Visit to a school!

I went and visited an Afghan school to distribute school supplies.  The school was a nice building - but surrounded by dirt and rubble... just like you would find in a typical construction site... except the disorder around it was, in part from the conflict, and in part from the general disorder of the area.  Kids in the area play with the weirdest things - sharp metal, glass, etc. - whatever they could find, really.  The buildings around had obvious signs of war.  All in all, not a very nice surrounding for children.  Because of the fact that many of the kids have nothing, they have taken on a 'gimme' mentality.  It was actually scary to roll up to the school with supplies.  If you can recall a previous blog entry, I got mugged for a bag of lolipops by a group of kids.  That may sound funny, since you may be thinking 'couldn't he physically handle a bunch of kids?' - well, consider that there was a group of them, and consider that I have no intention of harming any of them.  Hence - what am I to do?  Now here I was in a truck with school supplies... rolling into a school yard with kids.  They began mauling the vehicle!  Some kids tried to pry the door open... MY DOOR!  I had to (while driving) grab the door and slam it shut.  They even began trying to jump into the flatbed of the vehicle to get at the supplies there. 

 

Finally, the Principal of the school came out, and order was restored.  (He brought with him a few High Schoolers who were the arm of 'law and order')  I saw him tell the kids to get into the school, and most of them did.  In the distance though, you could see a few young boys (maybe Grade 5?) near a dirt pile trying to get away.  The Principal told one of the High School boys to get them.  The group ran, scattering in all directions and the High Schooler was set in a full sprint after them - right past the dirt pile, the concertina wire (like barbed wire, but worse), and into the field.  It was funny to see, but a little disconcerting to see the disrespect to the Principal, however, I it was nice to see the older kids taking responsibility for the younger ones.

 

We entered the school and were walked through the different classes.  I stayed out of the girl's classes (for obvious reasons of respect) and let my female counterpart do the talking to the teacher and the girls.  You could see the female teachers veiling their faces, so that was enough of an indication to me to step back and stay out.  For the younger kids though, I could see them giggling away while looking at me.  A couple of little kids began following me.  They came to shake my hand and say hello - which I thought was really cute.  Through an interpreter they told me that they were on a break when I asked them (kicking into teacher mode) why they weren't in class!  I jokingly commented to them that their break was a very very long one!  I ended up teaching them the finer points of a 'high five'!  (They liked that one!) 

 

Being a teacher, I was concerned about the lack of teaching and classroom supplies.  I saw a little girl given a piece of chalk to write numbers on the board (some sort of math lesson).  What got me was that the only piece of chalk in the class was smaller than the size of a pea.  I looked around for more chalk and didn't see any.

 

Talking to some of the high schoolers, I was surprised to see how well they could speak English.  It also impressed me to hear their dreams and aspirations they had for their future and the future of their country.  I heard one say "Inshallah" (God willing) he will become a doctor, another a pilot, etc....  I told them to study and pray hard, and I promised them I would pray for them too.  They seemed to appreciate that. 

 

Following this, I was introduced to a highschool boy's class and found myself at the front of the classroom near the blackboard!  I had the opportunity to speak and all eyes were on me - what can I teach in 30 seconds?!  I thought of just giving them some words of encouragement.  Through the interpreter I tried to remind them that they were the future of Afghanistan and that everyone is depending on them to study hard and study well.  I also tried to remind them that - God only knows - in the circle of life, we may be the ones helping them now, but one day - we may need them to help us, and everyone will have need of them to have studied well.  You could see that they knew and understood.

 

I had a chance to sit down with the Principal and chat a bit.  They were so proud of their school!  I saw the attendance rosters piled on his desk.  While speaking to me, he sat there working his 'tasbih' beads in his hand.  As we were talking, it struck me - I could hear the sounds of classes in session!  It surprised me how it sounded just like the sounds of classes in session back home.  I realized then how much I missed the classroom and being a teacher.  I was proud to say I was a teacher among other teachers there, and it was neat how they took me seriously when speaking on matters regarding education.  Perhaps in the near future I will have a chance to help out more and directly impact the lives of the kids there.  If just one person's life in this country could be made better because of my being here and because of all your prayers - this tour would have been all very much worth it.  Hopefully, somebody's life will have been made better... Inshallah.