Four times Ten: Sar e Sarab School has been inaugurated

On the auspicious date of 10/10/2014, the Arghosha Committee participated in the inauguration of the 10th school funded by its donors, 10 years after its members started rising funds to build a school in the remote village of Arghosha, in the Afghan central highlands, after which we take our name. We did so just a few days after the Eid-al-Adha, one of the greatest feasts of Muslim calendar, and as the summer ended and gave way to the first chill of winter in this faraway region of Afghanistan.

Pupils, teachers and villagers cheering the arrival of Arghosha Committeee and local authorities

The 10th school is located at an altitude of 3050 metres above sea level, near the village of Sar-e-Sarab, which means “over the water spring”: it is in the district of Waras, in the southern highlands, a region of high mountains near the boundary which separates the province of Bamyan from that of Daykundi – one of the poorest and most isolated areas of Afghanistan.

The girls of Sar e Sarab school listen to the inauguration speeches

To reach it, we travelled by car several hours by Four-wheel drive from Bamyan city, spent the night in the guest house of our partner NGO – Shuhada Organization – in the small town of Panjao, and drove the next morning along further valleys and mountain passes up to 3500m, on rough roads, all the way to Waras.

A school with a viewThe school stands proud and beautiful on top of a hill, on a natural terrace overlooking a sea of mountains, including the aptly named Koh-e-Mikh (centre of the pic above, at the end of the horizon), one of the tallest peaks in Afghanistan, which rises steeply from the highlands and takes its name from the pole to which the ancient nomads of Central Asia tied their horses: a modest but strong little monument to the importance which all Afghans attach to the education of their children.

The Headmistress of Sar e Sarab school

Sar-e-Sarab school will be the place where 300 girls from this very remote area will finally be able to learn, study and be together inside proper classrooms; the school will be managed by a headmistress  and staffed by 7 teachers (three females and 4 males). The village already had a small boys’ school, but this will be its first one for girls, though we were told that – owing to its better size and quality of construction – it may eventually host a couple of dozens of boys at least, whom their school cannot host any longer. As in many other situations in this part of Afghanistan, co-ed arrangements will happen out of necessity, and nobody will complain. Sar e Sarab brings to over 3.600 the number of pupils attending the schools funded by Arghosha Committee, two thirds of which are girls.

Maria Rosario with Mustafa, Arghosha Committee representative in Afghanistan, Filippo and Marco

It took the Shuhada Organisation – our long-time partners and friends – only 4 months to complete the school with the help of local workforce. Committee members had discussed this matter with their interlocutors: the Governor, the Governor’s team, Shuhada and others. We had indicated that for the 10th funded school and the 10th anniversary of our engagement in the province, we wanted to strongly emphasise our founding philosophy: to bring education to remote areas of Afghanistan, where children have difficulties accessing schools, or do not go to school at all because there are no such buildings; and to have a special focus on the education of girls.

From left Jawad Wafa, director of programmes Shuhada Organisation, Dr M. Reza Ada, Filippo, Marco and Mustafa

The project was particularly challenging, given the huge distances that lorries had to travel to deliver materials to the construction site. To fund the the building the Committee had to go back to its donors several times to ask for more resources. But it was a successful endeavour.

From left Marco, Abdul Naveed, director of Shuhada Organistation, Mustafa, Gholam Hussein Matin, head of Shuhada Bamyan, Maria Rosario and Mohammed Reza Ada, head of Bamyan province dept of Education, are cutting the ribbon

The people from the community showed up in very large number to cheer at the authorities, NGO personnel and guests attending the inauguration ceremony. Prayers were offered, girls sang, gifts were given and many speakers took the floor to address the white-clad girl students, their families and the elders of the village. Finally, a ribbon was cut and sweets were passed around, and all visited the new classrooms, sitting on the new desks and chairs and writing words of good omen on the blackboards.

Writing words of good omen on the blackboard

The representatives of the community and the local authorities spoke wisely of the importance of education, and recalled that in the past 13 years – since the fall of the taliban regime and the progressive establishment of democratic institutions – nothing had prevented schools in the region from functioning well, and girls from attending them, other than the lack of resources and the harshness of the environment: Sar-e-Sarab girls’ school was a testimony of how both could be overcome when donors contributed generously, and the community worked hard.

From left, the Governor of Waras district, Dr Zahman Bahlool (proudly wearing the Arghosha blue badge), with Filippo, Mustafa and Marco moving into the school

The Waras district Governor, former Senator Dr Zahman Bahlool, praised all those involved – people in the village, the Shuhada Organisation, the Arghosha Committee and its donors – for having laid yet another milestone in the building of a new Afghanistan, and for giving a better future to the young people of a remote area. Mohammed Reza Ada, head of the department of Education of Bamyan province, could add one more school to his pursuit of giving a roof to all children of the province. All agreed that a little further work was needed to complete the project – especially a boundary wall, which the community will build, and, importantly, a water well, which the Arghosha Committee promised to raise funds for, with the village providing the workforce to dig it.

Inside one of the 12 classrooms

We wish to thank first and foremost our donors for having contributed to this worthy project. Once again – through big and small gifts – they have enabled us to contribute significantly to the education of an isolated, poor community, eager to learn and develop, and proud to finally possess a school for girls. We are happy of the relationship which we have built over the years with Shuhada Organisation, with the Bamyan provincial authorities, and with the communities hosting the schools. They have been crucial in ensuring that the contributions of our donors are lasting and sustainable: last year, the Committee’s chairman, Marco Niada, spent a month last year in the Central Highlands visiting all schools built since the start with Arghosha Committee funding. Save for a few inevitable problems (which were subsequently addressed) Marco found all schools active, busy and functioning well. We are confident that through the cooperation of all, the new Sar-e-Sarab school for girls will also thrive.

On our way back to Bamyan, towards Shatoo pass (3450m)