October 2007,

Darya recently started a new project called “Street Accounts” or “Hesaab-e Kochah” in order to raise awareness within Afghan and non-Afghan communities in order to help lowering child labour in Afghanistan as much as possible and to give these children a chance to go to school.

The “Street Accounts” project of the Kochah Organization is a non-profit entity promoting education for street children. The project seeks sponsors and encourages individuals and/or groups to support under-privileged families and education of their children, who are compelled to endeavour in income earning activities on the street. The main goal of the Street Accounts project is to create education opportunity for street children and send them to school. The overall mission of Kochah is to help improve living conditions of children regardless of their ethnic background, language, religion and gender.

Recently the Street Accounts project of Kochah opened 2000 bank accounts for two thousand marginalized female headed families in Kabul. All the account holders are women who lost their husbands during wars. In order to effectively implement the project, Kochah collaborates with the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs (MoLSA), Ministry of Education (MoE) and Kabul Bank.

Outcomes:

1. Increase school attendance of under-privileged children
2. Reduce child labour (specially street children)
3. Provide financial support to under-privileged families

Project specification:

- $50 US dollar per month or $600 US dollar per year.

- Minimum of three-year-sponsorship is required.

- Only mother of the families have access to these accounts.

- All the funding from Individual supporters will go directly to beneficiaries with 0% overhead.

- No administration cost would get cut from the individual supporters’ funding.

- “Street Accounts” and all other Kochah projects are baby projects of “Music Village”, none for profit organization based in Kabul.

- Sponsors’ fund is tax deductible.

- The “Music Village” Organization is committed to provide sponsorship for these families and the families are committed to send a child to school.

To sponsor a child, please contact the Kochah team on which contact information is provided below and a Kochah representative will contact you asap.

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KOCHAH TV PROGRAM

Kochah (Street) started off as a TV program broadcasted on Afghanistans National TV in Februari 2006.

Darya initiated a large project called “Kochah” to attract the attention of society and the government to the orphans and the street children involved in labour who have always suffered. Kochah defines a fresh concept and awareness among different social classes with the objective to reconsider the destiny of the vulnerable children of Afghanistan; especially the street and under aged working children who are the victims of more than 2 decades of wars, social and cultural strife in Afghanistan.

In reality, Darya’s intention is to create a new way of thinking and consciousness in society. He donated a significant amount raised from the sale of his DVD Kochah to the Institution of Afghan Writers. Darya’s donation will be used to build a library within the institution and will be named “Darya Library”.

Based on his relentless efforts to attract world attention to helping the needy, vulnerable children of Afghanistan, as well as his latest TV Show Kochah, the Commission of Human Rights awarded Farhad Darya the Human Rights Award.