ElderPlace doctor helps build schools for Afghan youth

At Providence ElderPlace, Medical Director Assad Kazemi since 1996 has been known for helping to heal seniors. Elsewhere in the world, he is known for helping to build schools for children in war-torn Afghanistan. 

Dr. Kazemi is on the board of the nonprofit Relief and Education for Afghan Children (REACH) program, which is in the process of building its fifth school for children in areas destroyed by the Taliban.

It's about as far from ElderPlace as one can get. But that doesn't stop Kazemi, who through REACH has helped raise more than $50,000 - including donations from generous Providence ElderPlace employees, their families and friends.

The first school was designed to educate girls. "We believe that a woman is the backbone of a family and if women are empowered through education, it will positively impact the standard of living, improve health and decrease infant mortality, and ultimately benefit everyone in the society," said Kazemi, who grew up in the Herat Province where the schools are located. After leaving Afghanistan in 1979, Kazemi received his medical training in India, and came to the United States via Canada for residency training in New York before enrolling in a fellowship in geriatric medicine at the University of Washington.

"We believe in what we're doing. If we can help educate a handful of people, it is still a success," Kazemi said.

When the Taliban was in power, it burned the schools and forbid girls from attending. After the Taliban was ousted from power in 2001, some girls started going back to school and new schools were built.

REACH helps local communities build their own schools, relying on volunteer efforts of REACH board members in the United States to raise funds for materials and skilled labor, on the unpaid work of a local program manager, and on the villagers, who donate their time and labor. The schools are then turned over to the local authorities to run.

So far more than 1,400 students have gone through REACH's elementary and middle schools. "Security is an important concern, but we can't wait until the country is stable," Kazemi said. "Girls grow up; boys grow up. They need education. The money that we spend, the building that we do, if it helps children get educated for even one year, it's worth it."

More information about REACH is available at http://www.reachafghanschools.org.
 

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