Fareba Miriam examines a domestic sheep. Photo taken in Charikar, Parwan, Afghanistan.

In March 2006, Fareba Miriam became the first woman to enroll in a para-veterinarian training program that USAID is running in Afghanistan. She learned about the training opportunity while teaching geography at a high school in Feyzabad, Badakshan, a northern province of Afghanistan. Fareba is 26, the eldest daughter in a family of 12. Although her family does not raise livestock, many members of her community are dependent on healthy herds and flocks to maintain their livelihoods.