Circle of Women is a student-run, non-profit organization founded in 2006. We believe that educating young women is a key to promoting social change and prosperity at the grassroots level. We build and support sustainable secondary schools in partnership with local communities to make the classroom more accessible to young women in developing countries. Our mission is to equip girls with self-reliance, knowledge, and increased capacities to both enhance their own lives and to contribute productively to their societies. We believe this is the best way to affect positive, global change. Our first project was the construction of a secondary school for 1200 girls in Afghanistan, where the female literacy rate is only 12% (UNICEF). Our second project was the rehabilitation of a girls' secondary school in Northern Pakistan, where many schools were destroyed after a massive earthquake in 2005.