Impact

Through direct work with local communities, our programs boost community resilience, address conflict resolution, and foster positive communication as a path to peace and prosperity.  Here are some of our achievements:

• Trained 375+ Provincial Youth Leaders in 25 provinces of Afghanistan to design and implement volunteer community improvement projects, such as environmental clean-up, women's rights, and education for street children.
• Reached 2,500 children in Myanmar in rural villages and monastery schools, through our handwashing show with partner Thukhuma Khayeethe.
• Reached over 100,000 Afghans through voter rights performances in the led-up to the 2014 Afghan federal election.
• Reached 75,000 refugees in 7 refugee camps with uplifting programs during the war in Kosovo.
• Reached 1,455 people in tent camps in Haiti with our shows, and conducted workshops for over 400 women, children, and youth.
• Created the first all-women’s theatre troupes in 4 provinces in Afghanistan, reaching 4,500 women in isolated areas.
• Produced the first-ever US-Afghan theatre collaboration, and hosted the first Afghan theatre group to perform in the US, through our original show, Beyond the Mirror, with Exile Theatre of Kabul
• Reached 11,000 people in slums, schools, urban centers, and villages with a show about children’s rights during our Afghan-Indian-US project. After our program at the Gandhi Smriti Center in India, the number of women enrolled in their vocational programs doubled.  
• Brought 60 Arabs and Jews together to work side by side to create street pageants about peace during our program in Jerusalem.
• Collaborated with more than 50 NGOs working for peace and social improvement on four continents in the last decade.

“Now I believe in myself  and that I am useful to my community.” 
​- Karimah, Afghanistan

A few of our Awards and Honors:

• 2018 Cultural Envoys to India through the US Embassy in Kolkata.
• 1990 MacArthur Award for our innovative cultural programming.
• 5-Star rating on GuideStar, and earned the GuideStar Exchange Seal as a Valued Partner for our commitment to transparency.
• 2003 Award from the Minister of Culture of Afghanistan for revitalizing the theatre arts.
• 2010 Cultural Envoys to Myanmar through the US Embassy in Yangon.
• 2012 Top-Rated Nonprofit Award from GreatNonprofits.
• SNAP Award for community programming in New York City.

                                   
80% of all our funds go directly to our programs.

“I believe that the work of BST will reverberate for years to come.  It is a true expression of working from the heart together with smarts, and that is why I am proud to be a member of their Board of Directors and lifelong friend.” – Mary Dino, Board Member