"This is a very good lesson."
Yesterday I taught teachers at the Afghans4Tomorrow girls school in the Jangalak neighborhood of Kabul. I knew from prior years the teachers were interested in the workings of plants, so I designed a lesson on pollination. I spent the morning in the guesthouse garden gathering flowers in various stages of bloom. The ca-ca (old uncle) who cares for the garden helped me cut the stems with a knife he pulled out of his pocket, his hands gnarly. When he saw me bend over a tomato blossom, he went inside his house to show me the fruit he had recently harvested from it. I put the blooms into a cast-off water bottle for a vase. the driver and the housekeeper (at the A4T Guesthouse) drew near to see what I had gathered, and I pointed out the pollen, the seed heads.
After learning about various pollinators (bats, bees, birds, flies, beetles, wind) and their preferences, the teachers were given an assignment: design an imaginary flower that would be attractive to their assigned pollinator. Then they presented their flower to the class and explained why it would attract their pollinator.

The teachers enjoyed this lesson so much that they jostled with each other for priority in making their presentations! They really enjoyed thinking like a flower. Then we went outside with magnifiers and observed real-life pollinators in action.

Teachers having fun with a lesson
Here`s a brief video of teachers enjoying one of my lessons. It takes so long to download videos here that I have clipped it really short.

We were learning about pollinators. I asked the teachers to imagine a flower that would attract a certain pollinator: honey bee, bat, moth, butterfly, fly (re: flies, see previous post!), etc.

I told the teacher what each pollinator liked; then they drew a flower to attract it. They really liked this assignment, especially the opportunity to show their work to the other teachers. They all stood up at the same time, to be the first to make their report!

There was a great deal of laughter in this lesson. You can just catch me encouraging, `Good Job!`

The woman on the right is the Koran teacher. We were talking about how wonderful God`s work is, that these flowers knew how to get what they needed. I asked her if she could point out parts in the Koran that mentioned God`s work in creating the natural world. She told me to check Chapter 30.

This past summer I was very fortunate to return to Afghanistan as a volunteer teacher at the Afghans4Tomorrow Vocational and Training Center (A4T School #1). While it was only a month, there was a lot to experience and learn.
The hospitality of the Afghans was as welcoming as my first trip (see below under 2006 Volunteers). On a daily basis, the girls at the A4T School # 1 were very gracious and demonstrated their desire to learn English. I recognized some girls from my first visit and it was exciting to meet new students. It was also great to work with the current English Teacher; see below. A4T is extremely lucky to have a principal and vice principal very dedicated to educating their students. It was truly an honor to work under them.

At the A4T schools there is an exciting desire to learn and the girls seem very proud of their efforts. In the school you can hear teachers teaching and students reciting and answering questions. But you also hear and see girls laughing, playing, and enjoying their school. A4T is truly doing a great service for the community around its schools and as an American teacher it was a great privilege to be part of it.

July 2008

On my third day at the Janet/A4T School, certificates were passed out to each student showing their year-end test scores and completion of that grade. The graduating sixth graders received their certificates (see photo) from their principal and were given praise by A4T co-founder Najib Mojaddidi and by the A4T Country Director, who were also present. After taking this photo the students spontaneously sang two verses of `We Shall Overcome` and then sang the National Anthem of Afghanistan. They also told me the career of their dreams, including: a teacher, doctor, engineer, journalist and TV broadcaster. The A4T students at both schools impressed me with their strong desire to excel in their lessons and in reading, and their respect for their teachers, school & A4T members. Seeing them laugh and sing brought me much joy. Many were eager to practice English with us and said English was their favorite subject!
We also distributed school supplies, a pair of hand-knit wool socks for each student, (see article/TV interview) and trees donated by the A4T-Bare Roots Group.

July 16, 2006:
I am presently teaching at the A4T School # 1. The school is made up of about 220 - 240 students. The class sizes vary from 10 -18. The girls ages also vary from 5 to 20. All of the girls wear a uniform, which consists of a black outfit and a white scarf. The staff includes a director and about 11 teachers. The children learn the basics as well as religion or the Quran. There are four or five computers in a computer class. They also learn embroidery. The English teacher, who is Afghan, learned English in Pakistan. I am now teaching her classes as she sits in and takes notes. Sometimes I will ask her to demonstrate an activity with me, which right now is using flash cards with a partner.

The students and teachers have been so welcoming and friendly. I truly feel like an honored guest. When we take breaks between classes, we go to the office with some of the other teachers. There we will have tea, cookies, and cakes. Nobody will allow me to serve my own tea. All of the Afghans I have met have been so generous and nice. They are very gentle people who would seem to go out of their way to make one feel welcomed and at home.
Another thing that has impressed me is their desire to learn. Constantly through the day the director and some other teachers will ask me how to say something in English. They have brought in their own English books they have from home and asked me to teach some of the lessons. So after the kids leave we go to a classroom and six of the staff participates. The custodian also participates in the lessons and activities and I find this so incredible.
He does not have to learn English yet he comes and participates.
Last entry: Saying goodbye to the children and staff here in Kabul was a different sensation. I was very touched when the girls stood in the courtyard and volunteered to get their picture taken. During my first week with them I took pictures and many made sure their scarves covered their faces and they looked down into the desks, refusing to look at the lens. Now they were waving and laughing and requesting to be photographed. When they gestured me to stand with them and have another teacher take the picture of us, I was truly proud. It meant so much to feel accepted and I guess to a certain degree trusted.

9-17-06
My son Nicholas, a senior in college, helped teach hands-on science at the two A4T schools in Kabul in Aug. 2006. It was my third trip to these schools (5th to Afghanistan) and Nick's first. On a trip to Kabul last spring, my friend Asma Eschen had asked the school's science teacher what subjects they would like addressed and they responded, the human body. So, before going to Afghanistan, Nick and I took classes at UC Davis and UC Berkeley and tried experiments on our kitchen table.
Of the lessons we taught on the body's major systems, (circulatory, respiratory, digestive), the circulatory lesson was probably their favorite. We drew a large heart diagram in chalk in the courtyard of the schools. The heart was connected to lungs and other human organs. The teachers had to play the role of red blood cells, walking through the circulatory system, exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide and keeping track of where they were in the system. There was a lot of laughing when some of the red blood cells traveled in the wrong direction or bumped into other red blood cells. All the teachers liked using the stethoscopes; some needed encouragement to perform strenuous exercises at the pulse-reading station.
A board member had suggested that we might take the teachers and students on a field trip to a village in Farza, where A4T helped create a reservoir and water distribution system that has answered "95 percent" of the village's water problems. I said that I'd combine this field trip with a lesson on water filtration: how an individual can clean dirty water.

Nearly 110 students plus the teachers signed up for this trip and 4 buses had to be hired. I expressed my amazement to A4T's Country Director, and he answered simply that the parents trusted A4T to keep their daughters safe. I am certain this was the first field trip for the girls and teachers.

Nick first mixed up dirty water and then the students cleaned it. Local supplies (plastic bottles, gravel, sand, paper towels and water) were used to build personal water filters. A few drops of bleach were added at the end to make the water safe for drinking.

9-27-06
So far everything at school and with A4T has been great for me and the girls have completely stolen my heart.

Since my arrival I've been teaching various subjects including English, science, math and geometry.

Due to the ongoing exams I've been focusing on preparing the students with whichever subject they have difficulties with. Beside basic classroom instructions I try to simultaneously incorporate general health and social skills in my classroom curriculum.

These girls are extremely talented and A4T schools are giving them the opportunity to take charge of their own destiny.