The Canadian International Learning Foundation has been chosen as the featured charity at Ottawa Fashion Week, to be held March 24th to 27th at the Ottawa Arts Court. Visit our display to speak with our volunteers, send messages of support to our students, and shop from a range of products – from gourmet coffee to pashminas – to support our programs in Afghanistan, Uganda, and around the world.

Ottawa Fashion Week seeks to create a stronger forum for designers and artists to showcase their brilliant work and quench the thirst of arts lovers in Ottawa. Designers from across the country and around the world will showcase their collections. The nation’s capital will witness cutting edge fashion and style, and will have the opportunity to purchase unique pieces, straight off the runway. Doors will open at 5 pm, and runway shows will be held daily at 6 pm, to be followed by a nightly after party.

To learn more, please visit Ottawa Fashion Week at www.ottawafashionweek.ca. Tickets are available for pre-purchase at Ottawa Fashion Week Live. You can also follow Ottawa Fashion Week updates on twitter at @OFW_LIVE.

For further information, please contact us by e-mail at staff@canilf.org.

Please join The Free Thinking Film Society at the National Archives (395 Wellington) on March 9th for “Canada and Afghanistan: Keeping Our Promises”, a presentation of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee’s vision for Canada’s re-dedication to the cause of Afghan reconstruction, human rights and democracy, post-2011.

Speakers at this event will include:

• Ehsanullah Ehsan (appearing by video from Afghanistan), Director of the Afghan-Canadian Community Centre in Kandahar City
• Nipa Banerjee, Professor of international development at the University of Ottawa who served as Canada’s head of aid in Kabul for three years
• Nasrine Gross, Afghan-American writer and human rights activist
• Major-General (Ret’d) Lewis Mackenzie, Served in the Canadian Forces for 35 years, including a UN peacekeeping command in Yugoslavia in 1992, he is also an author and media commentator; he was awarded the Order of Canada in 2006
• Dr. Douglas Bland, Chair of the Defence Management Studies Program at the School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University
• Lauryn Oates, Human rights and gender equity activist; CASC senior advisor

After the speeches and panel discussion, there will then be a cocktail reception – which will serve as a fundraiser for Afghan-Canadian Community Center (“The Afghan School Project“) in Kandahar. Canadian International Learning Foundation volunteers will be on hand to meet with you and share some of our students’ stories of studying in Afghanistan.

Please join us for this very important event – and in the process, help Afghan men and women receive life-changing education.

Admission is $30, $15 for students. The event runs from 7:00 to 10:30 pm.

Tickets can no longer be purchased online. However, a limited number of tickets will be available at the door.

Note: If you purchase tickets online, you will not receive a physical ticket. We will keep a list of ticket holders and check photo ID at the door.

Or you can purchase tickets from the following retail outlets:

Ottawa Folklore Centre
1111 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON K1S 3X4
(613) 730-2887

Compact Music
190 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON K2P 1W8
(613) 233-7626

Compact Music
785 1/2 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ont
K1S 3V5
(613) 233-8922

With your support, the Canadian International Learning Foundation (CanILF) can turn $1 into $5,000. How, you ask? By helping us win the CanadaHelps Giving Challenge!

The Challenge will award $5,000 for the charity with the most donations between November 23rd and noon on December 20th.

Donate $1 for the Foundation and you’ll bring us a step closer to winning – and send one of our students in Uganda or Afghanistan to school for two days!

Please donate and invite your friends to do the same – it only takes a dollar! What’s more, just one dollar is enough to help a student in Uganda or Afghanistan to school for two days. Just imagine – if we win, that’s 10,000 days of schooling for students in need!

Are you willing to help us even more? There’s a second category for “most funds raised” – if we can win both categories, we can raise as much as an additional $10,000 to help students in need!

Please click here to donate now!

Can you help us spread the word? See below for tweets, facebook posts, and e-mails that you can send to friends and family to encourage them to get involved. Thanks for your help – let’s make every dollar count!

Want to see how we’re doing? Click here to check out the results.

Sample E-mail

Subject: Donate $1 to help CanILF win the CanadaHelps Giving Challenge

Hello,

I’m a supporter of the Canadian International Learning Foundation (CanILF), a grassroots registered Canadian charity which helps to provide and promote education in Afghanistan, Uganda and other developing countries. They are a volunteer-run charity and all donations go directly toward student scholarships and educational equipment, unless donors request otherwise.

The Foundation is taking part in the CanadaHelps Giving Challenge, and is eligible to win up to $10,000 depending on the number and amount of donations they can raise within the next month. They have a real shot at winning both prizes, but need our help to do so.

All you need to do is donate $1, and you’ll bring us one step closer to winning at least one of the categories – and bringing in $5,000 toward a great cause. Your $1 donation is also enough to send a student in Uganda or Afghanistan to school for two days. They accept both credit card and Interac. Please click here to donate: http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=5791

For more information, please visit the Foundation at www.canilf.org. I’d be glad to answer any questions you may have, or you can write to CanILF President Ryan Aldred at staff@canilf.org.

Thanks!

Facebook Post

Link: http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=5791

“Your $1 donation will help a grassroots international education charity win a $5000 award — plus it’s enough to send a student in Uganda or Afghanistan to school for two days! (which is way, way cooler than what a chocolate bar can do). It’s an awesome charity and nice way to give overseas without worrying where the money really goes. Please give – and help spread the word!”

Tweet

RT @CanILF Donate $1 to help us win $5K in the Canada Helps Giving Challenge! $1 = 2 days of school! (Debit accepted!) http://act.ly/R1he

CanILF NR-0901 November 2, 2009 OTTAWA - Despite recent insecurity, more than two hundred students at the Afghan-Canadian Community Center (ACCC) in Kandahar, Afghanistan graduated on November 2, 2009 from a professional education program funded largely by the Canadian International Development Agency.

“Through the education and support provided by the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, the Government of Canada and the Canadian people, the Center has given us hope for a better future,” said Class Valedictorian Bibi Zhilla, “Now it is our responsibility to share this precious gift with others in  need.”

The ACCC provides professional education to approximately 1,000 students in Kandahar, more than half of them women. A group of 30 students have had the opportunity to study Business Management with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) via the Internet.

ACCC Director Ehsanullah Ehsan travelled to Calgary to receive an honourary degree from SAIT in June 2009. ACCC students had planned to accompany Ehsan during the trip, but were unable to do so for security reasons. This group of students received graduation certificates from SAIT during this ceremony.

The ACCC was founded by Ehsan in early 2007 with the support of the Afghan School Project, which sponsors student scholarships and provides the Center with educational equipment, such as computers and textbooks.

The Project is managed by the Canadian International Learning Foundation (CanILF), a registered Canadian charity. The Foundation also provides Canadians with the opportunity to communicate with students in Kandahar via www.theafghanschool.org and an online Pen Pal program.

“We are incredibly proud of what our students have achieved under such difficult circumstances,” said Ryan Aldred, President of CanILF, “With the assistance of the Government of Canada, we have helped the people of Kandahar to create a vibrant and thriving school which has made a lasting difference in the lives of thousands of people.”

Several hundred students and graduates of the Afghan-Canadian Community Center have obtained long-term employment with local businesses and international organizations. On average, each employed student provides economic support to more than seven family members.

-30-

Notes to the editor: Further details regarding the Afghan-Canadian Community Center (ACCC) are available online at www.theafghanschool.org. Photos of the ACCC and its students are available at www.canilf.org/gallery/. A link to video footage from the ACCC is available upon request. Further information regarding the Canadian International Learning Foundation is available at www.canilf.org.

For more information, please contact Ryan Aldred, President of the Canadian International Learning Foundation at 613-614-5349 or e-mail staff@canilf.org.

Interested in donating to a worthwhile cause, but want to know where your money’s going? Looking for that perfect wedding, birthday or holiday gift, but want to get something special? Is your school or class looking for a worthwhile social justice project? Sponsor a student from the Afghan-Canadian Community Center (ACCC) through our Adopt-a-Student Program!

For between $10 to $20 per month (depending on the student’s program), you can provide a scholarship to a specific student at the ACCC in Kandahar, whom you can learn about through their student profile. Your support will provide the life-changing gift of education to a student in need and help make a real and lasting difference in Afghanistan.

Adopt-a-Student also makes a great gift. Just let us know that you would like to receive a gift package, and we will prepare a package that includes a personalized letter from the Learning Foundation, a student profile, and information regarding the Afghan-Canadian Community Center and the Canadian International Learning Foundation. What’s more, all donations over $20 are eligible for tax receipts.

If your class or school is looking for a social justice project, adopting a student at the ACCC is the perfect place to start. Your students will be able to communicate with the Afghan student whose education they are helping to fund. This will give your students a new appreciation for their own education and inspire your adopted student to repay your gift by making a lasting contribution to her community and the future of Afghanistan.

The education provided by the Afghan-Canadian Community Center has helped hundreds of students and graduates obtain valuable employment and each employed ACCC student provides economic support to seven members of their immediate and extended family. We need your help to offer this life-changing opportunity to students in Kandahar.

To Adopt-a-Student, please contact us by e-mail at staff@theafghanschool.org or by phone at (613) 614-5349. 100% of all donations made via the Adopt a Student program go directly to funding scholarships at the ACCC.