Last week, one of our Field Representatives, Toby Bonthrone, signed a contract with the NGO, Afghan Rural Empowerment and Support Organization (ARESO). ARESO will be the training provider for our stonemasonry skills project in an important sub-district of Kandahar City.

We previously worked with ARESO on our masonry pilot project in the Arghandab River Valley, and were very impressed with the quality of training and the high level of accountability this NGO offers. The latter is particularly important for us, so that we can be fully confident that not a penny of your donations will be wasted in the upcoming training. Spirit of America's unique position allows us to cut out the middlemen that are so prevalent in the Afghan development sector. We were also able to negotiate the project costs to the point that we will provide fair wages for all participants, without overpaying and thereby distorting the local job market and economy.

Field Rep. Toby Bonthrone & a representative of ARESO signing the contract

The stonemasonry training program will build on the Arghandab pilot program, expanding the number of trainees by 50%, and more than doubling the number of training days. This will allow the trainees to learn further skills that are useful across the more urban Kandahar City area. In the words of one of our military partners, the location for the training

"is one of the most kinetic, poor and rural areas of the municipality of Kandahar City and serves as a rat line for insurgents into the city. Residents of the sub-district have little interaction with the government, are firmly 'on the fence' and haven't decided to support the government over the insurgency as they see little benefit to siding with the government."

Residents are mostly poor farmers, who every year face the rainy season with trepidation as the infrastructure is poor and flooding is common. Training locals in how to rebuild their own infrastructure, will not only improve their ability to prevent flooding but also provide them with important vocational training that can increase their ability to be employed by Afghan companies."

Spirit of America's assistance arose because funding to start a series of vocational training projects would not be available until after the beginning of the fighting season:

"There is an urgent need to implement the training program as soon as possible with the impending start of the spring fighting season. Sub District 8 has traditionally been a focal point for insurgent recruitment, so it is imperative to provide fighting aged males in this area with legitimate job skills."

We stepped in because we also believe in the need to provide legitimate job skills to communities "on the fence", because it was clear that other funding was not forthcoming in time, and because our project will act as the vanguard for a significant number of other vocational training programs in the sub-district. Thus, the military will build on the momentum our program will create. While thirty trainees may seem like a small number, many more trainees will follow through military-funded programs.

Training will begin in the near future. As mentioned in our original post about this project, it is the first step in a key initiative of our military and civilian partners towards stabilizing the important sub-district, by offering unemployed and underemployed man the opportunity to make a long-term living independently of insurgent influence. I am proud that Spirit of America keeps pushing further in terms of long-term impact on the population of Afghanistan. We are a small organization, but we do our utmost to maximize our impact on the population, and our utility to our partners in the United States military, the Department of State, and the Agency for International Development.

The military voiced their need for this project because it will "take them off the battlefield and give them needed skills that will build their community and provide them with tools that are in high demand in Kandahar." 

Jim Hake
CEO & Founder