By Stephen Perlman | Director, U.S. Operations
Afghanistan's future has always rested in the hands of each new generation of its most vulnerable citizens; its children. Yet, for almost 30 years, Afghan girls and boys have too often been the forgotten innocent victims of a never-ending cycle of violence, conflict, and terror.
The emotional trauma for children cannot be overestimated. Many Afghan children who were (and still are) exposed to violence in some way, have difficulty coping and are thus reluctant to seek the comfort from a trusting adult, including their own parents. This in turn affects their attitudes and abilities to develop positive behaviors and critical learning tools they will need if they are to become productive adults.
Help the Afghan Children (HTAC's) peace education curriculum is helping many of these children deal with the emotions and consequences of anger, fear, fighting, and sadness, while helping them embrace values such as patient, apologizing, bravery, sympathy, mediation, and mutual respect.
A new aspect of HTAC's curriculum has been the introduction of our "Journey of Peace" storybooks. Each of these 16 original, illustrated books are written in Dari, Pashto, and English. The books communicate the message of peace on a very personal level. They provide children with current, real-life examples of the challenges they often see for themselves; especially the underlying emotional trauma of witnessing or experiencing violence, while offering realistic actions children can take to help promote the healing process.
Introduced to over 1,500 students this school year, our storybooks are already beginning to help Afghan children, especially boys, better cope with their emotions, engage in positive behaviors with other students, and with the help of teachers (who also provide guidance to the parents of these children), facilitating a more trusting and nurturing home environment.
In a male-dominated society like Afghanistan, helping young boys incorporate the lessons of peace in their daily lives will go a long way in eventually moving Afghanistan away from war and violence as a country.
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