In 2005, from March through June 2005, smaller teams of ARO relief volunteers traveled to Afghanistan.   The following is an account of some of the trip by volunteers Nazi Etemadi and Jesse Friedman, focusing on ARO’s education programs and Technical Education Center (which opened in 2003).

Technical Education Center: English program improvement
After conducting observations in each of the English teachers’ classes, we noticed that the style of teaching and pronunciation was an area we wished to improve upon. 

Teachers were using Pakistani textbooks to conduct their training sessions, as Afghan textbooks are not readily available.  We are pleased with our English teachers, who are positive and clever, and would like to invest in their teacher training. 

Each of the English teachers was provided a set of 30 children’s books, with a cassette that was recorded by American parents.  The cassettes will be used to help with English pronunciation of the text, and each teacher was provided with a radio-cassette player and batteries. 

These materials were provided by an organization called “Voices to Afghanistan”.  Voices to Afghanistan also donated funds for tape recorders and batteries.  We purchased a total of 12 tape recorders – six for ARO’s education center and six to distribute to other English programs at other schools. 

Noting the difficulty of teachers regarding accurate pronunciation and development of teaching methodology, we will pursue teacher training classes in English as a long-term goal.

            As an immediate action, we contacted Sultana Parvanta (instrumental in collecting garden and food seeds for the greenhouse program).  She is employed by the Ministry of Urban Development under contract for an additional year.  Parvanta volunteered to conduct teacher training classes for ARO.  She has 19 years experience in the educational field, and will orient ARO’s teachers to American teaching methods.   Parvanta may be joined by Sajia Sultani, and both will be providing this as a volunteer service to ARO.

Mathematics:
We have a very capable “Algebra” teacher, Aref.  However, we found students were ready for additional assistance.  Lima Etemadi, visiting Kabul for two months, will provide additional tutoring.  She has a degree in math and algebra.   Lima is French speaking (from Switzerland), but has will teach in Dari.  The students are very grateful for this extra help.  She is also helping them with Physics and Geometry lessons. 

As with Parvanta and Sajia, Lima will be providing this as a volunteer service.

Computer Classes:
ARO has three computer teachers.  Two provide basic computer use instruction, while one teaches computer repair classes.  Most of ARO’s English teachers also are enrolled in computer classes, as part of their teacher training.

University Entrance Exam Classes:
Additionally, ARO provides space for pre-university entry exam instruction.  Students in their final year of secondary school attend to prepare for their university entry examination. 

At the time of our visit, ARO had a large number of students preparing for entry exams, and we were asked to increase the number of university preparation classes.

Literacy Class for Women:
There is a critical need for Afghan widows and young women to become self-sufficient.  We were invited to attend a parliamentary election procedural meeting for literate and illiterate men and women by Mr. Wakil.  We noticed the large number of illiterate women. 

After the meeting, we were shown their very poor living conditions.  This prompted us to initiate a special literacy class for women—weekdays from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.  Freshta (one of our English teachers) has agreed to teach basic literacy, with a $25.00 increase on her salary monthly.  Nazi Etemadi elected to support the increase personally, in order to get the program started.

Repair of Classroom Chairs/Desks:
The TEC was in need of new student furniture, as the wear and tear of many students requires constant maintenance.  Also, the quality of available school furniture at the time of its purchase was very poor.

After taking an inventory of the furniture, Jess Friedman proposed refurbishing and reattaching missing pieces, rather than making new expenditures.   ARO volunteer Susan Slattery donated tools for the center, and Jesse also bought a few electrical and battery-charged tools. 

Jesse’s efforts to refurbish the school furniture (cutting the missing pieces, attaching and re-varnishing) saved ARO about two-thousand dollars.  Jesse also provided training to the staff regarding the upkeep, teaching the skill of “repairing” rather than throwing away. 

The refurbishment project lasted a week and half, and included classroom clean up, purchasing trash cans for each class.  We instructed students to taking personal responsibility and keep their classrooms clean, neat and furniture in good shape.  For children in a war environment, attending school and taking responsibility for their school is new.

ARO supported the Zarghoona Kindergarten in 2004, providing funds for its refurbishment and for supplies.  Unfortunately, they were evicted from the improved building and placed into another wrecked building.  

Mr. Yusuf (owner of Pacific Hills Banquet Hall in Southern California), Jesse Friedman and Nazi Etemadi surveyed their situation and needs.  Mr. Yusuf purchased $500.00 worth of basic supplies for them.

Nazi Etemadi contacted the president of the Red Crescent in Kabul, Mrs. Fatima Gailani, and was promised an ongoing supply of food for ARO students and Zarghoona Kindergarten students.  Children at the kindergarten were lacking basic nutritional meals, milk, cookies for snacks, and vitamins.  The kindergarten was established for the poorest children of the neighborhood, who cannot afford to bring snacks from home.

ARO’s Outside Maintenance:
ARO chairman, Abul Fazil Khalili has been improving and maintaining the TEC buildings.  He has upgraded the entrance, making it safer.  This basic type of improvement was not made over the past two and half decades, due to conflict.  This is the first time that exterior upgrades have been conducted, and we support this continuing effort.

TEC Grounds and Greenhouse Project:
We noticed that ARO’s gardener was spending time cutting the school grounds lawn manually.  An Italian made gas lawn mower was purchased for the price of $540.00 (US) for this project.  We felt students needed a place to congregate in the education center’s sheltered garden, and contributed $300.00 to build a tiled patio on the grass.  Students will be able to socialize and wait for their classes on the patio. 

We also recommended purchasing a sturdy sprinkler for the garden, to maintain the green environment for our students.

A review of the greenhouse proved that expanding our current greenhouse to a hydroponics system would proof more beneficial than building a new one.  There is no extra land to build a new greenhouse, and the current greenhouse can be modified to accommodate teaching.  Kabul-area materials can be used for this improvement.

Overall Observation:
The atmosphere at the TEC is good.  Students look forward to being there and learning.  Students tell us that these courses are the “highlight of their day”!  With the beautiful garden once you really enter the compound, you forget that you’re in Kabul with its horrible traffic and poor sanitation. 

Volunteer Nazi Etemadi says, “We hope our students learn to respect and keep the building clean and neat.  I mentioned to them that you start with yourself to clean up your country.”