Established in 1995, I became aware of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) in 1996 when they were still helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. I was very impressed by their grassroots, community-based approach to providing education, training and health services to Afghans, particularly to women and children. AIL actually listened to the Afghans they were working with and provided services that they requested and, in turn, asked for input from the people. In this way, a partnership was formed and the community members had a stake in the project. Since the beginning of their programs in 1996, with a budget of $30,000, AIL has now grown to serve over 350,000 women and children annually in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and has reached over 8 million Afghans since 1996. They are a visionary organization that has provided the basic building blocks for the Afghans themselves to transform their country.