Getting to Know My International Contacts - Part 1

I have made more than 5 new friends from the World Forum Foundation’s WoFo Net, however, none of them responded to the emails I sent them yet.  So I went to the WFF’s WoFo TV to view a really eye opening presentation about children & poverty in Afghanistan by Skeena Yacoobi.  This is an amazing telecast, please click the link and watch it yourselves.

Skeena Yacoobi established the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) in 1995.  She was a presenter at the World Forum Conference in 2011.  She said that life is not beautiful in Afghanistan but it is hopeful.  A real teacher will make children her work; be part of the life of the children; and bring a smile to children.  That is what she set out to do while working in the refugee camps in Pakistan with the children and families of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has been at war for 30 years.  The families fled to refugee camps with horrible conditions: no food, no water, no place to play, no learning, no place for calm or quiet.  The camps were full of disease, and poisonous and venomous scorpions and snakes.  Children had to sleep on the dirt among these creatures.

As the new Afghani government took over, children were able to go to school.  Before, schools had to meet in secret because the Taliban did not allow education.  Skeena opened her first school in a tent around a tree.  That spread to several tents because the children had to bring the parent to school with them – the thought being this would help the children feel safe.   Skeena and her volunteers began to educate the parents as well as the children.  They taught mostly mothers (because most of the fathers had been killed in the war or murdered) health education, sewing, reading, and life skills.  Skeena knew that she would need to build a program with teachers that would give love and teach children peace words and loving words then the children would begin to have hope.

Skeena said as the health education progressed, sick women began to feel better then they began to learn better.  Once they were learning they began to ask questions this led to greater confidence.  She said we have to teach the women to be happy, to provide for their children, and to give the ability to say no to the abuse they have been suffering for so long.

In 2011, Skeena’s AIL supported 350,000 women and children.  In the 10 years since the new government took over, 6 million children are attending school.  The schools are teaching critical thinking and participation, not rote memorization.  She said in the video, once the environment is happy and safe, people will grow better, get stronger, and learn faster.  Children in her preschool learn and know 3 languages by age 6: Parshto, Farsi, and English.  Her schools go from preschool through 12^th grade.

Skeena said of poverty in Afghanistan, that 5% of people have the money and 95% of people have very little and are struggling.  The money that goes into the government does not get to where it should because the government is corrupt.  There are over 160,000 people on drugs because of being out of work, impoverished, and depressed.  Children have to be street vendors during the day to make money for the family to have food.  She even told a story about one father selling one of his 6 children for 2 bags of wheat so the other 5 children would be able to stay alive during the winter.  There is no electricity, no water, very little food and the government does not support many. 

But there is hope she said.  Women are becoming very strong and educated; some have jobs and work long hours.  Some are even going to schools to become nurses and doctors.  Many want a part in politics, to be in Parliament, and to be community leaders.  They do not want to go back to how it used to be when the Taliban took over.

Insights gained with this presentation:  1. Afghanistan has come a long way; but it has a long way to go.  2. Poverty destroys everything. The only way to break it is through education.  3. Even though the people of Afghanistan are broken, war-ridden, and destitute, they have hope.  Children and adults have the capacity to learn once they feel safe, become healthy, and have someone to care for them.

Poverty is cyclical. Without education and ambition, it is hard for a person to overcome poverty; but because of poverty, people lack the education and ambition to be able to overcome it.

 

http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/media-and-resources/wofo-tv/

http://www.afghaninstituteoflearning.org/