Kids of Kabul (14 page)

We try to keep the neighborhood clean. We go door to door and tell people not to throw their garbage into the streets because that brings rats and flies and those things are not good for children.

I would like all the streets in Kabul to be cleaner. Many of us have to walk a long way to come to this center every day. The streets are very dusty and lots of children become sick from the dust. I would like to know how we can fix this problem.

There are a lot of people who come to this center, all ages. Ladies come here who are widows, and they learn how to read and make pickles to sell. There is a room upstairs that they use for exercise and games. It’s easy for boys to play games and run around — we can do that anywhere. It’s harder for ladies.

I like that we can work together to solve our problems. Talking helps a lot. We had a public meeting here about the space between parents and children. Children don’t tell their parents about their problems and parents don’t talk to their children. It makes problems worse when we don’t talk.

My favorite part of this center is this library. We have ten shelves of books! Wonderful books, all different books. We need to have different books because we all have different minds. I like books about Afghan history. Some people like books about cooking or poetry or law.

I am happiest when I am in this library. All of our problems can be solved with these books.

Afghanistan will have a good future if the government will help all the people learn to read and if every community could have a good library so they could find solutions and solve their own problems.

About Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a small country that lies between Europe and Asia. It contains mountain ranges, fast-flowing rivers and golden deserts. Its fertile valleys once produced an abundance of fruit, wheat and vegetables.

Throughout history, explorers and traders have passed through Afghanistan and tried to control it for their own interests. The country has been more or less continuously at war since 1978, when American-backed fighters opposed the Soviet-supported government. In 1980, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and the war escalated, with the United States backing Afghan freedom fighters, many of whom were warlords. The fighting was fierce, cruel and prolonged.

After the Soviets were defeated in 1989, a civil war erupted, as various groups fought for control of the country. Millions of Afghans became refugees, and many still live in huge camps in Pakistan, Iran and Russia. Many people have spent their whole lives in these camps, and millions of Afghans have been killed, maimed or blinded.

Children looking through rubbish for something they can use.

The Taliban militia, one of the groups that the US and Pakistan once funded, trained and armed, took control of the capital city of Kabul in September 1996. They imposed extremely restrictive laws on girls and women. Schools for girls were closed down, women were no longer allowed to hold jobs, and strict dress codes were enforced. Books were burned, televisions smashed, and music in any form was forbidden.

In the fall of 2001, al-Qaeda, a terrorist group based in Afghanistan and protected by the Taliban, launched attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York City. In response, the United States led a coalition of nations into bombing Afghanistan and drove the Taliban from power. Elections were held and a new government and constitution were set up. A number of schools for boys and girls were opened, and about half of Afghan children now have access to some form of schooling. In some parts of the country, women were allowed back into the work force.

Women and children in a Kabul marketplace.

However, Afghanistan is far from being a nation of peace, for many reasons. The Taliban has returned to fight a very effective guerrilla war against the government and foreign forces. Afghanistan has become a major producer of opium, from which heroin is made. There is a great deal of corruption at all levels of government. Finally, Afghans, like people around the world, are uncomfortable with foreign forces fighting in their country. Struggles for women’s rights continue as well, with girls’ schools being burned and women activists being assassinated.

There are no easy answers for the people of Afghanistan as they face such a difficult situation. Learning more about this beautiful, tragic country and its wonderful people is one small way to try to avoid the many mistakes outsiders have made that have brought Afghans to this difficult time in their history.

For Further Information

Organizations

Afghan Book House

An organization founded by two librarians to promote librarianship, reading and the local publishing of Afghan books.

Afghanistan Youth Center
www.ayc.8m.net

An Afghan youth organization in Kabul.

Afghan Youth Initiative
www.afghanyouth.org

An organization that supports Afghan youth in Kabul.

Aina
www.ainaworld.org

Former publishers of Parvaz, the only children’s magazine in Afghanistan, Aina now works in partnership with Aschiana to provide writing, photojournalism and reading training to Afghan children.

Aschiana Foundation
www.aschiana-foundation.org

An organization that provides food, education, drug counseling, job training and micro-credit to street children.

Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan
www.cw4wafghan.ca

Supports educational opportunities for Afghan women and their families.

International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY)
www.ibby.org

IBBY is working with Afghans to create an Afghan National IBBY section that would house a major center for reading promotion and train Afghans in reading promotion, writing, illustrating and publishing of local children’s books.

Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan
www.littlewomenforlittlewomen.com

Founded by Alaina Podmorow, this kid-run organization raises money for Afghan schools and orphanages. Members produced a book (Through Our Eyes) of their own poetry next to images of girls from an Afghan orphanage. They welcome new members and branches.

Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization
www.necdo.org.af

Provides women, youth and children in Kabul, Ghazni and Jalalabad with health, literacy, vocational, internet, English-language and other educational support.

PARSA
www.afghanistan-parsa.org

Since 1996, PARSA has been working in Afghanistan with war victims, widows, orphans and other disadvantaged people.

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
www.rawa.org

Started in 1977, RAWA advocates political action, runs schools and supports women’s rights.

Shuhada
www.shuhada.org.af

Begun in 1989 by Dr. Sima Samar, Shuhada works to improve health, education and women’s rights in Afghanistan and in the refugee camps.

SOLA School of Leadership Afghanistan
www.sola-afghanistan.org

An NGO that provides educational opportunities to train Afghanistan’s future leaders.

Women for Afghan Women
www.womenforafghanwomen.org

A human rights organization based in New York and Kabul. Recently opened two new Children’s Support Centers where children whose mothers are in prison can live and attend school.

Books

(although written for adults, the following books are suitable for grade 8 and up):

A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan by Nelofer Pazira, Random House, 2005. A filmmaker recounts her life through the many stages of war in Afghanistan.

Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan
by Ann Jones, Metropolitan/Henry Holt, 2006. An American aid worker tells the stories of women in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, and describes how little has changed.

My Forbidden Face — Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman’s Story
by Latifa, Virago, 2002. Writing under a fake name, sixteen-year-old Latifa tells the story of how she survived in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Veiled Threat: The Hidden Power of the Women of Afghanistan
by Sally Armstrong, Penguin, 2002. A Canadian journalist writes about her trips to Afghanistan and the women who have affected her with their stories of survival and resistance.

Women of the Afghan War
by Deborah Ellis, Praeger, 2000. Interviews with Afghan women living in refugee camps in Pakistan and Russia.

Glossary

afghani — The currency of Afghanistan. One Canadian dollar is the rough equivalent of 45 afghanis.

Allah — The Islamic name for God.

al-Qaeda — A network of terrorists who believe in a radical, and un-Islamic, version of Islam.

Buddha — Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of the Buddhist religion, who lived around 400 BC.

burqa — A long tent-like garment worn by women. It covers the entire body and has a narrow mesh screen over the eyes.

chador — A piece of cloth worn by women and girls to cover their hair and shoulders.

Communist — Someone who believes in the philosophy of Communism — that people should contribute according to their individual abilities and receive according to their needs.

Dari — One of the two main languages spoken in Afghanistan.

despot — Someone who holds onto absolute power, often in a brutal way.

djinn — An invisible spirit, a supernatural being.

exiles — Individuals who are banned from living in their native country.

guerrilla — An armed fighter in a small military group.

hafiz (pl. huffaz) — A Muslim who can recite the entire Qur’an from memory.

hashish — A black tar-like substance made from the marijuana plant.

heroin — An illegal, addictive narcotic made from a certain kind of poppy.

insurgents — A group that uses military force to oppose a government.