Journey Of Hope - Fall 2018 Journey of Hope 2018 | Page 20

Jan Mohammad
Security Guard
Nangarhar,
Afghanistan
Some heroes are easy to spot — teachers in front of their classes,
principals patrolling the halls, top-notch students sitting in the first
row, hands raised. But there are other heroes of education who aren’t
so easy to pick out of a crowd. Cleaners, security guards, and lunch
ladies toil away at their daily tasks, mostly out of sight and out of mind.
To make sure students can focus on their studies, they work tirelessly
doing the chores that no one else wants to do with very little gratitude.
They are the unsung heroes of education. It’s time to bring them out of
the shadows and give them the appreciation that they deserve.
Jan Mohammad, 45, is a security guard in one of the most danger-
ous provinces in one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
In a place brimming with hostility towards education, his job
is to guard school children. The Taliban and ISIS operate in the area
where he works, and both groups would like to see schools shut
down. They make their feelings well known. In July, a suicide bomber
attacked Nangarhar’s education department killing 12 people. A few
days earlier, three school guards were beheaded by militants and
a boy’s school was set on fire.
Caught in the middle of this war on education, Jan Mohammad is
more of a soldier than a security guard. Like a soldier, he comes to
work every day ready to give his life for the boys and girls in his care.
“If anybody want to make disturbance in my school or to give loss
to my school students, so I will be first who give my life for my school
students as if they are my own children.”
His oath is not an empty one. Jan Mohammad’s resolve has been
put to the test several times. People have tried to jump over the
boundary walls or push past him at the gate to hurt the children.
He fought them. Once, after school, someone lit a fire in one of the
school tents. Thankfully, Jan Muhammad was watching and able
to put it out before the fire spread.
“I am feeling that all these school children are mine. That’s why
I am keeping eyes on their security… I am always ready to present
my life for them.”
18 | JOURNEY OF HOPE
With eight children of his own, such a sacrifice would be keenly
felt by many people. But Jan Mohammad feels his life would
be a small price to pay to save a child’s.
“Lives of these children are more precious than my life, because
these are future of Afghanistan and what tough time I spent in war-
torn areas in past, I am trying to never give to my future generation.”
GIVE THE NEXT GENERATION WHAT I NEVER HAD
Jan Mohammad never went to school himself. He lived in the era
when the Taliban were in control of the country and schools were
either destroyed or closed. Before that, fighting between militants
and the Afghan army made it impossible to study safely. His parents
were poor farmers and didn’t have the money to send him abroad
to study, so he remained illiterate and unskilled.
Without an education, it is difficult to find a job that pays well
and supporting eight children is not cheap. Most low-paying jobs,
are backbreaking. While being a security guard is not as grueling
as some jobs, it does require a lot of Jan Mohammad. In addition
to guarding the children, Jan Mohammad also does maintenance
work around the property and sleeps at the school, acting as a sort
of night watchman.
“I am also living in tent in school which is a storeroom, but
no matter. I accepted that to live there with no any even necessities
are available.” Despite the hardships, he says taking care of school
children is still his passion.
Nevertheless, Jan Mohammad wants a different life for his
children. So, when his children were old enough he marched them
over to the CAI-supported school in his neighborhood to enroll them.
Now they study under his watchful eye.
“My children are getting education in this school. When they are
happy so it keeps me happy as well.”
CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE