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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (April 18, 2008) - Elementary
school children from the U.S. and Afghanistan met face to face last
night, over video teleconference, facilitated by the Combined Joint
Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, as part of a partnership
program and cultural exchange.
CJSOTF-A has been working with village elders, teachers, parents
and students of the Jan Qadam Elementary School, outside the gates
of Bagram Air Field, to enable the school to become a more
effective center of education. Coalition troops have been able to
supply more than 1,200 students with notebooks, pens, pencils,
backpacks, rules and glue to get them started on a good school
year, with the help of Calvert City elementary School in Calvert
City, Kentucky.
The Jan Qadam students used a conference room on Bagram Air
Field while the Calvert City students used a conference room at
Fort Campbell, Ky.
Young Afghan girls wearing black dresses and white scarves
excitedly whispered to each other, about the pretty, colorful
shirts and long loose hair of their American counterparts. The
Afghan boys, dressed similar to any American child with jeans,
shirts and baseball caps, fidgeted as they waited their turn to
talk and answer questions.
One of the highlights of the conference was when a young,
confident Afghan boy stood up and read a letter he wrote to the
American students in almost perfect English. At the end of the
letter he said he hoped the American students would try to learn
Dari and talk to him some day.
"We have been enriched by this program," said Phyllis O'neill,
Calvert City Elementary School Principal. O'neill said she
encourages her students to do volunteer work and explore other
cultures to gain an understanding of those cultures.
This is important for the U.S. students because it really shows
them it's not easy for other students to go to school and get an
education, O'neill said.
"I appreciate all the students for sending these items," said
the Jan Qadam Headmaster. "We are relatively poor and all the kids
here are really happy for the supplies."
Most students wanted to know simple things about each other.
They asked about school, choice of favorite foods, sports, and
animals and what activities they do during recess.
Some of the Afghan children tried to stump the Calvert students
with riddles and they clapped joyfully when the answers came over
the airwaves.
However, this is not the first communications these students
have had. A few months ago, some of the Calvert City students wrote
letters to the Jan Qadam students and their Afghan peers are in the
process of writing them back.
According to a Coalition representative, the goal is for the
relationship between these schools to continue in order to enrich
all of the students and show the importance of education. The
partnership is meant as an exchange that will continue for years;
enriching the lives of both sets of students.
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