“ Twenty years back no one here could even read a letter . We are changing , but it is slow .”
— Elder Wali Mahmad
their names are still listed ,” Shah said . “ I can think of 12 students like this , they quit school and never came back . But their names are still on attendance so if they could come back , they will be enrolled . Three of them quit because the family had nobody at home to help and the father was old . One girl in class seven got married . Five girls in class nine quit before the year ended to get married .”
The small number of girls in higher classes is a concern , the teachers acknowledged . Gul Bahar is one of only 12 girls in class eight . No girl has ever left this school and gone on to finish high school .
Wali Mahmad knows someone has to be first and he ’ s determined it will be his daughter , Aman Begum . Already she is first in her class . She wants to be a nurse .
“ My daughter is in class nine and I am planning to send her to Bobo Tengi next year to complete high school ,” he said . “ People don ’ t think girls ’ education means anything . But talim [ education ] is important for everyone .”
Another girl in class nine , Pari Gul , is fourth in the class . “ I want to go to class 10 and beyond so I can be a doctor . My father is the stock-keeper in the school . My mother does not want me to continue education , but my father will let me . I want to go to Sarhad . We have relatives there .”
Keeping kids in school is important for another reason , teacher Shah said . “ All the people have sat together with the elders and made decision that since the village population is declining and they don ’ t want school to close , every person with children 7 or 8 years old must send them to school .”
j 12 : 00 p . m . i
Students are dismissed each day at noon . Gul Bahar and the other Rurung kids head out together , but they ’ re in no particular hurry .
“ When they leave from home in the morning they go faster ,” her father said . “ But on the way back , she sits and plays with her brother or her friends and it always takes longer .”
Gul Bahar said “ maybe ” it is because she knows chores and homework await her . But it may also be the human need to play . Life in the Wakhan is hard . Playtime is important . So they meander , laugh , share secrets , play tag , run sprints , and wave at the people working in the fields they pass .
Bad weather doesn ’ t seem to make much of a difference either . One May day dawned windy and rainy . About an hour after sunrise ,
Gul Bahar collects dried animal dung for fuel , one of her many daily chores .
FA L L 2 0 1 4 Journey of Hope | 33