E-update from SAWA Australia
Dear supporters of Afghan women,
the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly. Refugee camps in
Pakistan are beginning to see a new wave of people, crossing the border to
escape the fighting. The rise of the Taliban poses a great threat to Afghan
women and girls.
The following report was produced for the Australian Education Union:
A Beacon of Strength
Saforaia is a lucky girl. She just received the results for her annual
school exam and is overjoyed. She wants to become a doctor, and her
excellent marks in chemistry, physics and biology will allow her to enter
medical school.
It may sound like an ordinary story, until you meet Saforaia and her fellow
students. Saforaia is from Afghanistan. She can still remember her childhood
under the Taliban, when girls over the age of 12 were forbidden to attend
school and women were not allowed to work, forcing many teachers to go
begging in the streets. After years of fear and constant threats of
persecution Saforaia's parents had to move to a refugee camp in Pakistan,
where the family has lived ever since.
Saforaia would love to go back to Afghanistan. She dreams of life as a
doctor in a rural area, where the people are poor and illiterate. But for a
girl receiving an education in Afghanistan is fraught with danger even
today. The Taliban are on the rise in the countryside, and the
fundamentalists in parliament who control the capital Kabul are not much
better.
In July President Hamid Karzai's cabinet approved the proposal to
re-establish the infamous "Department for the Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice", the police force that under the Taliban flogged women
in the street for not being covered from head to toe or laughing out loud.
According to the parliament's education committee insurgents have burned
down 90 schools this year. In June a rocket hit a crowded school courtyard,
killing six students. In January a headmaster was beheaded in front of his
wife and children. In December a teacher was dragged out of his classroom
and shot at the school gate. Some 200 schools are now closed, and parents
are so afraid to send their daughters to school that according to UNICEF
only 5% of girls attend school.
But Saforaia is a lucky girl. She lives in Khewa refugee camp in Pakistan
and can attend Naseema Shaheed High School, a school operated by RAWA, the
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. RAWA is one of the
most amazing political and social organisations that exist today.
Established in 1977, it is based on the principle that the liberation of
Afghanistan's women can only come from the women themselves. It demands
freedom, equality and human rights for women through the establishment of a
secular Afghanistan that guarantees freedom of religion and tolerance of all
ethnic groups.
Although RAWA accepts only women as members it has many male supporters. In
a country where it is still dangerous for a woman to go out of her house
without being accompanied by a male relative, male supporters help RAWA
activists to go about their daily tasks by pretending to be brothers or
uncles, but they have no say in RAWA's decisions.
In its nearly 30 years of existence RAWA has established orphanages, schools
and hospitals for refugees in Pakistan and as far as possible in Afghanistan
itself. It operated clandestine schools under the Taliban and continues to
struggle against the religious fundamentalists who control the country
today.
Education takes a prominent place in RAWA's strategy for the liberation of
women. An educated woman will not accept that being kept in the house like a
slave, sold into marriage to much older men, and abandoned in divorce at the
whim of the moment is the natural condition of women. Schools are therefore
a central element of RAWA's liberation policy. Their curriculum is based on
RAWA's teaching values: respect for all human beings regardless of language,
religion, race or colour; religious, ethnic and gender tolerance; care for
the environment; rejection of violence; respect for family, partnership and
freedom values and safeguard of individual rights.
The teachers at Naseema Shaheed High School are proud of RAWA's
achievements. Whether it is Literature, English, Mathematics, Chemistry,
Biology, Physics, History, Geography, Geometry, Geology, Art or Sport, every
teacher gains deep satisfaction as they watch Saforaia and the other 366
students develop into confident young women. Chemistry teacher Rahela Walid
says about her experiences:
"This is my eleventh year that I teach Chemistry for classes 12 and 11, and
it has been the best part of my life working with RAWA and teaching in this
school. I joined this school in 1995 when Khewa camp was heavily crowded. It
was unbelievable for me to see such a massive gathering of women and girls
with democratic ideas. As you would find women locked in the confines of
their houses, not only in Afghanistan where the Taliban were in power but
even in the nearby refugee camps, Khewa camp was definitely a beacon and a
hub for all Afghan intellectuals."
To satisfy the entry requirements for Kabul University, Islamic Studies are
also included in the lesson plan of the school; but far from preaching Jihad
and proffering fundamentalist indoctrination, religious instruction
reinforces the principles of tolerance and non-violence.
The funding of Naseema Shaheed High School and RAWA's other social
activities relies entirely on the efforts of RAWA supporters around the
world. SAWA-Australia, the Australia-based Support Association for the Women
of Afghanistan, has pledged to raise sufficient funds to cover the entire
school budget. The success of SAWA's fundraising efforts will determine
whether Saforaia will be a village doctor one day or spend her life locked
away in a house, depressed by the memories of an education she could not
complete.
To keep Naseema Shaheed High School operational, SAWA has to cover the
salary of its 28 teachers and general staff, the cost of textbooks and
stationary for 367 students and the purchase of materials for the physics
and chemistry labs. This is a challenge for an organisation that was
established only two years ago, and SAWA is proud to have reached that
target for 2006 so far. As a school that is fully supported by donations
from Australians, Naseema Shaheed High School is today not only a beacon of
pride for Afghan women but also a witness to the generosity and compassion
of Australians. School principal and Physics teacher Sayed Arif explains:
"We had big financial problems in the past three years, which badly affected
our plans and standards. In order to effectively utilize the little budget
we were receiving, we reduced our staff members, and some experienced
teacher left the school. Our Physics and Chemistry labs were in a very bad
condition because we didn't buy any equipment or medical for the labs in the
past few years. Teachers were complaining that they couldn't perform the
practicals. Now we have got hold of the many issues. With the donation from
SAWA and extra money from RAWA, we could manage to minimize our problems to
a very low level. We have now a full strength of staff members and reshape
our laboratories to a good standard."
But the future of the school still depends heavily on the goodwill and
support of individuals and is in no way secure. Less than 20% of the
school's budget is covered by regular monthly support payments to SAWA, the
remaining 80% have to be found through fund-raising campaigns. Australians
are compassionate people who respond generously to calls for donations, but
donation streams can also dry up quickly or flow in new directions as new
international problems arise. $58 per month is all it takes to cover the
salary of one teacher. If sufficient Australians pledge regular donations
the future of Naseema Shaheed High School can be secured and Saforaia can
complete her secondary education and move on to University.
More information on SAWA, RAWA and Naseema Shaheed High School can be
found at www.sawa-australia.org.
Note: Names have been changed to protect teachers and students.
If you have given your support to Naseema Shaheed High School in the past
we thank you on behalf of the students. If you did not yet find the time or
opportunity, please consider making a donation now. Online donations can be
made at
http://www.sawa-australia.org/help.htm
Cheques can be sent to
SAWA-Australia
PO Box 90
Flinders University Post Office
Bedford Park SA 5042
Thank you for your interest in support for the women of Afghanistan. Please
forward this email to a friend!
While the views presented by speakers within the Hawke Centre public program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University of South Australia or The Hawke Centre, they are presented in the interest of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of: strengthening our democracy – valuing our cultural diversity – and building our future.