Sarah Fane

Fane’s work as a medical student and doctor in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan and in Afghanistan, during the Russian war and under the Taliban had a profound influence on her life and inspired her to set up Afghan Connection (AC) in 2002. The charity has raised over $6 million and concentrated its work in health, education and sport. It has refurbished clinics and hospitals,funded medical training and vaccination programmes. 36 school constructions for over 40,000 children have been completed and 20 of these have been twinned to schools in the UK in a successful cultural exchange project.

AC is now concentrating its efforts on provision of education to a population of 70,000 in a neglected region of North East Afghanistan. This innovative programme addresses the full suite of issues that keep children from accessing and completing an education. In sport, AC, with the famous MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) as partners, has taken cricket to 22 provinces of Afghanistan, training the first generation of professional cricket coaches; coaching thousands ofgirls and boys and building pitches in schools. Fane has 4 children.