(This is the fifty-third and latest in an ongoing series of conversations I’m having with an Afghan friend about conditions in his country under Taliban rule. I am protecting his identity for his safety. Newer subscribers may not know the background. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching high school English in Afghanistan over 50 years ago and have maintained an active interest and contacts in the country ever since. — DW)
Dear David:
In one of the cold and remote villages of Bamiyan, while other family members are still asleep, Razieh (a pseudonym) gets up at 4 am every day. She goes straight to the oven in the kitchen, puts some firewood in the oven and lights a fire.
Every ten minutes she puts some new logs on the fire as it continues to get hot. After an hour it is ready for cooking bread, so she pastes corn meal in every part of the oven. It will be ready in an hour – well before it is time for her father, brother, and mother to sit around the table and eat breakfast.
Meanwhile, she gets ready for school.
At eight a.m. Razieh goes to the village mosque where she secretly teaches boys and girls mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Her students are in the fourth grade through the twelfth grade. Razieh herself has been studying at the university for the past four years; she teaches these younger children during her winter vacations.
Before the fall of the previous government in August 2021, she had more than 100 students every winter. Now, there are less than 70. She told me via phone that the girls are less interested in studying now, and think they had better learn other skills such as sewing. They are frustrated that they will never be able to officially go to school again, as per the Taliban.
The type of secret teaching that Razieh is doing in Afghanistan is also known as underground teaching. It first became popular during the first Taliban era in 1996-2001.
Afghanistan is the only country where education is prohibited for women. However, most families understand that education is the only way to escape from poverty, darkness and oppression, so they are trying to provide an alternative way to educate girls. Some have their girls take online courses, which Razieh provides as well.
But both the online education system and secret in-person education have their limitations here. Due to the extreme poverty of Afghan people, most families are unable to afford laptops or internet service.
Meanwhile, people are afraid to send their daughters to the secret education centers because of the danger they will be discovered. Many of the girls who attend class are not mentally ready to learn, Razieh explains, because they fear they will be arrested for participating in such a class.
Nevertheless, the courageous underground teachers persist with this illegal work. They are truly our national heroes.
Razieh is one of those heroes. She also is my sister.
(Endnote: Readers who are unfamiliar with Afghan society may wonder how Razieh is able to teach an underground class in the village mosque when the Taliban government has forbidden girls to be educated. There are a number of reasons. First, her village is Hazara and composed of more than 100 families, who are Shia moslems as opposed to Sunni, the dominant sect in Afghanistan. There are six Shia mosques in the village and only one mullah. In addition, the Shia people do not oppose education for girls and they do not support the Taliban, who are Sunni. Also, there are no Taliban living in the village and they only visit about once a month. Thus, the secret schooling occurs without Talib detection.—DW)
LINKS:
Taliban warn women can't take entry exams at universities (AP)
Afghan cartoonist, now a refugee, sheds light on plight of women (Al Jazeera)
ChatGPT has only been around for 2 months and is causing untold chaos (Insider)
What is ChatGPT? Everything to know about OpenAI's free A.I. essay writer and how it works (USA Today)
Real estate agents say they can’t imagine working without ChatGPT now (CNN)
Big Tech was moving cautiously on AI. Then came ChatGPT. (WP)
We Tried to Call the Top Donors to George Santos’ 2020 Campaign. Many Don’t Seem to Exist. (Mother Jones)
Republicans confront bitter divide; no clear path forward (AP)
Biden's student debt relief program has approved over 16 million applications (Axios)
Student loans: Biden has no plan B yet if Supreme Court strikes down loan forgiveness (Yahoo)
Tyre Nichols Cried in Anguish. Memphis Officers Kept Hitting. (NYT)
Memphis police unit involved in fatal arrest axed after brutal footage released (Independent)
Police say 3 dead, 4 hurt in latest California shooting (AP)
Trump makes his first big move in New Hampshire (Politico)
Can Anything Be Done to Assuage Rural Rage? (NYT)
Paul Pelosi attacker David DePape makes chilling call to TV station: 'I'm so sorry I didn't get more of them' (Fox)
Who among us doesn't have a few classified documents at home? (Reuters)
How Apple Has Steered Clear Of Layoffs Amidst Big Tech Job Cuts (Forbes)
Total of 321 heavy tanks promised to Ukraine - Ukraine ambassador to France (Reuters)
Air Force general predicts war with China in 2025, tells officers to prep by firing 'a clip' at a target, and 'aim for the head' (NBC)
Airline passengers endured a 13-hour flight to nowhere after their plane to New Zealand was forced to turn back mid-flight (Insider)
‘Schoolhouse Rock’ debuted 50 years ago — and shaped a generation (WP)
CDC urges people with weak immune systems to take extra precautions after Covid subvariants knock out Evusheld (CNBC)
The doctor who believed he found a cure for AIDS in goat blood. (Reveal)
This Rare Asteroid May Be Worth 70,000 Times the Global Economy. Now NASA Is Sending a Spaceship to Explore It. (Robb Report)
Scientists Tried to Break Cuddling. Instead, They Broke 30 Years of Research. (Atlantic)
Six Exercises to Help Avoid Slipping and Falling Down (WSJ)
Report Reveals Jesus Christ May Have Benefited From Father’s Influential Position To Gain High-Powered Role As Lord And Savior (The Onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment