An amazing school in Kabul
Aziz Royash is the founder of an amazing school in Kabul that teaches students about civic values, the meaning of democracy, and the importance of supporting human rights in every culture.
The Marefat school, which goes from first to 12th grade, is located in an area of Kabul that is populated by members of the Hazara minority, a Turkic people that are descended from the Mongols and mainly live in central Afghanistan. Nearly all of its students are Hazara.
To reach the school one drives over roads with ruts so deep that I was certain we wouldn't make it. The school itself is two stories high, around a large inner courtyard with a balcony running along the second story, off which classrooms open. The construction is basic, the floors covered with the residue of small muddy boots.
But the students here - the boys dressed neatly in pants, shirts and ties, and the girls in light blue pants, tunics, and white headscarves, are serious and motivated. When you speak to these young people you can imagine a very different, and hopeful future for Afghanistan.
