Dupree Foundation Recent News:

GIVE TODAY TO DOUBLE YOUR GIFT!

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:47:12 -0600

Support Education and Literacy in Afghanistan today!

Now is an especially good time to support the important work -- one book at a time -- of the Louis and Nancy Hatch Dupree Foundation for the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University.

For every $1 you give today, an anonymous donor will give an additional $1, up to a total of $35,000 -- doubling the impact of your gift!

Donations to the Dupree Foundation provide direct support of ACKU's programs in Afghanistan -- and can help expand the horizons for Afghans.

Act now -- our matching gift campaign ends December 31, 2011. Please visit http://www.dupreefoundation.org/donate.htm to give donate today.

Abdul Waheed Wafa joins ACKU as first Executive Director

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:43:51 -0600

Abdul Waheed Wafa joined the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University as its first Executive Director on October 1, 2011.

A native of Kabul, Afghanistan, Waheed from 2001 until present was a Kabul-based reporter for The New York Times and helped run its bureau there. He is described by former colleague David Rohde as "the heart and soul of The New York Times bureau in Kabul for the last 10 years. More than any other Afghan, he made us optimistic about the country's future."

From 2010-11, he was a Neiman Foundation Fellow at Harvard University where he studied leadership, democracy and communications. Waheed earned his LLB at Kabul University and attended high school in Kabul.

Waheed is working closely with founder Nancy Hatch Dupree. Nancy says, "Waheed and I are mapping out strategic steps ACKU must take in order to move us dynamically into the future. I am grateful for his keen mind, insights and dedication."

Nancy Hatch Dupree is Scone Foundation's Archivist of the Year

Fri, 13 May 2011 11:31:23 -0500

At an event at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York on May 9, Nancy Hatch Dupree was named the Scone Foundation's Archivist of the Year. Attendees of the event enjoyed hearing Nancy talk about art, culture and history of Afghanistan from the Paleolithic period through present day, and the role that ACKU plays in preserving Afghanistan's history.

Speakers included playwright Tony Kushner and New York Times journalist David Rohde.

Raising the Roof on ACKU

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:28:19 -0600

Snow came late to Kabul this year, giving construction workers a few extra weeks to work on the structure of the ACKU's new building.

On December 20, cement began to be poured for the angled roof on the new ACKU building. Because of the roof's steep slope, measurements had to be scrutinized and reviews of the design had to carefully considered before the cement was poured.

One of the carpenters, Khairat, was awarded a prize in recognition of his careful attention to detail. Khairat received his award during a luncheon given by Engineer Rafiq and which attended by members of the Ministry of Higher Education, Kabul University, ACKU and all the workmen.

New ABLE Book Series Hits the Shelves

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:22:05 -0600

Several new titles joined the shelves of the ACKU Box Library Extension Project (ABLE) in 2010.

ABLE produced a series of six new books: Forests and Water Sources in Afghanistan (pictured below); School: A Locality of Perfection and Courtesy; Filtration on Fruit and Reduction of Quality and Taste; Provincial Council: The Path to Success of National Mobilization; Sheep Husbandry in Afghanistan (pictured below); and Gemstones Economy in Afghanistan.

Mary Anne Schwalbe Memorial Book Series on Women and Children

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:18:31 -0600

As a memorial to our Founding Chair Mary Anne Schwalbe, the Dupree Foundation Board of Directors funded the publication of a series of books about issues pertinent to women and children in Afghanistan.

The following books, written in Dari and Pashto, were published and distributed in 2010: Causes of Mortality of Mother and Child in Afghanistan; Nourishment and Education from Birth to School-Age (pictured below); and A Glance at Cultural Identity of Women in Afghanistan.

Estonian Foreign Minister Visits ACKU

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:09:01 -0600

On January 10, the Foreign Minister of Estonia, Mr. Umas Paet, visited Kabul University and ACKU. He enjoyed chatting with students in the Reading Room and was pleased to see the display of ABLE books funded by the Government of Estonia. Mr. Paet offered encouragement to staff and complimented ACKU on its extensive collections. The Dupree Foundation and ACKU are very grateful for the ongoing support of the Government of Estonian.

ACKU Signs US$2.4 Million Contract with USAID

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:06:26 -0600

In August, ACKU signed an agreement to with US Agency for International Development (USAID) to fund general operations for three years. The contract, which totals US$2.4 million, is subcontracted through The Asia Foundation.

The USAID funding came about thanks to the timely assistance of Advisory Council Member John Gastright, who arranged our joint reception with the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce on Capitol Hill in September 2009 which featured Nancy Dupree.
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Not surprisingly, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was impressed with Nancy and her work. Within days of the joint reception, Dupree Foundation Board members John Dixon, Sarah O'Hagan and Ashraf Haidari met with Henry Ensher and David Jea at the State Department to discuss possibilities for support from the US government. The Foundation then drafted an initial proposal and budget that was revised and negotiated by ACKU over the course of the past year.

As noted above, the USAID funds will provide vital support for ACKU operations for the next three years. However, many important programs such the digitization of the collection as well as ABLE, our mobile library program, fall outside of the grant.

Your support continues to make a crucial difference in our ability to help preserve the history and culture of Afghanistan, rebuilding the country one book at a time.

The Asia Foundation Delegation Visits ACKU

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:59:43 -0600

by Ambassador Theodore L. Eliot, Jr.

I had a wonderful visit in September to ACKU, accompanied by David Arnold, currently President of the American University of Cairo who became President of The Asia Foundation on January 1, 2011. Also with me was Gina Chu, like me an Asia Foundation trustee, and Jon Summers and Richard Smith, past and present Asia Foundation Representatives in Kabul. We saw both the building site and the temporary ACKU rooms in the University complex. I must say all of it exceeded my wildest expectations. The collection itself is marvelous, and to see it being digitized was, for me, a dream coming true. The new building will be magnificent, and I think both the architecture and the building materials mean it will be the distinguished building it is meant to be.
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The only downer - and it was a huge one - was that Nancy's plane didn't fly, so she couldn't be there. We had a good talk on the phone, and it was fun to hear her voice, but I sure missed seeing her, as did the rest of our group.

Ambassador Eliot is a Trustee of The Asia Foundation and a Member of Dupree Foundation's Advisory Council. He was the US Ambassador to Afghanistan from 1973-78.

ACKU Receives American Library Association Award

Sun, 06 June 2010 12:01:42 -0600

John Dixon, member of the Dupree Foundation Board of Directors, represented the Afghanistan Centre at the recent American Library Association (ALA) award ceremony at which the Afghanistan Centre was awarded the ALA's Presidential Citation for International Innovation for its ABLE project. See the text of the award below.

The reception for approximately 500 attendees of ALA's annual conference was held on the upper level of the Great Hall, one of Washington's largest and grandest rooms. The Library of Congress website describes the room as having an "elaborately decorated interior, embellished by works of art from nearly fifty American painters and sculptors, link[ing] the United States to classical traditions of learning and simultaneously flex[ing] American cultural and technological muscle." A perfect location to acknowledge ACKU's work to preserve Afghan culture and promote literacy!

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Dr. James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, was the guest speaker; the award was presented by ALA President Dr. Camila Alire.

2010 ALA Presidential Citation Awardees (l to r): Mr. Erick Toussaint, The Fondation Connaissance et Liberté/Fondasyon Konesans Ak Libète (FOKAL) Haiti Community Libraries Initiative; Dr. Anne Weeks, International Children's Digital Library (seated); Mr. John Dixon, Dupree Foundation/ACKU; Dr. James Billington, Librarian of Congress (seated); Mr. Bingsi Fan and Mr. Yulin Yang, The Library Society of China's National Library Volunteering Project; Dr. John Van Oudenaren, World Digital Library

photo credit: Joan Weeks, American Library Association IRRT International Reception Committee Chair

For circulating more than 123,750 books through mobile libraries it has established in 32 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces;
For strengthening literacy efforts by publishing books written in the Afghan languages of Dari and Pashto aimed at the country's many new readers;
For its leadership in creating and supplying educational materials that use local authors and illustrators and that reflect the information needs of the country;
For preserving Afghan culture and history;
For helping to re-establish libraries as cultural and educational resources in a country whose library collections have been decimated by war and poverty.

Washington, DC June 28,2010
Camila Alire, President, American Library Association