The Each One Teach Some-Training Leaders for Tomorrow (EOTS-TLT) program evolved as a need-based response in 2011 in Herat Province, Afghanistan. The graduates of the JRS English language program were trained at the Advanced level of English and in Leadership. The most motivated and competent were selected as teachers for the EOTS-TLT volunteer program to teach 25-30 children in their neighbourhood. The EOTS-TLT program has proved very successful in catalyzing social commitment and providing education to the children & youth in scattered settlements in Afghanistan, where JRS operates. The EOTS-TLT program transcended a routine academic education for the children & youth in the forcibly displaced communities through early childhood development (ECD) activities, vocational skills, Child Protection initiatives as well as recreational activities.

“Our elders underestimated our abilities to bring change in the community, but the EOTS program boosted my confidence as a volunteer and made me believe that I can be an agent of change to build social relationships and commit to serving my own community through the futsal sports initiative. It also contributed to my all-round development and boosted my self-confidence.,” states Faisal, a futsal volunteer in Herat.

The need of the EOTS-TLT program can be understood in the context of literacy rates in Afghanistan. Afghanistan estimates that there are eight million people in need of education assistance in 2024. The policies on girls’ access to education compound this issue, creating a gender disparity in educational opportunities. The shortage of qualified teachers, especially female, and the high student-teacher ratio are significant concerns that undermine the effectiveness of education. Despite developed policies, less than 1% children out of 6 million have access to Early Childhood Development (ECD) education.

Responding to the great need, JRS strives to maximize access to quality education. By replicating the EOTS-TLT program amidst the forcibly displaced of Herat, and Kabul provices, JRS has been able to reach out to disadvantaged children, especially girls, thus helping to reduce the large gender disparity in access to education and lifeskills. Various trained EOTS-TLT volunteers  provide safe spaces within available infrastructures, enhancing capabilities of the children & youth and their own too.

Over the years, several EOTS-TLT volunteers have formed youth groups to address local social issues in their communities. These groups are also engaged in promoting messages of child protection and care for the environment. Ripples of the transformation spread through their communities, as Gul Jahan, a young ECD volunteer, witnesses, “The EOTS program has taught me to help others live their dreams to bring positive change in society. The resilience of the children at the ECD classes provide me hope to bring about positive change within the society through my contribution towards their foundational development.” With gratefulness for the JRS accompaniment for providing the opportunity of learning and volunteering, she recollects sadly, “Before the EOTS interventions in our settlement, many of the female youth like me were being referred to a psychologist for depression and we were prescribed medicines, but our engagement in the capacity building programs have released us from the chains of those bondages and enabled us to contribute towards the well-being of our community.”

The Skilling Circles of Afghanistan is a culture -conscious, craft collective of mothers, daughters, sisters & wives. The women stay rooted, they receive fair-wage for their hand crafting skills & they run the collective themselves. The EOTS initiative has found its space among the vocational skill training, promoting traditional style of learning from grand mother to mother to daughter, while empowering and enabling them. As Sayeda an embroidery volunteer says, “I was a shy girl who never believed in herself. I remember my first embroidery project – a simple flower design. It felt magical to see my creation come to life. My skills blossomed. Embroidery has not only changed my life but has also given me a voice, which I transmit to the others through volunteerism.”

JRS, working with committed local staff, has thus contributed its mite to the  efforts of the numerous individuals and groups by supporting internally displaced communities to work for greater self-reliance through effective mobilization and use of resources, and for good governance and employment opportunities for all through vibrant youth volunteer groups.