About us

ECCO is a nonprofit organization, that strives to improve lives through Literacy and Education of children in developing countries.

purpose

Here at ECCO we are committed in our strife towards providing educational resources and opportunities to all children, regardless of ethnicity, age, or gender.

We believe all children deserve the right to proper education and hope to provide a gateway to supporting these youth. As the great poet Ferdousi said, “Abled are those who are knowledgeable”. Building a prosperous
nation is structured on the education of its youth, and we hope to help in this cause, through your support, even if its one pencil at a time.”

HISTORY

The idea of ECCO sparked in the mind of an immigrant middle school student in California. ECCO was officially started in 2016 as a non-profit Organization and gradually expanded its branches in Afghanistan, a country where nearly half of its children do not attend school because of war, widespread poverty, and lack of essential awareness. ECCO strives to build children’s capacity to attend school and equip them with opportunities and fundamental resources to pursue higher education. 
Raising local and international awareness, providing financial help, offering educational scholarships, and providing school supplies, are some of the ways that ECCO helps to transform lives.

Mission

Strengthen and Create opportunities to equip impoverished children to attend school.

Vision

We envision A world where every child gets the opportunity to attend school and pursue higher education.

About Founder

(Maryam Karimi)

Connect with Maryam

I am Maryam Karimi, an undergrad at the University of California Berkeley. I enjoy reading good poetry, taking long walks, drinking tea, and going on adventures in nature. 
I was born and raised in Afghanistan and immigrated to the United States with my family to survive and pursue my Education. Today,  I am living my parents and my generation’s dream here because of all those who supported me along the way. Being deprived of proper Education as a child has only taught me the significance of education and literacy in a community. Since then, for as long as I remember, I have taken every opportunity to promote educational opportunities for impoverished youth and children.
Today, according to the UNICEF database, an estimated 3.7 million children are out-of-school in Afghanistan – 60% of them are girls. Once children do make it, they often receive a lower quality of education because only 48 percent of their teachers have the minimum academic qualifications. I believe that a strong education system is a key to getting more children in school, keeping them there, and helping them to become healthy and responsible citizens.
We started ECCO (Educate a Child for Change Organization) with the mission to provide education for all children of different racial, cultural, religious, and economic backgrounds. We strive to improve the literacy, and economic well-being of Children by providing educational opportunities for girls/ boys and their communities.