-Children All Smash Politics with their Joy, in Kabul Too – (Summer Newsletter 2023)

by | Jun 20, 2023

 

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Summertime in Kabul

It’s been a quiet few months in Kabul, in the Garden of Flowers Montessori Preschool. While this doesn’t make for exciting headlines, it is something to be grateful for – a sense of some kind of stability. Yes, life continues to be very difficult in Kabul for those who have stayed. Economically, socially, emotionally, physically – all of it is challenging, often agonizing. But the children continue to use joy to erase the effects of evil politics.

At the Garden of Flowers, the staff has been doing its usual stellar work with the children. Eight older children graduated in March, and are now attending the local school. New young ones were welcomed to the Garden of Flowers.

So the days of spring at the Garden were full of the joy found in Montessori lessons, playing in the yard, planting flowers, and enjoying treats – like ice cream from the ice cream man…
Inconvenience Brings a Favorable Shift
After a quiet spring, suddenly in June the water well at the Garden of Flowers ran dry. This is a very common issue in Kabul, as the water table drops lower and lower due to increased population with the ongoing drought.  For a few days, Nik Mohammad and Hedayat carried water to the house in buckets from a nearby water tap, but this was obviously not sustainable for 22 children and 5 adults daily.
So the staff made the difficult decision to close up this Garden of Flowers and seek another house with water for the school.Although this seems like a hardship (it will be their fourth move in 3 1/2 years!), the staff see it as an opportunity to move into a poorer neighborhood. While one can certainly say that everyone in Kabul is poor, levels of poverty vary.  This neighborhood was originally full of poorer families, but over the past months, those families have left for Iran and elsewhere and families with jobs and more resources have moved in.

The staff is determined to do what it takes to bring Montessori education to the children of the poorest families in Kabul. Their focus on the poorest children became even more evident when we heard the story of Waras…
His Name Is Waras…
When six-year-old Waras first knocked on the door of the Garden of Flowers, it was to ask if they had any plastic trash. The staff were disturbed seeing this very young, ragged child lugging a large bag around, collecting plastic to sell for a few pennies each day. He was a child who had forgotten that his reality should be that of a child. Nik Mohammad invited Waras inside, Hedayat had a conversation with him; the teachers asked Waras if he would like to come to school there. But he was much too shy. All he wanted was some plastic. So Nik Mohammad obliged with some water bottles and plastic wrappers, but encouraged Waras to come back soon.A few days later, here comes Waras. Nik Mohammad is ready with more plastics, and this time some extra cash, and an invitation to join the class for lunch. Waras can’t resist. And he’s back the next day. Slowly, gradually, the staff earns Waras’s trust. Nik Mohammad gave Waras a ride home in a taxi one day; and another day the teachers took him shopping for new clothes and shoes for the New Year, the season for new clothes. And the next thing we heard was that Waras was coming to class daily, joining Montessori lessons and the community – wearing his new clothes.

This is the kind of child that the staff feel driven to connect with. They have seen how such children who have nothing, including not much of a childhood, transform in the Garden of Flowers’s nurturing Montessori environment. Waras is one of those. Now he knows that he is seen, cared about, and that he matters.
Keeping In Touch – A Fresh Facebook Voice!
We are always so grateful for all those around the world who have stayed with us during these past 20 years. You have cared, worried, celebrated, inquired, donated, and supported  – and all despite our minimal social media presence! No Instagram, very little Facebook…So we are happy to announce an upgrade : our teacher Fatima is going to take over the Facebook postings! . Facebook is very popular in Afghanistan, and Fatima is a whiz. (Facebook is how Fatima keeps in touch with many of the grown children from the former House of Flowers.)

She will be sharing events and images directly from Kabul and the Garden of Flowers. She is excited to start sharing with you all and is looking forward to your comments! Please check it out so you can read Fatima’s first post and start following us, if you’re not already.

You can find us on Facebook at MEPO.Hope
What’s Next?
House hunting in Kabul is not an easy or pleasant task, and so all are hopeful that the search will soon be over. The team is preparing for the big work of moving, cleaning, and setting up a new environment, while getting to know the neighborhood in order to offer the Garden of Flowers to more children like Waras.A new Garden of Flowers is on the way, powered by the enduring conviction of the team.

We’ll keep you posted!
“In life you need two things: food to eat and a healthy mind. These are the two essentials of life.”- an ice cream seller in Tehran
The Garden of Flowers Montessori Preschool is a project of MEPO (Medical, Education and Peace Organization).It is supported solely by donations from caring individuals.

If you would like to be a part of this work, please click here to learn how to donate. 

Contact us at: mepo.hope@gmail.com
Visit our website:  mepoonline.org

Our mailing address is:
MEPO
8641 Porter Central Rd.
Sunbury, OH 43074   USA

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