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[Adventurer]

Adam Ferguson for The New York Times
Afghan girls studied for a test at Marefat High School in Dasht-i-Barchi, a poor Hazara enclave in western Kabul. More photos at nytimes.com/world. More Photos >



LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
Published: January 3, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan � For much of this country�s history, the Hazara were typically servants, cleaners, porters and little else, a largely Shiite minority sidelined for generations, and in some instances massacred, by Pashtun rulers.

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Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era. Go to the Blog �

Times Topics: AfghanistanBut increasingly they are people like Mustafa, a teenager who has traveled a rough road but whose future now looks as bright as any in this war-ravaged country. His course reflects the collective effort of the Hazara, who make up 10 to 15 percent of the population, to remake their circumstances so swiftly that by some measures they are beginning to overtake other groups.


After the 2001 American invasion, his family returned, not to their home in impoverished Daykondi Province, but to Kabul, where his uneducated parents thought Mustafa and his siblings would get better schooling. �There was no opportunity for studying in Daykondi,� he said.


�The Pashtun had the opportunities in the past, but now the Hazaras have these opportunities,� said Mustafa, whose school director asked that his last name not be published. �We can take our rights just by education.�


Since the 2001 invasion, an influx of Hazaras has changed the composition of the capital. More than a million Hazaras now live here, making up more than a quarter of the city�s population.

�The Hazara always wanted an open atmosphere to breathe, and now we have that,� said Mohammed Sarwar Jawadi, a Hazara member of Parliament from Bamian Province.


In a country that has one of the world�s lowest female literacy rates � just one in seven women over age 15 can read and write � the progress of Hazara women is even more stark, especially compared with Pashtun provinces.


HAZARASHIITESAFGHANISTAN

[Adventurer]

Seattle attorney battles to keep girls' schools open in Afghanistan

Julia Bolz tries an Afghan hat on a chilr at a Seattle school. | Mike Siegel / Seattle Times / MCT

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan � In late September, Julia Bolz got disturbing news about the first girls' school she had helped build in this country.

A young militant, recently returned from Pakistan, was whipping up opposition to the school in the small village outside Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. At night, he and his allies put leaflets on doorsteps. During the day, they patrolled the street in front of the school on motorbikes and warned the girls to stay away.


Families often marry off girls before the age of 20, and there are still scarce opportunities for village women to attend college or vocational schools.


But surveys conducted by Bolz and the Hubbards show that students� aspirations are changing. In an initial survey several years ago, few said they thought much about their future. Now, many say they want to be teachers, run for parliament or even for president.

�These kids are frustrated with the status quo. We have given them hope,� Bolz said. �Now, what do we do?�

(Bernton reports for the Seattle Times.)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/81540.html

[mises]

Who cares. Really. Why should I give a damn about schools in Afghanistan. Why should I pay for it. This is so stupid. In the event that men from Afghanistan harm my people, we can kill them with great efficiency. It even makes for good TV. No need to turn the country into a mountainous Indian Reservation.

[Adventurer]

[mises]

My solution is that "we" mind our own business. We have no right to continue meddling in that country. We will turn them into a stable liberal democracy at the exact same moment my chocolate lab Ludwig finishes his multivariate statistics exam.

[ddeubel]

They can do both. Withdraw and send others to help build schools, provide support, buy supplies etc....

We are a rich society and we've gained wonders from the free flow of ideas in our society and public education (but not necessarily "schooling".). We owe it and must "pay back", that's what intelligence and being human is about.

So let's cut the military budget in half - spend that on social programs, outreach, education around the world. Bring back Kennedy's Peace corp (but in a more pluralistic and less "patriotic" fashion).

Let's keep having tea and stop all these discussions with a gun across our lap.

DD
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