"From Togo to Peru and Egypt to Afghanistan, these women consistently face tremendous barriers in their quest for a better life," says Dr. Jane Benbow, director of CARE’s education program. "Many live in rural communities where the nearest classroom is a day away by donkey. For others with access to a public school, education remains out of reach because the family cannot afford school fees or can only afford to educate one child. Traditionally, that child is a boy. In many cultures, girls are expected to care for younger brothers and sisters and help with household chores.

"Without an education, these girls are left without the skills to make the choices ahead," Benbow says.

Last year alone, CARE helped equip nearly 270,000 children in 25 countries with the basic education vital to help them reach their potential.

Tens of thousands of those students were boys and girls in Afghanistan.

Girls in Afghanistan didn’t have many choices under Taliban rule. Girls older than 8 were forbidden to go to school. Yet, through an innovative project called COPE (Community Organized Primary Education), CARE successfully educated approximately 10,000 girls under the Taliban. These community-based schools provide education for more than 23,000 children in grades 1-6. More than 45 percent of those students are girls. And today, CARE is opening more schools for more students.

One of the COPE students is 12-year-old Marsal.

"I like to be able to read and write," says Marsal. "When I am educated I can use my education to learn about people and myself."

Marsal began attending classes last year when CARE opened a school in her home village of Jelga. Jelga is located in Logar, one of seven provinces in southeastern Afghanistan where CARE operates COPE. Marsal is now in third grade and hopes her education will open up a new road.

Girls and boys practice their multiplication tables in this second-grade class in Jelga village. (CARE/Safiullah Aziz)

"I want to keep learning so I can become president of Afghanistan," says Marsal. "When I become president in the future, I will help my poor people to become better. I’ll make schools and hospitals for my people. I will do my best for women."

It is estimated that only 3 to 4 percent of women in Afghanistan are functionally literate, with only 70 percent of children enrolled in school. The country, wracked by decades of war and a four-year drought, is one of the poorest countries in Asia.

"Education is the most effective way to conquer that poverty," says Ghulam Farooq, a native of Afghanistan and director of CARE’s education program there. "Education changes lives, especially for women and girls. They grow more self-confident, more powerful in the family. They pass on what they learn to their own sons and daughters, raising healthier children and raising the family’s income at the same time."

This process of passing on learning has already begun with Marsal.

"I would like women to continue their education so they can become doctors and engineers, so they can be the same things as men and help the country," says Marsal.

Her parents, Sherifa and Heniatullah, support Marsal's goals.

"My husband and I try very hard to educate our daughters and sons both," says Sherifa. "I want them to know everything, so in the future they can live well and contribute to the future of the country."

CARE works closely and in creative ways with communities to help boys and girls gain a basic education.

"The community must agree to at least a 30 percent enrollment for girls," says Farooq. "CARE trains the teachers and provides essential textbooks and school supplies. The communities themselves pay the teachers’ salaries."

CARE began its school program in Afghanistan on a pilot basis in 1994, with just 1,500 children enrolled in 10 communities. Today 300 communities are involved. There are around 80 districts and thousands of communities where CARE manages other long-term projects; now CARE is seeking funds to expand its activities to these communities, as well as new ones in regions including Hazarajat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Taloquan.

"There has been practically no education available outside major cities, and CARE is working to change that," says Farooq. "There is a great eagerness on the part of the Afghan people to educate their children. No country and no people in the world has a future without education. Education promises more than hope. It brings progress."

Marsal and thousands of girls and boys like her already are showing that promise.