…I’m Proud To Be An American, where at least I know I’m free….
The good news is, the cat is away. Yes, it’s deer season and the mice will play. I love this time of year. There wasn’t anyone around at the office to make any kind of statement about the meeting I missed last Friday. I skated this time.
Interestingly, I sat at the Rotary meeting today with a young man from Afghanistan, named Mohibullah Israr. Israr is spending a year at CMU studying English as a Second Language, thanks to a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar award.
Israr began by telling a little of his life, which illustrates the large differences between his country and ours. He’s 32 years old, he thinks. Of course, there are no official records. When he needed his birth date for a passport he asked his father to estimate the year and then he picked a day he liked. He chose September 15th. He has been married for 11 years now following his arranged marriage. He has six children – four boys and two girls. He feels that will be enough, even though there is family pressure to have ten to twelve children. His extended family – parents, brothers and wives, and children – all live in one house. There are 45 of them!
He was born in Khowst. With the Russian invasion the family left one night – leaving everything, and moved to for Pakistan. His father was in the jihad, fighting against the Russians. At seven years of age Israr saw a few school children, and self-enrolled in the school. One reason he wanted to attend was the students received shoes. He continued his studies until in 1993 he enrolled in Peshawar University. Later he moved to Kabul University in 1997 when the Taliban took over Afghanistan. The university courses were mainly on religion, but they also had foreign languages. Israr studied English.
After graduation, he returned to Pakistan and taught English. In 2003 he took a position in Jalalabad and worked for a NGO as an interpreter. This led to a United Nations job working on disarmament. He collected weapons (including missiles). His strategy was to offer training in some trade. Without another way to make a living, the only choice for men was to be a fighter. This job landed him on a “to be killed” list, so he resigned and worked for AID.
He was teaching part time at the University when he received the Rotary scholarship. Getting to America took three years of paperwork.
The good news is, the cat is away. Yes, it’s deer season and the mice will play. I love this time of year. There wasn’t anyone around at the office to make any kind of statement about the meeting I missed last Friday. I skated this time.
Interestingly, I sat at the Rotary meeting today with a young man from Afghanistan, named Mohibullah Israr. Israr is spending a year at CMU studying English as a Second Language, thanks to a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar award.
Israr began by telling a little of his life, which illustrates the large differences between his country and ours. He’s 32 years old, he thinks. Of course, there are no official records. When he needed his birth date for a passport he asked his father to estimate the year and then he picked a day he liked. He chose September 15th. He has been married for 11 years now following his arranged marriage. He has six children – four boys and two girls. He feels that will be enough, even though there is family pressure to have ten to twelve children. His extended family – parents, brothers and wives, and children – all live in one house. There are 45 of them!He was born in Khowst. With the Russian invasion the family left one night – leaving everything, and moved to for Pakistan. His father was in the jihad, fighting against the Russians. At seven years of age Israr saw a few school children, and self-enrolled in the school. One reason he wanted to attend was the students received shoes. He continued his studies until in 1993 he enrolled in Peshawar University. Later he moved to Kabul University in 1997 when the Taliban took over Afghanistan. The university courses were mainly on religion, but they also had foreign languages. Israr studied English.
After graduation, he returned to Pakistan and taught English. In 2003 he took a position in Jalalabad and worked for a NGO as an interpreter. This led to a United Nations job working on disarmament. He collected weapons (including missiles). His strategy was to offer training in some trade. Without another way to make a living, the only choice for men was to be a fighter. This job landed him on a “to be killed” list, so he resigned and worked for AID.
He was teaching part time at the University when he received the Rotary scholarship. Getting to America took three years of paperwork.
Israr says that there is good things happening in Afganistan. We usually hear about the war over there, but it's much better now than it was under Taliban rule. Women are widely employed now (couldn’t work under the Taliban). Schools are open. Israr believes that education is the key to improving conditions.
Under the Taliban, women had to wear burkas, even while giving birth. Israr is so happy that the Americans came and freed them, even though his own life is in danger when home. He is really impressed with washers and dryers here in America. Women in Afghanistan still beat their clothing on rocks to clean them. It takes days for them to dry.
Israr has far too many stories for me to tell right now. But let me tell you sisters, we have an awful lot to be thankful for. Forget the satin right now. Let’s stop and be thankful that we don’t have to wear burkas, we get to pick our own husbands, and we have washers and dryers.
Under the Taliban, women had to wear burkas, even while giving birth. Israr is so happy that the Americans came and freed them, even though his own life is in danger when home. He is really impressed with washers and dryers here in America. Women in Afghanistan still beat their clothing on rocks to clean them. It takes days for them to dry.
Israr has far too many stories for me to tell right now. But let me tell you sisters, we have an awful lot to be thankful for. Forget the satin right now. Let’s stop and be thankful that we don’t have to wear burkas, we get to pick our own husbands, and we have washers and dryers.
Note: If I ever did have to wear a burka, I'd want mine in soft pink satin.....
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