Even the local news agencies like Pajhwok Afghan News strike a similar note, but at least they take us past the two-dimensional reporting that consigns certain countries and societies to the refuse heap of history. As I pray for this country, here are some of the alternative narratives that I would like to embrace:
Alongside the ongoing discrimination against girls in Afghan education, there are stories of a shifting centre of gravity:
- Training on HR, gender to benefit 7,600 future teachers
- First-ever Girls’ Hygiene Guidelines launched in Afghanistan
- Violence against women 38% down
Now of course I could provide an alternative list, of schools torched, of teachers threatened, of girls excluded and of scholarship programmes which further the ends of male-dominated education. But doing this has made me wonder whether where I focus my attention might constitute an element of hope, and faith. Certainly, it changes the tenor of my prayer.
I could go on with a load of other categories, but 'reconstruction' was another fruitful field, with the Italian entry being unexpected (and revealing my prejudice about the current state of Italian governance!)
- 49 irrigation projects worth 138m afs completed in Herat
- Italy pledges €13m in aid for Bamyan projects
- The UK's DFID programme (though it has a pathetically small budget) has the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust at the top of its list, and small amounts of money make a difference in a country that struggles as badly as Afghanistan does. Go Britain go!!
The other sobering thought that occurred to me, and does regularly, is how much the current state of Afghanistan has been caused by imperial pretensions, British, Russian, Pakistani, and now Far Eastern. We play games with weak and struggling countries, and then shake our heads and tut when the politics explodes in our faces. So my final prayer for Afghanistan is that those who invest in it might do so out of humility, compassion, and a desire for peace. Happy Christmas!
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