Washington Post: Religion & cultural traditions

[Guest guest]

Afghan girl refugees rediscover the joy of learning

 

By Willis Witter - THE WASHINGTON TIMES

 

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Conditions are harsh in a makeshift tent school on

a dusty field at the Shamshatoo refugee camp, an hour's drive from

Peshawar.

 

But for 9-year-old Farah Naz, being able to attend school at all is a joy.

"I love school. I love to learn. I want to become a doctor and serve my

parents, serve my country," said young Farah.

 

"The Taliban's actions were cruel. To keep girls out of school

is stupid and it's nonsense," said Pashtun Bibi, 30, a teacher

at the school.

 

 

"To seek education is the duty for every woman so they know

about their religion, their God and how to live their lives. Why should

a man know these things and not a woman?" Miss Bibi asked, the

anger in her voice piercing the scarf pulled across her face.

When her family fled Afghanistan two years ago, the ruling Taliban had

closed the girls' school in her village near Kabul.

 

Today, the issue of whether girls should go to school divides the

Taliban from its opponents, both in Afghanistan and in refugee camps in

Pakistan where nearly 2 million Afghan refugees from earlier wars now live.

 

The Taliban's decree banning girls from school stems from an extreme

interpretation of Islam that many refugees fear.

 

The Taliban "intervened in everybody's personal life. They'd say, 'What

 

are you doing? Why aren't you praying.' It got worse and worse," said Dan

Khuda, principal of the school.

 

Two years ago, Mr. Khuda fled his village, which was about 30 miles

north of Kabul, because it sat between front lines of the Taliban militia as

 

well as the opposition Northern Alliance.

 

The village changed hands several times. When the Northern Alliance was

 

in control, girls went to school and when the Taliban ruled, they stayed

home.

"We will all go back home when there is peace and we have a legitimate

government that is acceptable to all the people," he said.

 

In tents that serve as classrooms at the Shamshatoo camp, children sit

cross-legged, facing a blackboard placed on the ground and a teacher, who

kneels to speak.

"We want the U.N. to come, announce elections and give the government

back to our people," said Abdul Razzaq, 40, one of the walking wounded.

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