y % _ ; Seep were Peeers Lh Ee qeere Fc ete ig City under siege By HEATHER BELLAMY AS THE International Red Cross Beech- craft soared into the sky from the border town of Peshawar, Pakistan, I had to pinch myself to prove this wasn’t a figment of my over-traveled imagination. I was really on my way to the ancient city of Kabul, Afghanistan — crossroad of Alexander the Great, Ghengis Khan and now the English teacher from Terrace, B.C, On board with us were valuable medicines and equipment for a variety of aid agencies. I mused as to what a ‘black hole’ this country has been concerning the never- ending crisis for food and basic health care needs. . With the ongoing civil war in Afghanistan, many would say it’s throwing good'money after bad, wes I’ve known this country and people long enough to see that despite the gloomy fore- cast, lives are touched and changed by caring individuals and aid agencies, one by one, family by family. Below, the Khyber Pass snakes through the rugged and barren Hindu Kush mountains. We fly over some of the bleakest terrain I have ever seen, Rock, dust and the odd village nestle on the banks of a river, We see the dust trail as we Oy over a U.N. truck convoy of the last distribution of "the spring. The latest stats say that 80 per cent of adults in Kabul are malnourished — living through the winter months on mostly bread and tea. I was about to see the effects -Of the ongoing war first hand, “| had sat with these stu- dents and seen them shake and cry as they told me their Stories and pulled up their shirts to show me the marks of electric torture.” Our flight landed in a military airbase of the city and we were shuttled at breakneck speed the 45 miles into Kabul. As we enter- ed the city the destruction unfolded, New districts built under the Russian oc- cupation were squalid, overcrowded and had lost water and electricity. Factories built at the same time were bombed out shells in which nomadic goatherders had set up tents. The rocket craters in the streets made driving a compe- titive rally sport. We were met by friends and taken to their heavily sandbagged homie. A handpump in their front yard supplied the water and all the cooking and heating was accomplished on small diesel burners. The first night as we went to sleep on the mats I could her incoming and outgoing rocket fire in the distant hills. The next seven days we toured around the city to see a varlety of reilef projects — schools and training centres for the blind, rehab physiotherapy schools, mother-child health clinics and food aid distribution, In “ every centre the need seemed to overwhelm the actual help available. Almost daily, the rockets from the Taliban fighters (a strictly fundamentalist Muslim group seeking to take over Kabul) outside the city took their toll. "Hardest bit were those out on the streets trying to wrestle a living by selling gaso- * jine, or scrounging wood or metal. ~ Everywhere men were rebuilding homes, walls and streets, re-emerging to continue when the firing ceased. Driving onto the University of Kabul campus I noticed the main gate sign laying by the road and shot full of holes. The tries to rebuild campus had been the front line of three fighting factions and one of the most heavi- ly mined sections of the city, Some of the beautiful trees remained and it was clear a concerted effort had been made to repair many of the buildings. We were warmly met and offered the obligatory cups of tea. The university chan- cellor spoke a precise American English and outlined the faculties that were up and running. He expressed regret that during the Rus- sian occupation most professors were either killed or had fled the country. There was now a huge lack of qualified professors. The English department in par- _ in a’state of disrepair. “ T remembered hearing‘former Afghan stu- dents tell of days when the entire student body was rounded up and several students chosen to show the consequences of dis- agreeing with the new communist ideology ~— they were shot. Many students who took to the streets to protest this insanity were photographed and later rounded up into prisons. Most sat there for up to four years, not knowing if they’d be one of the unlucky ones eliminated to make room for more dissi- dents. For me this wasn’t just a lot of propaganda I’ve been fed, I had sat with these students and seen them shake and cry as they told me their stories and pulled up their shirts to show me the marks of electric torture. We were taken to the languages and liter- ature department and introduced to the staff of the English department. We sat together as they outlincd their positions, ‘‘We were like soldiers going to the front lines with a rifle without any bul- lets,’” said one teacher. I could sense the embarrassment as they pointed to the photocopied texts they managed to salvage. They were teaching purely on what they remembered being taught at one time, “What can we do to help strengthen you as teachers,’’ we asked, “‘More than any- thing, we need teacher-training and resources to work with!’’ My excitement grew as we were invited into several classes and began to chat with the students. The level of spoken English was great and [ was impressed with the enthusiasm for learning in their faces. As with our students in Pakistan, these young people see English as a door into the modem world of commerce, international trade, diplomacy and travel. Leaving the campus, we were asked again to stay on. I could see myself there really making a difference but it would take some planning and support. We tentatively promised to return in the summer of 1997 to hold a three-month teacher training institute. Back home in Terrace for the summer, my mind often wandered back to those teachers. I was fortunate to be able to gain the sup- port of a refugee-helping agency based in Calgary called Samarilan’s Purse, renowned for its elementary school Christ- mas shoebox projects for kids in Bosnia last year, - ; If this exciting opportunity to support fur- ther teacher training at Kabul University is something that has touched you, you can be involved in sending a donation to: Samaritan’s Purse Account 80192 Box 20100 Calgary Place Calgary, Alberta T2P 4J2 Funds that come in will be used to pur- chase battery-operated cassette players, put- ting together a language lab as well as a teacher Heather Bellamy, right, takes small teacher resource Library, ~ ticular became “‘second citizens’ and was 7 FACES FULL of hope and questioning abound in the Afghanistan Heather Bellamy recently visited the city and comes back with an * capital of Kabul. A civil war, begun in 1979 when the Russians in- encouraging story despite the human hardship and misery that has vaded the country, shows no sign of ending. Terrace resident resulted from the lengthy conflict. HEATHER BELLAMY PHOTO HEATHER BELLAMY was teaching when the bomb went off. Although the blast — set off by Egyptian dissidents in front of their enbassy in Islamabad, Pakistan last year and killed more than 1S people — was several iniles away the shock wave blew open the door of her classroom, — it wasn’t a typical day for the Terrace resident in Pakistar’s capital city but it does represent the kind of atmosphere in which she now &ves and works. Trained as a teacher, Bel- lamy first taught in Pokistan from 1986 to 1988, She came back to Terrace in the early 1990s, returned to Pakistan once .and is now back for another major stint. Bellamy works and teaches at a school in Is- lanabad = for Afghan refugees wha fled there fat- lowing the continuing civil wor which kas devastated their country. 3 peo 3 MURAL ON a wall in Kabul explains deadly munitions which abound from many years of fighting. Many of The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 4, 1996 - AS From Terrace to Pakistan _ Heather Bellamy That civil war began with a Russian invasion in 1979. Although the Russians have now left, fighting be- tween various factions is ongoing. pet Al first sponsored by World Relief Canada, Bet- lamy is now sponsored by Samaritan'’s Purse, an in- ternational Christian relief organization ran by Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham, these pictures are of various types of land mines. They are an effective and cheap method of destruction but more often than not, civillans are the unintended targets and not soldiers. HEATHER BELLAMY PHOTO SANDBAGS IN front of buildings are a way of life in Kabul as a form of protection against rackets and explo- sions. These workers are bolstering the front of a physiotherapy rehabilitation clinic in the city. HEATHER BEL- LAMY PHOTO EVERYDAY LIFE continues in some fashion or another In COURTESY HEATHER BELLAMY Kabul, a city under the siege of a civil war. Terrace part in a handwashing ritual prior to an evening meal. PHOTO