Volunteerism (a State Dept./IIP webpage) Initiative to Educate Afghan Women webpage

22 May 2006

(First lady honors graduating college seniors for their volunteer spirit)

Washington -- First lady Laura Bush described America’s graduating college class of 2006 as "more than any other generation of Americans… tasked with resolving challenges that lie far beyond your doorstep."

Speaking May 20 at the commencement exercises at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, Mrs. Bush honored students for their volunteer efforts. She also singled out three graduates earning their degrees through the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women.

Founded by Paula Nirschel, wife of Roger Williams President Roy Nirschel, the initiative offers four-year scholarships to Afghan women of proven academic achievement. In addition to their studies, students tour the United States during semester breaks and spend summers in Afghanistan working on reconstruction projects.

In 2006, the Initiative funded the studies of 20 Afghan women at 12 U.S. universities.

Three Initiative participants received their bachelor's degrees from Roger Williams at the May 20 ceremony, all with academic honors. None would have received an education under the Taliban regime that ruled over much of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. All will pursue graduate studies in public policy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

One graduate recalled teaching herself rudimentary English from the newspapers used to wrap store purchases. Another's family left Afghanistan for Pakistan, where their daughter could attend school.

One student explained how educating women benefits an entire society: "It's not just one woman who learns -- it's her children, her husband, her entire extended family."

Mrs. Bush agreed. "By educating promising young Afghan women in American colleges, the initiative is making sure Afghanistan's future leaders will extend the freedom and opportunity in their new democracy to all Afghans, including women and girls," she said.

Mrs. Bush quoted a graduating senior who accepted a commission in the U.S. Army. Sharing a classroom with his Afghan classmate and learning of her experiences "made me more determined to help spread freedom. I could see the benefits of ending tyranny," he said.

The first lady noted the wide variety of charitable and volunteer activities performed by Roger Williams students. Some work for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that employs volunteer labor to construct "simple, decent, and affordable" housing. Others have taught in poor Appalachian communities and tutored Rhode Island children.

Mrs. Bush described how a group of Muslim and Christian Roger Williams students -- hailing from India, Morocco, Jordan and the United States -- traveled to New Orleans, where they rebuilt an elderly woman's house that had been destroyed during the hurricanes of 2005.

"Everything else falls away," Mrs. Bush quoted one of the volunteers. "Our differences of religion, culture, country of origin, fade into the background."

Roger Williams University is a private, co-educational liberal arts college founded in 1956 and named for Roger Williams, the theologian who founded the Providence colony that became Rhode Island. The colony was established to secure the principles of religious liberty and a separation between civil and ecclesiastical authority. The colony abolished slavery in 1652, the first North American jurisdiction to do so.

For more information on U.S. programs and policies, see Volunteerism.

More information on the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women is available on its Web site.