Canadian Women Working for Literacy for Afghan Women

Craig Bakay | Jan 18, 2017

Last Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. and so it was appropriate that Parham’s Madeleine Tarasick would begin her talk to the Canadian Federation of University Women at the Perth Legion with a quote from King.

“Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter,” she said.

In 2013, Tarasick and fellow member of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan Margaret Stewart travelled to the middle eastern country to help out with a project — essentially teaching Afghani women and girls to read.

“We don’t build schools, but we hire the teachers,” she said. “Our teachers get paid $1,500 per year and teach 150 students per day.

“They’ll teach anywhere they can even if it’s a tent in the dust.”

The CW4WA was formed in 1996 with the mandate to “advance education and educational opportunities for Afghan women and their families and to educated Canadians about human rights in Afghanistan” she said. They are a not-for-profit organization with two main field program areas — the Community Libraries & Literacy and the Investments in Public Education program.

The local chapter supports projects in Takhar Province, in the north east of Afghanistan and last year, the Perth CFUW provided training for six teachers.

Tarasick cited statistics from a recent survey that suggest attitudes towards women being educated in Afghanistan are changing. For example, 65 per cent of survey respondents disagreed with the practice of Baad (giving away a daughter to settle a dispute) and 80 per cent agreed that women should have the same opportunity for education as men.

Still though, not everyone agrees and there are dangers.

Tarasick said that when she and Stewart were there, they had to “be careful” even to the point of wearing the burka when going to the marketplace.

“There was one threat we received because men and women were in the same classroom,” she said. “We left right away.”

But, they are making progress, she said and things like cell phones and computers are having an impact.

“The area we’d most like to improve in is computers but they cost money,” she said.
To that end, CW4WA’s big fundraising Gala is April 28 at the Vimy Officer’s Mess in Kingston with guest speaker journalist Sally Armstrong.

For more information on the gala or local efforts, contact Tarasick at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 613-375-8290. For more information on CW4WA in general, visit their website cw4wafghan.ca.