Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
She arrived in Tajikistan in 2012 as a refugee from Afghanistan. Negara Nazari earned a degree in economics with support from a UNHCR DAFI refugee scholarship. Rather than pursuing a business career, she chose to give back by establishing a school for young Afghan refugees unable to access education.
Starting out with just 20 pupils in 2020, today the Ariana Learning Center (ALC) has over 1,200 young learners enrolled on a pay-what-you-can basis, and has expanded to include local Tajik children as well as Afghans.
She arrived in Tajikistan in 2012 as a refugee from Afghanistan. Negara Nazari earned a degree in economics with support from a UNHCR DAFI refugee scholarship. Rather than pursuing a business career, she chose to give back by establishing a school for young Afghan refugees unable to access education.
Starting out with just 20 pupils in 2020, today the Ariana Learning Center (ALC) has over 1,200 young learners enrolled on a pay-what-you-can basis, and has expanded to include local Tajik children as well as Afghans.
