Law Student Abbee Mortensen, Professor Bill Chin Teach Afghan Women

Over the summer, Lewis & Clark Law student, Abbee Mortensen, received the opportunity of a lifetime, working as a Teaching Assistant with Professor Bill Chin. The two partnered on a class called Legal Reasoning and Writing, exclusively offered to Afghan women through a nonprofit called Afghan Female Student Outreach (AFSO).

AFSO seeks to “return Afghan women to intellectual and professional life by way of real-time, synchronous distance learning.” These women range from high school graduates to master’s students, all having the common goal of still receiving an education, even under the threat of Taliban force. “There is a huge demand from women to join AFSO courses,” Abbee explained, “but [opportunities are] limited by the funding to provide cell phone data because of the internet access barrier most of the students face.” Despite their surrounding circumstances, AFSO students show incredible perseverance, with 80% of students having improved their English ability in their first year with the program, and 2 dozen students passing English language exams with the support of the organization. Classes with AFSO fall into categories that range from English, Writing, and Literature, to Humanities and Social Sciences, to Math and Science, with a number of enrollment options in each sector.

Abbee and Professor Chin’s class paved the way for AFSO students to learn the ins and outs of legal research online, read and brief court cases, and apply the cases to a hypothetical client’s situation by writing a short legal memo to a “supervising attorney.” Professor Chin worked in partnership with Abbee, stating that “Abbee was an invaluable class partner who helped our AFSO students understand the class requirements, addressed their technical problems, answered their questions about the U.S. legal system, and mentored them throughout the course.” For Abbee’s part, this experience was a truly life-changing one. “I’m having a hard time finding the words to talk about [it],” she said, “It was positive and meaningful…. The students face incredible challenges and show resilience in their dedication to their education.”