KONAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Throughout the conflict in Afghanistan, local individuals have been risking their lives to help Coalition forces bring peace, stability and equality to their country. The simple act of speaking to Coalition forces can often get individuals targeted by insurgents, putting their families at risk as well. One man in Konar province is not only taking the risk, he believes it’s his duty to his country to do so.
Ismail Khan is a 26-year-old Afghan with light eyes and sculpted cheekbones. He comes from a large family of 21 people. In the Afghan tradition, his father has two wives, between them he has 19 children: twelve boys and seven girls.
Before Ismail, called Ish for short, was born, his family moved to Pakistan to escape the Russian invasion of Konar province, the place he considers home.
During his time in Pakistan Ish and four of his brothers learned to speak English in school.
In 2001, Ismail returned to Jalalabad, the largest city in eastern Afghanistan.
“When I got to Jalalabad, I saw that there were no English schools in the city,” said Ish. “There are so many people here and they have to drive to other cities to go to school. It doesn’t make sense.”
So, with the support of his family and for the good of the people, in 2003 Ish opened an English institute in Jalalabad and became an English teacher.
In the beginning, the institute was very successful, but only had male students. It didn’t take long before girls were interested in taking classes too. Initially, it was only two or three girls trying to enroll, but paying a teacher to teach just three students wasn’t financially feasible to the still growing school.
“So, I thought to myself ‘why don’t I join the classes?’” said Ish.
Joining boys and girls into one class goes against traditional Afghan customs where females are still fighting to be seen as equals to males. They often have to get permission to attend school and be escorted if they go, so Ish met a lot of resistance from parents and the community. Knowing in his heart that putting the children into one class would ultimately be to the benefit of everyone, he set out on a mission to get each parent to agree.
Over the next three years, Ish met with every parent of his hundreds of students, sometimes calling them more than ten times before getting a response.
Resistance was the norm, said Ish; his most popular response was “it’s not going to happen.” But, he was persistent, and eventually succeeded in convincing the parents that the boys and girls in the combined classes would become like brothers and sisters.
In fact, Ish discovered that the mixed classes do better than classes that aren’t integrated.
“The boys don’t want to be beaten by a girl; to them it’s a matter of shame if a girl is better than them. And the girls try harder to not be beaten by the boys, so all the students are doing better because they are competing against each other,” he said.
With the success of the school under his belt, Ish still felt there was more he could do.
In 2007, Ish became an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Khowst province, leaving his brothers to run the institute.
“The Americans can’t speak Pashtu, the Afghans can’t speak English. I connect the two sides to help them make the future of Afghanistan better.”
After a couple years with the conventional Army and other government agencies, a family member suggested Ish for an interpreters slot with U.S. Special Forces back in his home province of Konar.
Today, Ish works on a small firebase in Konar where American military and Afghan local security forces live, work, and fight together.
The unconventional living arrangement suits Ish just fine.
“There is a huge impact when the U.S. and the Afghans live together and are shoulder to shoulder,” he said. “The security in this area is very good, because the people know that the [Special Forces] is here to help them. And because the two groups have become like brothers, the Afghans in the area trust them.”
Even with his primary job as an interpreter, Ish refuses to stop being a teacher. Each night after the two groups share a traditional dinner of rice, bread and beans, they clear the plates and sit together while Ish teaches a 30-minute class: 15 minutes of Pashtu, 15 minutes of English and then the two sides try to have conversations with the language skills they’ve just learned.
“Education is everything,” he said. “But, peace is needed first.”
Ish is also very aware of the danger posed by working with Coalition forces, but feels he has an obligation to his country to do his part.
“I take a risk just by being here, but these guys [the USSF] are also taking a risk. If they are doing it for us, then we must do it too. They can’t be the only ones trying to help our country.”
Ish says that the institute is still doing well, with more than 700 students, and that classes will remain a mix of boys and girls. He will continue to work with Coalition forces for as long as he can and has also gotten one of his brothers a job as a terp with him at the firebase in Konar.
“I like my job. I get to help my country and provide money for my family,” he says. “And I get to improve my English,” he says with a laugh.
| Date Taken: |
03.04.2011 |
| Date Posted: |
03.07.2011 02:04 |
| Story ID: |
66604 |
| Location: |
KONAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: |
55 |
| Downloads: |
1 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Subscribe
