A School Visit

My visit to a school was quite accidental. My daughter wanted to earn a Girl Scout badge and I was told by the leader to apply for the badge at a scouting office. The CARE-MEDICO driver and one of the house servants took me to the address. When the door opened we realized it was an elementary school. Like many buildings in Kabul, the school building had a central courtyard with rooms around the perimeter.

II asked for the scouting office. The teacher to whom I was speaking probably did not understand what I was talking about, but invited us inside.She sent someone to get help. In the meantime I reached in my pocket for a small camera I usually carried and took some quick pictures.

Eventually we were escorted to the office of an official who listened to the request and then said he didn't know anything about Girl Scouts. We were escorted out. It was rather obvious that a group of unexpected American visitors made him quite uneasy. We did not learn what his position was.

This was one school in Kabul and our visit lasted about 15 minutes. I can't claim that this school was typical of schools in Afghanistan or even in Kabul. The pictures speak for themselves. Girls and boys were attending school together and were even sitting on the same benches in the same class. The teacher pupil ratio was less than an American school at the time, but the children seem to have few books, pencils, or other school supplies. Some classes were held in classrooms around the courtyard. Others were outside. There were both men and women teachers . Because we inadvertanly stumbled into this situation and had no background on the school, these pictures were never published.