Nuristan is among Afghanistan's least accessible provinces, sealed in by theeastern Hindu Kush, where roads close with the snow for months at a time. Itwas the last region of the country outside Islam — Kafiristan to its Muslimneighbors — until Amir Abdur Rahman Khan subdued and converted its people byforce in 1895–96, renaming it Nuristan, Land of Light. That history still sets the terms. Sustained political isolation and socioeconomicmarginalization leaves Nuristani students further behind than their peers in Afghanistan: fewer than a third finish primary school, against 44 percent nationally. University remains all but out of reach. The Nuristan Education Initiative strives to close that gap. The Initiative funds two programs. In the village, mathematics and thesciences, reading and writing are taught in the hours after school closes — ata standard the school day does not reach, and toward an end it does not serve:entry into higher education, a threshold few Nuristanis have crossed. In Kabul,a small cohort undertakes the intensive preparation no institution in theprovince can offer. The Initiative is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation and a501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Gifts are received by the Initiative, andthe board directs them where they are most needed.

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