News / Press Coverage

COLORADO NGO, MOUNTAIN2MOUNTAIN, SECURES FIVE-ACRE LAND DONATION FROM AFGHAN PRESIDENT HAMID KARZAI - PARTNERS WITH INNOVIDA

Construction Begins on School for the Deaf in Kabul

Source: - Tuesday, June 22, 2010

 

June 22, 2010 11:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time

DENVER–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–Mountain2Mountain (M2M), a Colorado based nonprofit, announced today that it has received a five-acre donation of land from the government of Afghanistan to build a school for the deaf in Kabul. M2M will partner with two private companies to construct the school: International Home Finance and Development, LLC (IHFD), also based in Denver, and InnoVida, a global manufacturer that provides energy-efficient housing and infrastructure in underdeveloped countries and disaster zones. Mountain2Mountain is an NGO that works to create education and opportunity for women and girls in conflict regions.

IHFD and InnoVida have established a joint venture to promote structural composite panels for construction of environmentally sound and affordable homes in Afghanistan. This joint venture will provide materials, plans and construction supervision for Phase One construction of a primary school, a combined in-kind donation of more than $200,000. Quality Management Construction (QMC), an Afghan firm, will partner with IHFD to provide project management services. When complete, the facility will house primary and secondary schools that will serve 800 students, a teacher-training center, the headquarters of the Afghan National Association for the Deaf (ANAD) and a farm to provide vocational training in agriculture for the deaf. The goal is to train enough teachers to open additional schools in more remote parts of the country.

On making the donation, Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed pride in the project as an example of a sustainable effort to move Afghanistan forward and asked M2M donors to participate in building the school. “The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has donated this piece of land to the deaf for building a school and a training center in order to have betterment in their future and asks donors to assist in building this facility and education center,” he said.

To complete the project, M2M must raise $400,000 for construction of a perimeter security wall, the Phase Two secondary school, and plumbing, electricity and furnishings to finish the primary school. Both schools must be completed before teachers and students can occupy the facility.

IHFD will front the money and materials to build the security wall. Construction of the wall will begin this week. The wall will be made of GeoBricks manufactured by IHDF. GeoBricks are tongue-and-groove compressed soil bricks that do not require mortar and have a high insulation rating. They are stronger and less expensive than traditional kiln-fired bricks. GeoBricks can be manufactured on site using the GreenMachine®, a rugged, one-ton, mobile machine developed in the United States and licensed to IHFD in Afghanistan. Unskilled Afghan labor can be used to manufacture GeoBricks and erect the wall, bringing jobs to the community.

“We are excited about participating in a project that has such broad implications for the people of Afghanistan. This effort not only serves the deaf community in Afghanistan, which has been tragically ignored for years, but it also creates jobs for men and women alike and brings environmentally friendly, cost-effective building technologies to the developing world," said Rafaat Ludin, the Afghanistan-born CEO of IHFD.

"Deaf children around the world deserve the same access to education as their hearing counterparts. That is no different in Afghanistan," said Shannon Galpin, Founder and President of Mountain2Mountain. "In a country that struggles to provide adequate access to mainstream education, the deaf are beyond the fringes," she added.
Afghanistan has a higher prevalence of deaf people due to several factors including a lack of preventative services and vaccinations; the high rate of complications during childbirth; inter-marriage, especially in rural areas; and injury from bombs, mines, trauma, and torture.

About Mountain2Mountain
Shannon Galpin founded Mountain2Mountain in November 2006. Inspired by becoming a mother, Shannon took action on her deep conviction that all women and girls deserve the same rights and opportunities as her own daughter. Today, M2M is a burgeoning nonprofit that has touched the lives of hundreds of men, women and children in Afghanistan. M2M has launched projects across the war-torn country to create opportunities that were unimaginable ten years ago. Current initiatives focus on girls’ education, rural midwifery, women’s prisons and the deaf community. Mountain2Mountain believes education is an entry point for community growth and change and works to implement cyclical programs that include training, job creation and microfinance. In 2009, Shannon became the first woman to ride a mountain bike in Afghanistan. She will repeat her groundbreaking ride this fall. www.mountain2mountain.org

About International Home Finance and Development, LLC
IHFD exclusively operates in emerging markets, with strong emphasis on south and central Asia. IHFD's main areas of focus are renewable energy, green construction technologies, housing development and finance, and construction and construction management. The company’s flagship project is the development of a 10,000-unit housing project in Kabul where IHFD is helping to meet the more than one million unit housing shortage in Afghanistan. www.ihfd.com

About InnoVida
InnoVida™ is a global corporation with current operations in the USA, Germany, Middle East, Africa, India, China and South America. InnoVida manufactures building solutions that bridge the gap between energy efficiency, affordability and high quality. InnoVida's proprietary materials and construction processes allow for rapid construction of durable, affordable, sustainable and energy-efficient buildings with minimized environmental impact. www.innovida.com

About Quality Management Construction (QMC)
QMC is a professionally managed Afghan firm offering project management, quality control and financing solutions to construction contractors, developers, local builders and international agencies operating throughout Afghanistan. www.qmc.af

About Afghan National Association for the Deaf
Established in 2001, the Afghan National Association for the Deaf provides hearing-impaired children and adults in Kabul with services that allow them active participation in social, political, economic and cultural life. Recently, the ANAD developed the first Afghan Sign Language Dictionary with 2,000 words; the team is in the process of doubling the edition.