The Team

Dr. Farid Bazger

Dr. Moh. Farid Bazger is Director of Afghan & Middle Eastern Publications for Hoopoe Books, and President of Khatiz Organization for Rehabilitation (KOR). He and the KOR staff are our implementing partners in Kabul.

KOR is a non-profit, non-political NGO registered with the government of Afghanistan (Ministry of Economy). KOR started its activities for Afghan Refugees in Pakistan and Afghans in Afghanistan in 1992, publishing books for universities and children.

KOR is a well-known organization in the field of publication as well as in drug and HIV/AIDS awareness, training and treatment.


Denise Nessel, Ph.D., developed the Teacher Guides for the Books for Afghanistan program in collaboration with Afghan educators from Help the Afghan Children (HTAC), AYNI Education International and its partner in the field, Afghanistan American Friendship Foundation (AAFF), and our Director of Teacher Training in Kabul, Palwasha Salam.

Dr. Nessel is Director of Early Education for The ISHK and senior editor of the Hoopoe Books curriculum. She is an associate of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, where she focuses on teaching reading and writing as thinking processes in grades K-12.

Dr. Nessel has written several books and classroom resources for teachers and a number of articles that have appeared in professional journals. Her most recent publications include the co-authored Thinking Strategies for Student Achievement (Corwin, 2007) and the co-authored Using the Language Experience Approach with English Language Learners (Corwin, 2008). She is currently collaborating on a theory-into-practice book on comprehension.

Dr. Nessel received her B.A. degree in English from Illinois State University, her M.Ed. degree in Reading from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Reading) from the University of Delaware.

Denise Nessel, Ph.D.

Palwasha Salam has degrees in Early Childhood Education from Kabul University and the University of Las Vegas, and is our Director of Teacher Education in Kabul. She helped to develop the curriculum and translates our Hoopoe Books and Teacher Guides into both Dari and Pashto.

Palwasha Salam

KOR-HOOPOE TEACHER TRAINING STAFF

KOR-HOOPOE TEACHER TRAINING STAFF – (front row) Ms. Saliha (Master Trainer), Dr. Farida (Training Coordinator), Palwasha Salam (Director of Teacher Education), Sibghatullah (Master Trainer), Dr. Yaseen Saad (Project Coordinator); (back row) Mohammad Anwar (Master Trainer – in white) with white banner and Jamil (Training Assistant).

Malakzai Rasooli – Printing and Distribution Supervisor

Wahida Ahmadi – Finance and Administration

Shane de Haven – Secretary and Administrative Assistant

Jonathan Russell – Graphic Design and Layout

Mel Raff – Financial Director