This has been a week full of blessings and this morning was no exception. For the first time, our men’s team was invited to go inside the home of an Afghan family in Kabul to hear their story. Because of cultural sensitivities we split our team into two and each half-team visited a different Afghan home that our hosts had prearranged for us.
The first was the home of Mohammad Waheed*, who fled Mazar-e-Sharif 18 years ago when the Taliban took over, and came to Kabul in search of work. A cook by trade, Waheed has been unable to find consistent work as a cook so he enrolled in the plumbing training at the Adult Training Center. He is now only one month from graduating and receiving his diploma and – more importantly – a set of plumbing tools (his graduation present from our hosts) so he can begin working right away. Waheed told us that he is eager to find work and hopes to run his own plumbing business some day.
Waheed first learned of the school and training center when he saw a paper on the street and was able to enroll his oldest son in the School for Street Working Children and the next year he enrolled his younger son. And then last year he learned of the plumbing training program through his sons.
He knows his sons – now in the 3rd and 4th grade – are getting good education because they are studying the same subjects as their friends who are in the 7th and 8th grade in other schools. Right now our school only goes up to grade 7 and Waheed says he prays that by the time his sons are older, our school will go through 12th grade and even higher.
When I asked Waheed about his hopes and dreams for his sons his answer was one we hear frequently in Afghanistan – that they would experience peace and have a better life then he does.
The rest of the team was invited to visit the home of Abdul Hamid*, a man who appears to be in his 50’s, a husband, and father of two grown sons and a grown daughter who recently became very ill and passed away, leaving behind her own daughter for Abdul and his wife to care for.
Abdul was one of the most outspoken Afghan men we have ever met. He is extremely grateful for the work our organization is doing in his community, believes in western style “love marriages” (as opposed to traditional Afghan arranged marriages) and believes quite strongly about the value of education, especially for girls.
Most men in the plumbing and electrical training programs are extended family of students in the Kabul School for Street Working Children, but Abdul is an exception. He said he learned about the Adult Training Center from men talking in the community and went and banged on the gate of the ATC compound and said he wanted to learn. He was given an application, was accepted into the plumbing program, and now, like Wahid, is only a month away from graduation and his first steps toward a new future.
The first was the home of Mohammad Waheed*, who fled Mazar-e-Sharif 18 years ago when the Taliban took over, and came to Kabul in search of work. A cook by trade, Waheed has been unable to find consistent work as a cook so he enrolled in the plumbing training at the Adult Training Center. He is now only one month from graduating and receiving his diploma and – more importantly – a set of plumbing tools (his graduation present from our hosts) so he can begin working right away. Waheed told us that he is eager to find work and hopes to run his own plumbing business some day.
Waheed first learned of the school and training center when he saw a paper on the street and was able to enroll his oldest son in the School for Street Working Children and the next year he enrolled his younger son. And then last year he learned of the plumbing training program through his sons.
He knows his sons – now in the 3rd and 4th grade – are getting good education because they are studying the same subjects as their friends who are in the 7th and 8th grade in other schools. Right now our school only goes up to grade 7 and Waheed says he prays that by the time his sons are older, our school will go through 12th grade and even higher.
When I asked Waheed about his hopes and dreams for his sons his answer was one we hear frequently in Afghanistan – that they would experience peace and have a better life then he does.
The rest of the team was invited to visit the home of Abdul Hamid*, a man who appears to be in his 50’s, a husband, and father of two grown sons and a grown daughter who recently became very ill and passed away, leaving behind her own daughter for Abdul and his wife to care for.
Abdul was one of the most outspoken Afghan men we have ever met. He is extremely grateful for the work our organization is doing in his community, believes in western style “love marriages” (as opposed to traditional Afghan arranged marriages) and believes quite strongly about the value of education, especially for girls.
Most men in the plumbing and electrical training programs are extended family of students in the Kabul School for Street Working Children, but Abdul is an exception. He said he learned about the Adult Training Center from men talking in the community and went and banged on the gate of the ATC compound and said he wanted to learn. He was given an application, was accepted into the plumbing program, and now, like Wahid, is only a month away from graduation and his first steps toward a new future.