Mobile Libraries in Afghanistan
Naza is a key supporter of Charmaghz Mobile Libraries, a Kabul-based non-profit organization which turns old public buses into mobile libraries.
These libraries provide a space for children to immerse themselves in over 400 books in Dari, Pashto and English, with stories and topics ranging from science, history, nature and storytelling. They also create a safe space for children to think critically, play together, to be themselves and to ask questions, with a librarian, a librarian assistant and a driver on board. The team is equipped to provide educational services to the children and to use activities that can give them mental health support, with special games designed to reduce stress and anxiety. With over 210,000 visits, they are the most visited library in the whole of Afghanistan. Now that so many of the country’s children have no access to a formal education, the learning that the libraries provide has never been so important. For many young girls in Kabul, their library visits are the time they look forward to the most.
