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Kids4AfghanKids Founder to Receive Alumni Award

Detroit, Michigan—August 30, 2004— Khris Nedam ‘98, third grade teacher, will receive the Marygrove College Distinguished Alumni Award, on Friday, September 17, 7 p.m. She is one of seven alumni being honored. The ceremony will take place in the college’s newly renovated theatre. Marygrove is located at 8425 W. McNichols Road, Detroit, Michigan.

Since her graduation from Marygrove College six years ago, Nedam has done much more than just teach school--she has helped build one.

Armed with a teaching degree and a mastery of French, she taught school in France, Turkey, Afghanistan, and the U. S. In 1998 while she was teaching at Meads Mill Middle School, a contact from Afghanistan shared with her class the condition of the economy, education and family life in Afghanistan. Moved by the account, Nedam and her sixth grade students founded Kids4AfghanKids, a non-profit organization whose goal is to re-establish educational facilities for boys and girls in Afghanistan.

In three years, they had raised enough money to build a six-room schoolhouse in Afghanistan. Approximately 450 students filled the school when it was built. By 2004 over 1,200 students regularly crowd into the tiny building in shifts.

What started as a Northville Public School project became an enterprise with partner schools all across America, including schools in Belgium and France.

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In addition to the school, a medical clinic, bakery/kitchen, guesthouse, orphanage, and the only deep-water well in the valley have been built. More than 250 babies have been born at the clinic.

Several organizations have assisted the building process such as UNICEF and church organizations. The Northville Rotary and Northville Schools worked together to raise $20,000 in four months.

Under the guidance of Nedam, Kids4AfghanKids has received national acclaim and media coverage, including Newsweek and ABC's "20/20 Downtown."

In 2002 the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI, Arlington, Virginia) put Kids4AfghanKids on the top of its list as one of the most reliable humanitarian organizations.

In 2002 Nedam was honored with the Governor's Service Award, and in 2003 she received the Michigan Association of School Board's "Best of the Best" award.

She and her family reside in Northville, Michigan.

The Marygrove College Distinguished Alumni Awards were established in 2002 to recognize and honor alumni of distinction. These awards celebrate the college’s ideals of competence, commitment and compassion. Other recipients are Mary Ellen Hanlon Riordan ’41; Ann Gabriel Kilsdonk, IHM ’45; Elsa Potter ’60; Elizabeth Fischer Richards ’64; Mary Massaron Ross ’82; and Angela Celeste May ’90. ###