This is the first in a series on how contributions to The Japan Times Readers' Fund last year — the 52nd since the campaign started — are being put to use. Readers donated ¥1,191,888 in 2006, which has gone to six groups helping needy people across Asia.
Proceeds from The Japan Times Readers' Fund have helped a Kyoto-based nongovernmental organization improve the lives of women in Afghanistan, giving them opportunities long denied under years of oppressive patriarchy and war.
Thanks in part to ¥229,888 from The Japan Times collection drive, Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development (NICCO) was able to offer women in Herat Province, western Afghanistan, a free course in basic reading and writing of the Dari language, and improved their math and health knowledge.