Article written by Bill Lohmann, and published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

On their first day of class, the students showed up bright and smiling, dressed their best and eager to learn.

Their teacher, Susan Micari, was immediately charmed — though from afar, as the medium was Zoom. Micari was sitting at her computer in the upstairs office of her home in Richmond’s Fan District while the students were half a world away: in Afghanistan, living in a safe house, hiding because the men who run the country have made learning a crime.

“These kids have hope,” Micari thought to herself. “Let’s don’t disappoint them.”

Micari, a board-certified educational therapist, was teaching English as a volunteer through an Afghan charity. She has been working for more than 30 years helping children — from the poorest of the poor to the one percenters — who are stymied by all sorts of learning disabilities and trauma.

Read the full article on the Richmond Times-Dispatch website.