Safeguarding Afghan schools


During the last two years there have been many difficulties with schools in
the East and Southern parts of Afghanistan. These schools have been
attacked by extremist groups or closed due to the poor security situation. 
As a result of this, more than 200,000 Afghan school-age children have been
denied the right to education.

According to Afghan education authorities, more than eighty teachers and
children during last two years were barbarically killed and fifty others have
been injured. 
Targeting schools to kill teachers and children are deeply unsettling to
education authorities and amongst local communities.

Education makes up one of the main pillars of securing a better future for
Afghanistan.Without educated people it will be extremely difficult, after
three decades of destructive war, to rebuild this war-ravaged country and
it's shattered economy,by attacking schools and other educational
institutions, the extremists are targeting the country's future to ensure
that Afghanistan remains an undeveloped country for a long time.

Today one of the major challenges of Afghan education authorities is to
protect schools and education facilities from Taliban attacks. One of the
most effective ways of protecting schools in these volatile regions is to
establish community based school defence groups, fortunately in the past
few months many schools in the Paktiya, Khost, and Paktika provinces
have been saved by local communities.

In the province of Laghman, the education authorities have initiated
another way to secure schools, according to this initiative, each school
has assigned a group of school children (Boy and Girl Scouts) to explain
the need of education and protection of schools among local community.
 
To realize this plan, the education authorities of Laghman asked HASCO
to assist them by providing the uniforms of Boy Scouts (Zarandoi) and Girl
Scouts (Zaranjoni).

Scouts have a long history in Afghanistan, Afghan Scout beside their
community service work in the schools acting as hall monitors,
crossing guards and honour guard for their school.

HASCO was able to honour this request, and with the aid of the Austrian
education authorities provided 200 sets of uniforms for both girls and boys.
These new uniforms will be used by the Scouts during  their duties.
HASCO director Mr Hafizullah Khaled has expressed his appreciation to the
Education authorities of Austria and hopes that such kind assistance will        
continue in the future.

  

 

Volunteer of the Year 2006:  

Each year, the United Nations Volunteers Program (UNV) Created by the UN General Assembly in 1970, honors ten outstanding volunteers who make an exemplary impact on human development and demonstrate their commitment to sustaining social and economic progress in the world. By promoting volunteerism, UNV supports the efforts of national governments and International community to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
 
 This year the UNV selected HASCO Online Volunteer Mrs. Rajaa Abdullah with other nine Volunteers as the Volunteer of the Year 2006. Mrs. Rajaa Abdullah, a mother of five, is an Omani national, and head of the English department at a school in Oman.

During the last year despite her numerous responsibilities and a busy schedule she has demonstrated a great deal of dedication and commitment to promote education in Afghanistan and to help Afghan children build a better future. 
 
 Mr.Hafizullah Khaled director of HASCO congratulated Mrs. Rajaa Abdullah and expressed his appreciation for her strong commitment and valuable contribution to education of Afghanistan school children. Mr Khaled said: selection of Mrs. Rajaa Abdullah by United Nations Volunteers programme as the Volunteer of the Year 2006 is the best way to recognize her devotion to the long- suffered children of Afghanistan.
 
Help Afghan School Children Organization (HASCO) is Vienna based non-profit organization devoted to promote education of Afghan school children. HASCO´s goal is to help Afghan children catch up on many years of lost schooling.

Children are the future of every society if we want to prevent another humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan if we want a peaceful, prosperous and friendly Afghanistan; we must help the young generation of Afghanistan catch up on the long years of missed education.

  

 

Distribution of relief goods among Afghan school children:    

To encourage Afghan new returnees and disadvantaged families send their children into school, relief goods and schoolsupplies have been distributed among Afghan school children in different schools.

This programme aims to provide Afghan school children not only with urgently needed schoolsupplies but also with other goods such as Schoolcaps and Thermoses to protect them from hot weather during school time, unfortunately in some areas Afghan school children sitting under the hot and burning sun without access to water resources and lack of drinking water is a huge problem to these children during education time.  

HASCO Schoolsupplies and relief goods distribution programme implemented in different communities Mr Khaled director of HASCO personally participated in relief goods distribution process, HASCO Director’s thanked the Ministry of Education Science and Culture of Austria and Qatar Airways for supporting Afghan children  with school supplies and relief goods  Mr Khaled  hoped  that  assistance  to Afghanistan children will continue in the future too.

 Under HASCO schoolsupplies and relief goods distribution program, school necessities such as backpack, pen, pencil, notebooks, eraser, ruler drawing notebook and children needs such as cap and Thermoses have been distributed to thousands children in different areas.

 

  

 School Rehabilitation Program

 

During the last two years more than 200 schools in south and eastern provinces  of Afghanistan have been attacked by Taliban extremist groups, According to the local education authorities only in Laghman province more than ten schools set alight and thousands innocent school children particularly girls have been deprived once again from their basic right of education and schooling.

 One of the school recently set ablaze by extremist groups in Laghman province is Mandrawal girls school located 15 km south of Laghman provincial center. In Mandrawal school about 500 girl students were getting education,

On January 18 2006 at night a group of armed men burned Mandrawal girls school as a result of such inhuman act not only heavy damage was inflicted on school building but also thousands of schoolbooks, documents and school furniture also destroyed.

Local education authorities appealed for urgent assistance because waiting more means losing another education year for students.

To respond positively to the urgent need of education authorities and local community, HASCO Volunteers organized school rehabilitation campaign as part of education support programme in Afghanistan, within 45 day intensive rehabilitation works Mandrawal girls school was rehabilitated and students of Mandrawal school get another chance to return to their classes and normal education process.

Under HASCO School Rehabilitation Campaign in Laghman province 5 schools have been rehabilitated by HASCO Volunteers in that province.

To read recent Human Rights Watch Report about burning schools in Afghanistan please click here

  

 

Distribution  of School supplies  in Shamali plains North of Kabul

   In order to distribute more than 3000 pounds collected school supplies to diffrent communities and schools in North of Kabul, on 20th of June Afghanistan Hope’s Journey has organized by HASCO Volunteers in Afghanistan

 Abdul Wakil High school in Qarabagh district was the first school supplies distribution station, all children of Abdul Wakil high school in Qarabagh district were provided with school necessities such as pen, pencil, notebooks and other school stationeries, Qarabagh Girls school was the next distribution center during Hope’s Journey  in North of Kabul also school children of Sarsang secondary school and Habibullah High school in Kalakan district  received school supplies before Hope’s Journey Caravan  passed the area  toward Mirbacha kot district in north of Kabul.

 Hope’s Journey Caravan carrying school supplies arrived  at 14 h in Mirbacha kot district and Mirbach Khan High school was the first distribution center  after all children of Mirbachkhan High school have provided with school necessities Hope’s Journey Caravan moved towarde Mirbachakhan secondary school in the same district.

 During Hope’s journey  Caravan in North of Kabul a large amount of school supplies have distributed among needy children of Qarabagh, Kalakaan and Mirbachkot districts.

15 HASCO Volunteers Including 3 female participated in Hope’s journey´distribution process, represetatives of the Ministry of Education  and local education authorities also actively took part in distribution process.

 In the end of distribution process the Head of Education deportment of Kabul province on behalf of local education authorities thanked HASCO and Mr Cary for their worthy assistance with the school children of Afghanistan, two school children of Mirbacha khan High school also thanked HASCO volunteers for spending their time to assist the school children of Afghanistan.

 

  

First part of Hope’s Journey

( school supplies collecting process )

The First part of Hope’s Journey has started in United States  when Mr Cary director of Hope´s Journey Organization  drove from south western Colorado more than four thousands miles to New Hampshire, Philadelphia, and back down to Central Florida,, collecting a large amount of school supply donated along the way for Afghan school children.
 

Sarah fifth grade school girl from New England and Amy from Colorado have collected toys and Animals for Afghanistan children.

Thanks to Mr Cary director of Hopes Journey Organization and all  volunteers who spent their time and energy to collect school supplies and toys for Afghanistan children.


Afghanistan Hope’s Journey was the second part of this project, in order to distributing  collected school supplies among schools and needy children.

 International forces in Afghanistan (ISAF) supported this project by shipment of donated goods to Afghanistan through Denton Program.

  

Mr H Khaled  director of HASCO distributing  School Backpack to students of Kabul Blind School.

HASCO Volunteers distributing Schoo bag in one of girls school in Kabul.

School bag distribution process in Kabul Durkhani girls school by HASCO volunteers.

A community Elder distributing HASCO provided school bags to students of a primary school  in  Laghman province eastern  part of Afghanistan.

 

 School Backpack for Afghan children

In Afghanistan most of schools in provinces and districts are far away and children have a long daily walk ahead of them in order to reach their schools. In some areas, children cross several hinders such as rivers, bridges and mountainous terrain to reach their school.

 Unfortunately most of Afghan families particularly Afghan  new returnees from Pakistan and Iran refugee camps are not able to provide their school age children with school supplies and school necessities such as pen, pencil, notebooks and schoolbag, providing Afghan children with school Backpack will helps them to carry more easily their daily school materials

.In response to the need of Afghanistan children HASCO Organization with financial contribution of Vienna City foreign relation department initiated School bag project for Afghan children

School Backpack project implemented in Afghanistan different part, in Laghman province the school children of Kotob zai boys and girls schools have received schoolbags and biscuits,HASCO director Mr Khaled personally took part in distribution process in Laghman province.

 Its worth to mentioning that Laghman province is situated in the eastern part of Afghanistan with a large number Afghan new returnees from Pakistan and Iran refugee camps most of these returnee families are not able to provide their school children with school bag.

Teachers and school children of Kotob zai Girls and Boys schools expressed their thanks to HASCO and Vienna City authorities for providing them with school bags and hoped that such kind assistance continue in the future too.

On 19th of June 2005 schoolbags have distributed to the school children of Dorkhani High School in Kabul City, HASCO representative in Kabul participated in distribution process,on request of Kabul Blind School on 20 of June 150 pieces of school bags have distributed to the school children of Kabul government Blind school.HASCO Director Mr Khaled and Principal of Kabul Blind  school Mr Abdul Fatah participated in distribution process,

 

  
   

News and Reports

Children killed in Afghan attack    
 

Source: BBC, UK

At least seven children have been killed and 34 injured after a rocket hit their school in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, officials say.The rocket landed in the grounds of a mosque where the school was located near Asadabad, the provincial capital.Two other rockets were fired at an Afghan army base in the province. It is not known if there are any casualties.The province borders Pakistan and is a hotbed of militant violence. Attacks have soared in recent months.Deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Hassan Farahi said two rockets had been fired by "enemies of Afghanistan" at the mosque."One hit the compound of a primary school where children including girls were busy studying in the yard," he told Reuters news agency.A BBC correspondent at the scene says he heard heavy artillery being fired from a nearby American military base towards the area from where the rockets were fired.The injured were taken to a hospital at the US base.Attack condemnedHundreds of children, between the ages of six and 16, are said to have been in the school at the time of the attack. Screams were coming from everywhere. I was crying
Omar Sahib, 12 Student "I saw so many children on the ground. Many were not moving," a 12-year-old student, Omar Sahib, told the Associated Press news agency."Screams were coming from everywhere. I was crying." Local villagers are said to be furious at the attack, which has also been condemned by the US military and the Afghan government. "This despicable act clearly demonstrates the enemy's complete disregard for the Afghan people," US military commander Maj Gen Benjamin C Freakly said in a statement. "The Afghan national and coalition forces will hunt down these terrorists and ensure they're held responsible." It is not clear who is behind the attack, although local police and officials are blaming the Taleban. The Taleban have burned down several schools in southern Afghanistan but it is not clear if the school in Kunar was intended to be the target of the rocket attack.

 

 

 

 

Poverty forces Afghan children to quit school to work

(IRIN) - While millions of Afghan children have returned to school following the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001, tens of thousands of school-age youngsters, restricted by economic hardship, must still work on the streets of the Afghan capital, Kabul, to sustain their families.

"I would love to go to school, but I can't. There is no one else in my family to work except me," Zabi, a 10-year-old boy selling shopping bags in a crowded market told IRIN.

"I was in school, but last year I failed because I was working on the streets all day," Baryalai, a 12-year-old shoe shiner told IRIN, explaining that, with a disabled father and two sisters and a younger brother to feed, his priority was his family.

Such cases are not unusual. "In urban areas more children work openly on the streets," Edward Carwardine, a spokesman for the United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF), told IRIN in Kabul, noting that an estimated 40,000 children were now working on the city's streets.

 Many of the children lost the breadwinners in their homes or were put on the street to work, most of them as shoeshine boys or porters, washing cars, burning incense, selling small items or collecting metal. Others still resort to begging, but rarely admit it, considering such acts shameful.

But such street children are hardly new in the war-ravaged city of some three million. The children, both male and female, often assume the duty or responsibility of earning income for their families after the main breadwinners are killed or disabled.

For many children in Kabul, the families are unable to provide even the basics. To support the family, the children have to work to earn something for food, often under particularly dire conditions.

And while hazardous child labour had not been as commonplace as in other countries in the region, UNICEF remained concerned that children who have to work in some way to assist their families did not have access to education and health care, Carwardine explained

  

 

 

 

Gunmen burn coed Afghan school

 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan   (AP)

 Suspected Taliban gunmen destroyed a coed primary school in the main southern Afghan city Sunday, first tying up two security guards before setting the buildings on fire, officials said.

The attack in Kandahar was the latest in a spate of assaults that have forced many schools to close. The insurgents claim that educating girls is against Islam and they even oppose government-funded schools for boys because they teach subjects besides religion.

Suspected Taliban insurgents last Tuesday beheaded the headmaster of another coed school in the region.

In Sunday's attack, a group of men raided Qabail Primary School before dawn, briefly detaining its guards but not hurting them, said Hayabullah Rafiqi Othak, Kandahar province's education director.

The assailants then went into each classroom, making bonfires of books and wooden desks that eventually razed the whole school, he said.

Some 700 girls and boys had studied at the school. Builders were to immediately start reconstructing it and Othak said some classes may be able to resume when the current two-month vacation ends in March.

The attack came just hours after gunmen had tried to set fire to another school in Kandahar, but its guards had scared away the arsonists, the education director said.

Deputy provincial police chief Abdul Hakim Hungar said five suspects have been arrested.

 

  

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