an estimated 10 patients / day or 3,000 patients each a year. Over 80,000 patients/year could be benefited. An ex pat nurse in 2005 dealt
with 20 baby deliveries/month and 14 outpatient and antenatal clinics/week, seeing 30-60 patients per clinic.

New vaccine refrigerators supplied to Merlin provide 4-6,300 women and children with immunisation per fridge per year. WHO estimates that 10% of unimmunised children will die from one of several diseases. As a result of Afghan Connection and Merlin’s combined work, an estimated 3,000 children under 5 years of age will be prevented from dying each year and more will avoid becoming disabled as a result of not contracting a disease.

The total cost per beneficiary includes the costs of constructing and equipping school buildings, as well as medical equipment and the vaccine refrigerators. The beneficiaries’ figures include the school students and the people reached by the vaccination programme. They also include patients directly benefited by the in-field doctors and the trained medical staff, with a rather conservative multiplier of ten per day for the patients these staff will be able to treat. The cost per education beneficiary does not factor in the multi-year benefit.
Most schools are visited biannually and are continuing in good order. SCA is going to begin recording basic school data, including drop-out rates, graduation rates, etc., to assess individual school achievement.