Operation Enduring Education kicks off in Kandahar

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN

03.28.2007

Courtesy Story

22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment   

By Army Sgt. LeeAnn Lloyd
22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Army Maj. Trent Maly, of the Force Protection Office at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan launched Operation Enduring Education, in an effort to fill the shelves of schools with the necessary tools to build a foundation for solid education.

"I was working with a couple of local translators doing some different operations, and I learned about the atrocities of the education system in Afghanistan. All of the women and schoolteachers were executed. The books were ordered to have all images and pictures removed. They (The Taliban) did that. And they eventually got to the point where they burned all the books," Maly noted. "There are still schools and libraries in Afghanistan that don't have any textbooks today. That just blew me away. These things happened in the past, but they're actually still affecting right now," Maly said.

Maly is working with a local schoolteacher to build a library, the first one in the Kandahar region since the fall of the Taliban.

"I met with one of the local school teachers, and he was working with the locals to actually get a library built, to start over. That was his big goal; that's what he works toward everyday - giving Afghanistan a new start," Maly said.

"He's basically been telling everyone of what happened so he can educate his kids to actually see that there's more in the world than what they see here in Afghanistan and in this Kandahar Region. This guy has dedicated his life to that; not only helping the coalition, but also running and building schools," Maly said.

It is that type of dedication, Maly said, that struck a nerve and inspired him to do something to help. Thus began Operation Enduring Education.

Maly hopes to receive a variety of textbooks, particularly medical books with drawings and pictures to help educate people about the anatomy and structure of the human body.

"There are none (Medical books), because there were pictures of the human body. All of the pictures of human bodies were destroyed and banned by the Taliban," Maly noted.

Maly is reaching out not only to people in the U.S. for assistance, but to the international community as well.

"I hope that the other nations will volunteer their assistance because of the need for the different types of textbooks, the different languages - not only the Pashto, but the French, the English, the German and every different language. They also want those types of books to show these kids that there is more to life than what they see around them in Afghanistan, which the Taliban has basically attempted to squash so they have no hope. This is a means to show the kids what their future could be," Maly said.

Operation Enduring Education's goal is to acquire basic supplies and textbooks; "really any standard school supplies that any kid should have that's going to school from kindergarten through ninth grade," Maly said.

"The only consideration is to be sensitive about their Islamic state. There's no freedom of religious speech here, and our only concern is sending materials that might attempt to convert somebody to a different religion. We're not here trying to convert anyone to anything; we're just trying to offer peace and educate them. We'd like to allow the education process to work," Maly said.

The hopes for the end state of Operation Enduring Freedom is that basic school supplies be offered to local communities, and relations between Afghans and coalition forces will be strengthened as we continue to offer support.

"We want to show the other side of the coalition and American presence. We're not only here fighting; we're here to help them get to a state of peace and prosperity," Maly said.

Donations can be sent to:
US NCE
Operation Enduring Education
APO, AE 09355

• Date Taken: 03.28.2007
• Date Posted: 03.28.2007 14:30
• Story ID: 9653
• Location: KANDAHAR, AF