Khowst Afghanistan School Situation from Major B

April 24, 2006

The letter and pictures are from a soldier from Tulsa who is currently in Afghanistan and is in need of some school supplies. If you are interested in donating anything, e-mail me & I will get them off ASAP! Please click on the link to read the story behind the request and for pictures



What’s the outcome of getting school supplies to us out in Khowst?

Yesterday, our chief of security asked me if some visitors from the town could talk to me, some teachers and headmaster of a school nearby.

They had been waiting for a good time to talk to me and their school semester had just started. I could only spend a few minutes with them. They said they felt embarrassed to have to ask for help and did not want to overwhelm me with requests. I told them since they were so close to me, perhaps it would be better to see the school and assess for myself.

Let me tell you about my visit today at the school right outside of our camp. I took the Navy Seabees as security who had some school supplies sent to them. I came early, and the headmaster was already waiting for me in anticipation. Before the days of the Taliban, both boys and girls went to school together. The Taliban shot up the combined primary and high school. The headmaster also informs me of several outlaying “classrooms” in the hinter lands of this agricultural community.

The boys high school grades 7 – 12 are in 10 tents donated by UNICEF on a cleared lot. There is nothing else on this lot but tents. The boys sit on the ground crossed legged while the teacher instructs on a cardboard. The tents are divided by grade. There is no fencing, no well, no food and there are two shifts of school times morning and afternoon. The grades did not depend on age. If you were 7 or 8 when you started school in first grade – that’s the grade you’re in. This was true for both girls and boys.

The girls school only run up to 6th grade. The headmaster is trying to get girls to attend past the 7th grade but in this culture, they are needed at home to tend to animals and household chores (carry wood, water, etc). So the primary school is located with the Girls school. The girls attend in the morning and boys primary attend in the afternoon. There are very few desks and chairs, girls sit in a row on a mat while the teacher instructs at the front of the room, without a desk on a wall with a black square as a chalk board. Some girls are lucky to have backpacks. Some do not, so they wrap their notebooks and what little books they have in a cloth. We saw a girl that used an MRE bag as her knapsack. A lot had no shoes. The teacher has to borrow slivers of chalk from the students. The school has no filing cabinets for papers, and most papers are just stacked up in a corner. Windows are broken, dirt floors and no air conditioning.

When I walked in to the 5th grade class room, the girls stood up. I greeted them with Salaam Malakum. They responded with Malakum Salaam in unison. I asked Tha Tsanga ye? They responded with Za Kayam. Through the interpreter I asked the girls if they liked school and their response was enthusiastic. I asked who wanted to be a teacher when they grow up and over half the girls replied. More wanted to be doctors and engineers. This was true at each classroom, at each grade. When the Navy Lt Commander asked to take their picture and brought out a camera, every single girl covered her face with a shawl. Their pretty cheerful faces suddenly became cowered and afraid. Through the interpreter I asked them what they needed at school – one brave little girl stood up and said water. There is no food and water at the school. They have no desk to write on or even something to write in – they keep their notebooks clean as if to last the year. I asked the girls if they knew about our project which was visible from the road.

One brave little girl stood up and said “you’re building an airport”.

What struck me the most was the youngest girls – they were pensive and afraid. I asked the girls if they knew who we were. A girl about five said we were there to take them away. The teacher explained that the girls were afraid of American soldiers. We do look menacing with our body armor, big weapons, Kevlar, and humvee. We wanted to give what little school supplies we had to the headmaster to distribute. He said it would be best if we handed them out to show the girls that we were friendly. One tiny girl cried as I approached her. I had to borrow candy from the teacher to put in my hand to give to her.

So, if you have some school supplies – we could use them. The bright eager yearning to learn minds of future of Afghanistan could use them.

If you notice the picture of the school building – it has missing window panes and bullet holes.

Part 2: We visited another school with the Navy Seabees: this one is a “private school”. The headmaster is wheelchair bound and funds the school with his own money. On the day we visited, his mother was shot and killed. The girls recited a poem to us. The courtyard is the classroom. The girls sit on the ground. This is a private school because older girls (past 6th grade) and women (who never got an education during Taliban times) are taught and the little kids are in co-ed classes. The classroom with the little kids doesn’t even have a blackboard. It was gratifying when each one of us entered the coed class and they all gave us a round of applause. We were not permitted to enter the classroom with the older girls to preserve their dignity and shyness.

Items needed – $$$$ for postage Pens Sandals Bags of any type

Pencils Trinket Boxes Whistles

Paper Backpacks (not large) American Alphabet

Chalk Rags Reading books

Chalk Eraser Music Balls of String

Crayons Lipstick Writing Pads

Pencil Sharpener (hand crank) Water Bottles (plastic) Hankies

Textbooks Bandanas Bells

Golf balls Hand Paint Finger Paints

Balls (not too large) Toll House Cookies Oatmeal Cookies

Hard candy Gum Mints

Recorders Flute Air Freshener

Small transistor radios

Posted in Greta, Military, War On Terror