PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Gregory P. Macris, a U.S. State Department foreign service officer currently working with the Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team, visited the Number Two City Secondary School, in Charikar District, Afghanistan, June 6 to deliver drawings made for the Afghan students by U.S. second graders from Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in his hometown of Falls Church, Va.
“Today International Security Assistance Forces paid a visit to our school to share the knowledge and talents of students in Charikar and students in U.S.,” said Fawzia Hakimi, the Afghan school’s principal. “The U.S. student’s paintings will encourage our students to work hard.”
“I am very thankful for the visiting of ISAF to our school, their assistance is also very useful to us, it will encourage us to study hard and serve for the society,” said Sona Sadat, a student at the Afghan school.
The program started with a visit Macris made to Thomas Jefferson Elementary School.
“I visited the class in the states and handed out some supplies,” said Macris. “They drew their dogs, their houses and their football teams. The reaction to the art exchange was fantastic.”
While visiting with the U.S. students, Macris did more than just ask for drawings, he also talked to them about Afghanistan and taught them a few words in Dari. Macris then brought those pictures with him and shared the pictures and attempts at writing Dari words with the Afghan students.
The Afghan students drew their own images for the U.S. students, which Macris will deliver when he returns to the states. Macris also taught the Afghan children the English words for the pictures they had drawn.
“This visit not only exchanges talent of both students, Afghan and U.S., it also encourages both students to know each other’s culture and share their culture and information,” said Adellah, a teacher at the Afghan school.
The art exchange is a part of a much larger idea. Macris hopes to one day build a sister city program.
“In the longer term, what I would like to do here is build what we call a sister city relationship between my hometown of Falls Church and Charikar, the capitol of Parwan,” said Macris. “Long-term relationships, where the mayors and city council members visit their counterpart’s respective cities and talk about things that city fathers have to face every day, things like fostering schools in times of declining budgets, property taxes or trash collection.”
Starting a sister city project proved difficult. After running into officials with over-crowded schedules and lack of interest in the idea, Macris’ had to rethink his strategy.
“I talked with other people in the sister city program and they said to try and start a smaller relationship,” said Macris.
Macris’ daughter, a student at Jefferson, suggested starting a smaller relationship with an art exchange program.
“What I am trying to do is start at the school level or even the classroom level,” said Macris. “I am trying to create a link between that school and the girl’s school here in Charikar.”
Macris hopes this relationship will build and spread interest in the program and branch out into other parts of the community, making the idea of the sister city program more appealing to city officials. Macris’ hopes the demographic of Falls Church will fuel support for the program.
“The area of Falls Church ... is married with a lot of military families and foreign service families,” said Macris. “It is a very worldly city. The students already knew a little bit about Afghanistan, they could even point it out on a map.”
They probably had a family member or two that served over here, continued Macris.
“I tell a funny story when I come over here – to Afghanistan. In my area of Falls Church, a mile down one road and I can go to the Bamayan restaurant and a mile up the other road I can go to the Panjshir restaurant,” said Macris. “I literally have two Afghan restaurants on either side of me. It’s like Parwan being sandwiched by Panjshir and Bamayan.”
These two places on opposite sides of the world seem to be made for each other, continued Macris. He said he hopes his efforts will help build a stronger relationship and understanding between the Afghan and American people.
For now though the Afghan people are in the midst of trying to rebuild a shattered infrastructure and in need of more than just a cultural exchange.
“Some of our students are not in a good economic situation and are not able to buy stationary and other supplies to continue their studies,” said Sadat. “We want the Afghan government and ISAF to pay more attention to our problems and supporting us to continue our studies.”
Macris knows their plight so he invited along members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Task Force Red Bulls, to distribute school supplies they collected.
“This humanitarian aid drop is what is going to leave much more of a lasting impression here because they’ve got a willing spirit but the flesh is weak, so to speak,” said Macris. “The resources aren’t there, so to be honest this is the thing that will really help.”
Another young girl and her brother with the help of their classmates from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in West Des Moines, collected a large amount of the school supplies. Elisabeth Wunn, 10, fourth grade, and Michael Wunn, 8, 2nd grade, the children of U.S. Army Maj. Michael Wunn, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Task Force Red Bulls public affairs officer, from Clive, Iowa, inspired the drives in their classrooms.
Wunn’s deployment has been difficult on his two oldest children; so to help them understand, he visited their classrooms and taught the students about Afghanistan and what the children were like. He explained that they were just like U.S. children and enjoyed the same things like coloring and soccer, but the lived different, impoverished lives.
“We also talked about how soldiers have to make sacrifices as a part of their duties and how they make a difference in the world through their work,” said Wunn. “The kids thought this was neat and they wanted to know how they could help out. So I suggested that they could collect school supplies and soccer balls to send to the kids in Afghanistan.”
“I am happy, ISAF give me color pencils and a pen,” said Ferdaws, 6, a student at the Afghan school. “I hope I will get toys in future.” He later found out about the soccer balls and was ecstatic.
“Now through this exchange we’ve connected kids from Afghanistan, Falls Church, and West Des Moines,” said Wunn. “That’s pretty amazing if you think about it. What a great way to expand their horizons and learn a little about kids from other parts of the world.”
The future of the program is uncertain but through the minds and hearts of young children the program has a chance, said Macris. He said he will do all he can to make sure it comes to fruition.
“I am not sure what the next step will be, but when I go back to the states, my goal is to start working from that end to build this relationship,” said Macris. “I know my successor quite well and he is coming here to continue to the work from this end, so I am thinking if we can do a little push/pull we can move this thing along.”
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.15.2011 18:35 |
| Story ID: | 72142 |
| Location: | PARWAN PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 102 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Coalition forces foster relations between Afghan, US students, by SPC James Wilton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
