Wali Mohammad Akhtari, 22, has not let modest origins stop him from pursuing his education. The only son of a working class family in the northern province of Jawzjan, his father worked hard and sacrificed to make sure that Wali has the kind of education he never had access to.

Wali graduated from Ibne-yamin High School in Jawzjan province, and received his English Certificate from Modern High Educational Center. Prior to coming to AUAF, he was teaching English to more than 150 students over the course of about two years.

Speaking of his studies, he says, “AUAF has provided more facilities for students than any other university in Afghanistan: scholarships and financial assistance for students, a modern library, internet, dorm facilities, and talented and experienced professors who have good teaching methods. These are the main reasons that caused me to choose AUAF for my education.”

He now works in the AUAF library as an intern. “He’s an extremely good worker,” says Director of the Library, Ms. Ann Marsh. “He’s responsible, dependable, loyal, and I can trust and rely on him.”
Wali is one of the first students to live in the off-campus AUAF dormitory, which opened in early 2008. The dormitory is located on a leafy avenue in the south of Kabul. The dormitory is a member of the building boom that has overtaken Kabul in recent years, featuring huge houses seemingly meant for families of 35 or more. It has three stories with more than ten rooms and a spacious basement. Located in Karte-Char, it is a ten minute drive from campus by car.

Mr. John Howe, interim Student Affairs Coordinator, says: “Dorms can enhance learning. Students can have access to each other easily at any time. Through group study, for example, they can help themselves.”

“It’s great,” says Wali. “It’s not a dorm. It’s more like our own home because it has more facilities than any other dorm in Afghanistan. For example, we have ‘house parents,’ our house is very nice and big, very tight security, transportation, television, 24-hour electricity, and sports equipment.”

As one of the small but rapidly increasing number of students who study, live, work, and play at AUAF, Wali can comfortably offer suggestions to AUAF aimed at benefiting his successors. If Wali was in charge, for instance, his first concern would be scholarships. “I would bring more scholarships for the students in financial need.” As a student outside of Kabul himself, he is also concerned about representation. “I would try to have more students from all over Afghanistan in AUAF, not just from Kabul.”

With only a couple years difference in their age, sisters Sonia and Sofia Ziaee are making their education a family affair.

The petite twosome share a love of fashion, a consistently upbeat attitude, and the same broad grin. Together they enrolled in AUAF’s Foundation Studies Program in January 2008 to help them prepare for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

“For months I looked for a great place for English training,” said the younger sister, Sofia. “To experience an international institute inside Afghanistan is the reason I’m here right now.”

Sonia, the eldest sister, has accumulated over five years of professional experience with international organizations operating in Afghanistan. After enrolling, her experience in dual-language work environments helped her achieve a passing TOEFL score and gain admission to AUAF’s undergraduate program after only one semester of study.

The sisters are not the only students at AUAF who share the same parents. There are at least 15 pairs of siblings currently enrolled in the two “core” programs, Foundation Studies and Undergraduate.

Law is Sonia’s favorite field of study. As law is not yet offered by AUAF as a major, Sonia chose to enroll in business administration. Sofia will choose information technology and computer studies as her major.

Sonia spent her first three years of the elementary school in Kabul. Like 85% of AUAF students, she spent time outside of her country and completed her high school as a refugee in Pakistan.

Her younger sister, Sofia, has followed the opposite pattern: she completed the first five years of her education in Pakistan, and is currently completing grade eleven in Kabul. Sofia is one of the few AUAF students who are studying English while still in high school.

Sonia spent two months in the California and Washington D.C. States in U.S. in 2004 for network training. Experiencing a short-term in American education system motivated Sonia to seek education in an international institution of higher education. She has recently been shortlisted for a full scholarship to Australia, “I think the essay for application form and my GPA are the main factors which have entered my name into that list.”

Speaking of her experience thus far with AUAF, Sonia says, “It is almost a perfect university in comparison to other universities in Afghanistan, and we are completely satisfied with it. However, we think AUAF could plan courses in music, art, and sports, which encourage students to get involved in the community.”
When asked why they applied to AUAF rather than other institutions or universities, Sonia responded, “International standards and method of teaching of this university influenced us to make such decision.”

Dr. Joyce Killen Shah is one of the longest teaching international professors at The American University of Afghanistan (AUAF). In 2006 Dr. Killen Shah and her husband donated money to the American University of Afghanistan Foundation and subsequently met AUAF board of trustees’ member Dr. Jack Maas over lunch in California. When Dr. Killen Shah voiced her interest in visiting the University and working pro bono, Dr. Maas put her in touch with AUAF leadership in the summer of 2006. That summer she began working pro bono both at AUAF and the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education primarily engaged in analysis and drafting project proposals.
Once the undergraduate program began, the university asked Dr. Killen Shah to teach science, one of her professional areas of expertise. She currently teaches Biology, Chemistry, and Physiology. Another area of expertise is Intellectual Property law, in which she is registered to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

In addition to being heavily involved with teaching courses, Dr. Killen Shah also participates in a leadership role in a number of extra-curricular activities at the university. She is the Chair of the AUAF Academic Advising Committee, a member of AUAF’s Faculty Evaluation Retention and Promotion Committee, and Faculty Advisor to the student’s Model United Nations club. Outside of AUAF, Dr. Killen Shah is a Founder of the both The Afghanistan Intellectual Property Association (AIPA) and The Scholars Association Working for Afghanistan Development (SAWAD).

Dr. Killen Shah graduated with her B.S. & M.S. degrees from Ohio State University, and her Ph.D. from Wayne State University Medical School. She has been at AUAF since the summer of 2006, and is the longest serving international employee after AUAF Founder, Dr. Sharif Fayez.