by: Kaiti Taylor
On Thursday the Afghan Student Union brought an Afghan Culture Night to the
UMC on CU Campus. It was a large event that lasted for three hours including women
warriors of Afghanistan performance, live music, food, and covered many other areas in
Afghan culture. After 9/11 views on Afghanistan and the Middle East in the United
States and the event was a movement for peace and national unity for all Afghan
people, in and outside of the country. Afghanistan culture is intriguing and beautiful to watch and be a part of. Last year, I traveled to Jordan and Israel to experience middle eastern culture despite of many judgements the US has made on their countries, and even in the UMC I felt like I was part of the culture again. Part of the event that interested me the most and made me want to get involved was the presentation from
Afghans4Tomorrow(A4T). A4T is a non-profit, non-political, humanitarian organization
dedicated to the reconstruction and redevelopment of Afghanistan through sustainable
community driven projects with a focus on Education, its an all volunteer program. A4T
is operating three elementary schools and are trying to bring more schooling to the girls (after an attack of one of their girl schools they were operating, they now have to do small in house schooling with the girls). Not only are they focused on Education, also they run two Health Posts which offer basic health care, medicine and immunizations. The newest program that A4T launched is a program training Afghans to make fuel briquettes for heating and cooking. The facility is in Kabul and people from surrounding villages can come to be trained to start their own briquette business. Not only does this help Afghans start making money (the average Afghan makes two cents per day), the project also benefits the environment (Briquettes produce less smoke and reduce burnable garbage). A4T has teamed up with Bare Root Trees Project and have planted/distributed over 120,000 fruit pine and other trees to communities in Kabul in villages. Its amazing that there is an extreme amount of effort going to help bring peace to Afghanistan and rebuild the country...get involved!!
visit: www.afghans4tomorrow.com if your interested!
20 comments:
This form of development, where the citizens of a community are first priority, i believe are the most successful. Communities need education and less material help for them to become more developed and less dependent. Afghanistan needs infrastructure development like roads, schools, and hospitals, and those are priorities of the organization. A major necessity for the development is for the state of war in Afghanistan to go away. Afghanistan's have been at war for the better part of two decades and needs a time of peace in order to build.
This sounds like a great program. I will say though that I question the program only targeting girls. It seems to me that the biggest threat to Afghanistan is ignorance, and particularly amongst the men. Religious extremists are intentionally going after the young boys to recruit them to their cause. It is these young boys who will then grow up to persecute the women, so wouldnt it make more sense to try and save the boys first?
It is truly inspiring to hear what people can do in a country that in many respects tries to demolish the projects. Here in America we have as many opportunities as we can dream of yet, most of us are only focused on making money and not our making our country/world a better place. Maybe if we did have to live as many those do in 3rd world countries our own views would change dramatically. This also shows how our media is so twisted, because this probably would not make it onto the news. The media wants to show the violence and anger not the positive.
I do agree with Jordan, that it does seem like something is missing as males should be targeted also so they don't grow up to follow in the same manner as men before. Regardless this seems like a great idea for a non-profit. I plan on checking out the screening of beyond belief tomorrow night if I don't have to work.
These programs that benefit two groups seem to be extremely beneficial in a world financial crisis, like micro-financing. It is good to see that these girls are benefiting as well as the environment.
The timing of this Afghan culture night is optimal. At the current time when Obama just informed the nation of a surge into Afghanistan there should be a conscience effort on America's part to seperate the country's people from its politcal regime. Im proud of our school to host such a cultural event during these tumultuous times.
If you are interested in education programs in the rural Middle East you should read Three Cups of Tea. It is about Greg Mortenson, an American who started a non-profit organization to bring education and other amenities to rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This seems like an interesting program and a great help to the people of Afghanistan, with the increased importance on education, sustainability and health care - all things the United States needs to work on as well... But, I do agree with those who have brought up the issue of focusing on women. Though it is important to give women of the middle east attention, I agree that the boys and men can not be forgotten- they are the ones being taken off the street and trained in combat. Is there part of the program we are missing or should some of their resources be shared?
Katie Witters
I didn't have time to attend Afghan Culture Night, but had planned to. I seems like a great way to learn more about another culture that many of us think very low of. Also, Afghan 4 TM seems like a awesome organization, i'm going to play on their site for a while....
sounds like a good program and a good presentation. It is good that women are receiving an education in afghanistan also. In a previous class i learned that the education of women is essential to rebuilding struggling countries and implementing a fair political regime that respects the basic human rights of people. Also, educating women reduces the size of an average family and decreases the rate of world population growth. All good things im glad there is an organization out there that is helping people like this.
I'm glad we have events like these. Something that can separate an old and dignified culture from modern events. Anything to remind Americans that most people around the world including - especially - in the places we have troops are just trying to live their lives. Plus Afghani women warriors? I bet they were awesome!
Events like these are a great idea, citizens should always take first priority so getting to know things about them will always help.
I think this was a great idea. The more we get different cultures together, the more we grow personally. Realizing that there are other types of people within this large world is a step in the right direction.
To the other comments, this movement to educate girls IS the most effective way to reduce violence. In many muslim extremist countries, especially Afghanistan, before a boy becomes a jihad (suicide bomber/warrior), he must first get his mother's permission. Studies have confirmed that the better educated mothers prevent their sons from enlisting. Additionally, women are half the country. If half the country is devoid of freedom, opportunity, healthcare, etc., don't you think a little education could improve life for everyone? This type of organization is the best way to make a difference. The most educated and equal societies consistently rank highest for peace, life expectancy, etc. And Afghanistan is in need of change.
that sounds like a great project, and a very worthwhile cause. I'm happy to see someone so concerned and doing something about something that matters so much. My concern is the security of the Afghan government, which has to be established before any of the long-term effects of this project will be secured. Hopefully, that can be pulled together and generations from now people will still be benefiting from the actions you have taken today.
This sounds like an awesome group with great goals. I like how they are using education as a primary reform strategy. I'm a big believer in solving environmental, economic and political problems at the source. Education (or lack there of) is the source for many of these problems. Rather than lobbying a government to change their ways, teaching people basic environmental practices will help them and their country down the road.
What would happen if all the money we spent on the war was spent (or even a small fraction of the estimated $30 billion)on projects like this? I am lead to believe that spending time on humanitarian efforts like these are more effective at rebuking terrorists in a country. Rather than putting time and effort into a country to kill the bad guys why not instead put the effort into raising up the good guys, actually promoting the blessings of democracy?
To retort Colin Bowlin, I think very highly of the afghans, they live through such danger, and are so committed to thier families. However, i think so lowely of the taliban, who butcher thier own text (koran) to include the killing of infidels and "traitor muslims". How is this any different than the early crusades for which they claim to be defending still? Hypocrosie is delicious. This program serves only good. Wish i had gone.
This sounds like it was a great event. People have such intense misunderstandings about Islam and the meaning behind their religious texts. It sounds like the Afghan Student Union is full of hard-working students looking for change in the world. I'm very proud of them, that sounds like a great group to be a part of.
Post a Comment