October 22, 2009

We have Azizullah, a 19 years old young local worker, in our Project Afghan Literacy (PAL) class. A dark skinned, skinny young man with lots of pimples on his forehead is a young local worker who works to support his family.

Azizullah works in the latrine; cleaning toilets and floors. Once I asked him, how he liked working here, and he repeated, ‘I like, I like,’ with a big smile on his face. Every day, I wished he joined our class and learned, so he could get better jobs later.
When I saw him enrolled in the class on the first day, I was extremely happy for him. I pray that this class encourages him to continue educating himself for the better future.

Azizullah has never attended school before. He doesn’t talk much, but he likes his job since it pays little better than the local jobs he finds at his village. Sometimes, he looks at me and asks if I like the floor he just cleaned. I smile and show two thumbs up at him.

Today, when I went to the latrine, I saw him studying (or doing homework, I did not know exactly what) in a small corner. Wow… I was very impressed at what I was seeing.

My eyes froze at him for a few second, and I quickly ran out to grab my camera. I took couple pictures and gave him a big smile and two thumbs up! He smiled back and kept writing.

I was so pleased to see him studying, and I am very proud of the progress we are making with the class. I just wish we could do more for these people.

These young men and women, like Azizullah, are the future of Afghanistan, and Dr. Rafi, Asad, and I will do our best to help them learn more things, not just literacy.

“Bravo, Azizullah!!! Keep up the good work!!!”