Afghan Scouts learn to ‘be prepared!’
Posted: Monday, November 30, 2009 12:56 PM
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Kabul, Afghanistan
By Adrienne Mong, NBC News Correspondent
KABUL – In the United States, being a Boy Scout or a Girl Scout is just one of many diversions offered to kids.
But here in Afghanistan, it’s not simply a diversion – it’s a matter of survival. The worldwide scout motto, "Be Prepared" ("Tayar Osay" in Pashto) takes on a larger, more urgent, importance in this war-torn country.
We could see that clearly at the Alluhodin Orphanage in Kabul on a recent afternoon. Twenty girls, who had been selected out of hundreds at the orphanage to be Afghan Scouts, were training for their safety badges.
A round of first aid demonstrations was being led by Zainab Ramin, a 16-year-old who came to the orphanage four years ago from Mazar-i-Sharif after her parents were killed in the war with the Taliban.
At first, she and her younger sister went to live with their only relative, an uncle. But he and his wife would not allow the sisters to attend school. "[We] just worked in the neighborhood houses like washing clothes [or] taking the garbage outside," recalled Zainab. A neighbor took pity on them and suggested they go to the orphanage.
"We go to school and study our lessons. It’s so good for us, and also we are so happy," she said.
Zainab especially enjoys being an Afghan Scout and admires its values. "A Scout has good character," she said. "A Scout is kind."
Inspired by an old scout
She joined the program after it was launched this summer by PARSA, an Afghan non-governmental organization that works on grassroots development programs. It is currently overseen by Marnie Gustavson, a Seattle native who spent part of her childhood in Kabul during the 1960s.
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| Adrienne Mong / NBC News |
| Sixteen-year-old orphan Zainab Ramin wants to be a "brave" Afghan Scout. |
Gustavson got the idea to launch the Afghan Scouts from her 28-year-old son, Reese Hume, a former Boy Scout, who has lived in Kabul for the last two years working with PARSA. The pair was traveling in Bamiyan when they encountered a car stuck in snow. "Reese stopped the car to help them and actually had the materials in the back of the car to do the [job]," said Gustavson.
She realized it was her son’s Boy Scout background that had taught him to be so well-prepared. So she asked him if he wanted to start an Afghan Scouts program.
Hume, who used to work in a children’s rehabilitation center in Seattle, didn’t hesitate. "The kids here are so much more open and curious," he said.
In August, Troop 001 was initiated, consisting of 20 boys and 20 girls aged six to 17. The Afghan Scouts have created their own oath and rely on donors to sponsor each troop.
A scout legacy
The Afghan Scouts actually have a long history; the first camp was established in 1931 and became a thriving nationwide institution until the communists took over the country in 1978. The Russians folded the Scouts into the Soviet Young Pioneers, a movement started under the Communist Youth League in the former U.S.S.R. that was also notorious for encouraging children to spy on their own families, neighbors, and classmates.
During the 1990s, the Scouts sought to re-establish themselves in Afghanistan, but their efforts foundered under the Taliban, which banned girls from joining.
The newest version of the Afghanistan Scouts Association was re-started in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, and in at least one way captures the idea of a hopeful, more contemporary society.
"In the U.S., we have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, they are two separate organizations, which run different programs," noted Gustavson. "It’s kind of ironic really that here in Afghanistan, boys and girls are together, the same."
Getting ‘life skills’
The Afghan Scouts also differ from the U.S. scouts programs in another fundamental way.
"Girl Scouts in America is … a learning activity," said Gustavson, who was an American Girl Scout herself as a pre-teen. "But it’s not as essential as our program is right now on all different levels. We will integrate … much more adult skills."
And that, right now, is the whole point of the Afghan Scouts.
Scout medical training is a major part of the program at the orphanages. "It’s very, very relevant for the Afghans, where in the U.S. they may or may not ever need to use those skills. But with these children, it could be a matter of life or death," said Gustavson.
It’s also about preparing the children for adulthood.
"The kids in the orphanages get schooling," said Yasin Farid, a founder and the National Director of PARSA. "But they don’t get life skills."
So the Scouts program is designed to equip them with the skills and confidence so that "by the time they leave the orphanage, they can sustain themselves," said Farid.
Still, it’s not that easy for Afghan girls, no matter how much training they receive.
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| Adrienne Mong / NBC News |
| Shafiullah Habibi just turned 18 and will have to leave the orphanage soon. |
Where do the girls go?
A critical social question is what to do with the children who, according to Afghan law, must leave the orphanage when they reach the age of 18.
Shafiullah Habibi, whose confident demeanor belied his anxiety, just turned 18. "Next year, I don’t know," he said when I asked him what he thought 2010 would have in store for him. He has lived at the Tai Maskan orphanage for nine years.
He said he has two older brothers who live and work in Iran, but they don’t send any money home. Since Shafiullah also has two younger sisters he needs to start looking after, he will probably have to start looking for a job. "If they let me [stay] in the orphanage, I will continue my [education]. If they won’t let me, I should go to work."
But he didn’t know what kind of job he will be able to find. "I am scared," he admitted. "Because outside [the orphanage] is very dangerous."
Saliha Farid, a PARSA social worker, explained that options for young Afghan men are limited once they leave the orphanage. "After finishing their education, boys have the option to go to the military – to the government side or the insurgency side to earn money," said Farid.
Shafiullah said that he would never join the military on either side. "I would like to die …helping my people. I don’t want to go outside Afghanistan. There are two countries I never want to go – Pakistan and Iran," said the young patriot. "I hear if I go at this age to Pakistan, they will train me as a suicide attacker and send me back to Afghanistan."
But what are the options for the girls? "Girls are not allowed to live alone in Afghanistan. Or with each other," said Gustavson. "They must be with their extended family, or they get sold off to a family, or they’re married off."
Gustavson is considering setting up a boarding school for girls in this age bracket. "We’re looking to pilot it and to show that it works and get the girls all into college so they can get on with their lives."
But in the meantime, girls like Zainab face a very uncertain future that too often seems without hope.
Zainab will turn 18 in two years, but she is already worried about her own future and that of her country.
"My uncle is not ready to let us study and finish our school," said the girl who dreams of becoming a psychologist. Like Shafiullan, she believes in helping her own people. "That’s what a scout is. We are getting ready for the future of Afghanistan …We can help the people."
Click here for more information about PARSA
