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Projects for Peace Proposal The Afghan Scholar Initiative (ASI) Submitted by: Qiamuddin Amiry and John Campbell Colby College Qiam’s Vision Kurt Martin Hahn, the founder of the United World Colleges, witnessed two of the most devastating wars in human history – the World Wars. Hahn saw the root of war in ignorance and the lack of mutual understanding. He was convinced that fostering international understanding and bringing people together from across the horizons will result in the opposite of war – peace. As young men and women with different religions and cultures get to know one another, they learn how to love one another. Unfortunately, the opposite is true in my country, Afghanistan. The Islamic fanatics teach our youth to hate non-Muslims. During the Taliban regime, the country became a safe haven for global terrorists and thus a threat to international peace and security. Today, hundreds of our young men, who starve from lack of education and understanding, have become suicide bombers, while women continue to suffer from the legacy of a regime that denied them everything. A year ago, troubled with these realities, I asked myself, “What are you doing? What is your contribution to peace as an individual?” Then, the UWC mission statement on the wall caught my eyes. It read, “UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.” That is how an idea was shaped in my mind. I share Hahn’s philosophy that education leads to understanding, which in turn helps us to appreciate our differences. At UWC, I got to know people from Israel to Malawi with whom I discussed sensitive issues from religion to politics and war. Those two years transformed me into a more tolerant person; I feel the responsibility to spread the message of peace and tolerance to the world. First, I wanted to pass this opportunity that the UWC gave me to underprivileged students from Afghanistan: a chance for understanding those who are different. I wanted to help my country by encouraging its talented youth to lead the way in the future. So I wrote to boarding high schools in New England, persuading them to bring Afghan students to their campus. I explained my idea as building a bridge between the US and Afghanistan. The key to a sustainable relationship, I believe, is mutual understanding and learning about one another’s culture. Many schools welcomed my initiative, and I developed a close working relationship with Lesley Nesbitt, the Associate Director of Admissions and Director of Financial Aid at Gould Academy. Last summer, Ms. Nesbitt and I worked through governmental channels and connections to invite the top three scholars from every secondary school in Kabul to sit for our essay examination. With a committee of teachers, we selected the top 10 essayists for an interview. Both the essay and the interview were in English, to determine English proficiency for success as an American high school junior/11th grader. I selected two scholars, one male and one female, from Kabul. They will join the Gould Academy community this coming fall. I encourage the committee to read more on my project in Colby Magazine online at the following link in order to gain a better understanding of our efforts thus far. http://www.colby.edu/colby.mag/issues/current/articles.php?issueid=43&articleid=708&dept=editorial Our Plan This fall, I worked with both Lesley and my classmate John Campbell on a plan to expand this initiative and to increase the number of students from the original two scholars from last summer to 16 for the fall of 2009 -- eight females and eight males aged 15 to 18. In order to accomplish this goal, we must reach out to like-minded schools, individuals, and organizations and non-profit foundations that work for the same cause. In summer 2008, we will promote the project and campaign for both broader participation and more scholarships. Our project has two phases. First, we must show Afghanistan’s need for our program. We will do this in conjunction with Juliana Montgomery, an independent filmmaker and Gould alumna. She will travel to Kabul for two weeks in June 2008 to create a short documentary video on our scholars, Meetra Sroush and Sikander Ahmadi. The objective in making this short piece is twofold. We need a marketing tool to use in our fund raising and school recruitment effort; we intend for this piece to be shown to trustees, school administrators, and school communities. Also, this piece will be sent to news media outlets in order to raise awareness for our project and, more importantly, for the goals that our project espouses: peace and understanding through shared experiences. The state of Afghanistan, and its citizens, affect America, and the world, very powerfully. Next, John and I will start our North American campaign in early July 2008 and continue through August 2008. We aim to raise funding and awareness by visiting schools across the US and Canada. These schools include (but are not limited to) the Cate School (CA), Shawnigan Lake School (BC, Canada), Oregon Episcopal School (OR), Madeira School (VA), Mercersburg Academy (PA), Hotchkiss School (CT), Milton Academy (MA), Proctor Academy (NH). We have identified these schools as the best schools for providing academic, social, and cultural support to our scholars, who will be adjusting to a new culture. At each of these schools, we have a reliable contact who is committed to education as a force for change and peace in the world. Additionally, we will visit potential donors who will sponsor students or help us create an endowment for a non-profit we will establish this spring. At this early point, we already have a significant network of interested parties, mainly connected to Gould and Colby, who would like to participate at either a financial or professional level. If we are granted this award, we will work through our current contacts to identify a wider network of donors. Along these lines, a possible endowment will enable us to start our foundation. We have done our research and contacted relevant sources and will found a non- profit foundation in the spring. In this way, we will be able to manage the possible donations. We have had contact with interested trustees and alumni of Colby and Gould, and intend to expand our effort to trustees and alumni of Boston University and Harvard University (the alma maters of Ms. Nesbitt). Finally, the third target of our campaign is other relevant organizations and non-profit foundations, for example the Afghan NGO Coordination Board, USAID, the Aga Khan Development Network, UNICEF, World Learning and UNESCO, organizations that will help sustain public interest and support, as well as ensure the longevity of our project. Why Afghanistan? We have chosen Afghanistan for several reasons. First, Afghanistan has the second lowest score on the United Nation’s Human Development Index. War has ravaged Afghanistan for over 30 years. Even after the fall of the Taliban, the country is a shelter for global terrorists and it continues to be the largest producer of opium in the world. Second, and perhaps most importantly, Afghanistan lies at the literally and figurative heart of the Asian continent, and therefore its stability and health have wide ranging consequences for a continent that contains the vast majority of the global population. Third, as a result of our efforts last summer, we already have the logistical basis for a program. We have contacts within the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education in Kabul and at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC. We have done this before, and we can make this work over a longer period of time. This project focuses on peace in many ways. Our ultimate goal is to create a strong link between Afghan students and American high schools. In this way, Afghan students will have an opportunity to pursue an education they could not receive in Afghanistan and understand American culture. It will challenge their stereotyped view of the west. They will learn that there is still hope for co-existence. Also, American schools will gain top students who will contribute academically and socially, helping to foster diversity. American students will come to understand, we hope, that all Muslims are not al-Qaeda. Most importantly, this project is not only a goal within itself, but also a means to future efforts to help the development of Afghanistan’s human resources. We hope that this project takes the logic of “Pay-It-Forward.” It is possible. The fact that today Qiam helps his country-mates indicates that the logic can work. The security of both the region and the world is connected to peace and stability in Afghanistan. Educating the Afghan youth, who are the backbone of the country’s stability, is another way of fighting terrorism. If Islamic fundamentalists teach thousands to hate and kill, we can provide the groundwork to teach thousands to love and co-exist. To borrow Aga Khan’s words, some enter “the world in such poverty that they are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their lot. Unless these unfortunates can be touched with the spark, which ignites the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only sink back into renewed apathy, degradation and despair. It is for us, who are more fortunate, to provide that spark.” We strongly believe that Afghan scholars will pass this spark forward, promoting peace in both Afghanistan and the world. PROPOSED TIMELINE -2008 February – May – work with attorneys and counsel to establish 501(3) c foundation June 23-27 – attendance at Independent School Gender Project bi-annual conference, presenting workshop and film to independent school audience, meet with prospective school representatives, Hotchkiss School, CT May – June – work on film abroad and domestically Project based out of Boston for summer 2008: Early July - New England travel (7-10 days) with time to regroup (7 days) Mid July– West Coast travel (7days) with time to regroup Late July/early August– Mid Atlantic travel (7 days) with time to regroup Mid August – three day retreat for ASI officers to plan next steps for 2009 .

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