Stones into Schools

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/3864262063/

Young girls prepare for their exams in Afghanistan.

In class we were given the question, "What insight did you gain on Afghanistan, it's people and its culture after reading the book?"  What surprised me the most was how much the people thirst for an education.  My initial feelings towards the people of Afghanistan, and that entire reagion really, was that education was not a priority.  That they are 'simple' people, with few needs or wants. I realize now how ignorant this sentiment is. But I am hardly the only American who thought this way. The way the media portrays Afghanistan as simply a war zone, which it certainly has been for the past 3 decades, but I never knew how culturally diverse and rich Afghanistan is. The media ignores the people and focuses on the tragedies.

After reading Greg Mortenson's Stones into Schools, the follow up book to the wildly popular Three Cups of Tea, I have gained a better understanding of the Afghanistani people.  When I really think about it, it makes sense....as an American, receiving an education was just a given, and largely taken for granted. In Afghanistan, generations have lost out on opportunities for receiving an education due to decades of war. Without the opprotunites that come with an education, young men and women are much more likely to strap a bomb to themselves in a crowd because they have nothing else to look forward to.  As Greg Mortenson has demostrated through his schools, education opens up new doors for the young people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, but more importantly it gives them hope for the future.