Call it irony — or justice. Either way, it’s symbolic that Afghanistan’s largest school for girls occupies the building that used to house the country’s largest Taliban madrassa (training center).
For years, the Taliban barred women from receiving any education. Now that girls are allowed to learn, it will help them advance both internationally and within the Afghan government system, says Swanee Hunt, whose Cambridge-based Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace advocates for women’s participation in government and peace processes.
“Education and political advancement go hand-in-hand,” says Hunt, who recently toured Afghanistan, monitoring elections at the Ferdosi school and witnessing firsthand the role it plays in political life.
The former US ambassador to Austria also saw that while Afghan girls now have the opportunity and desire to learn — 10,000 girls cycle through the Ferdosi school each day — they lack books. So the Hunt Alternative Fund teamed up with Pazzo Books, Roslindale’s used bookstore (co-owner Brian Nealon is engaged to Lina Sidrys, who joined Hunt in Afghanistan), to launch a book drive.
“Frankly, learning English is the single, most important aspect of education now,” Hunt says, “because it opens up the Internet to you. It’s knowing English that allows girls to move up and women to step out onto the global stage.”
Pazzo Books will be accepting book donations (kindergarten through high-school levels) until Saturday. Visit 4263 Washington Street, Roslindale, 617.323.2919. Learn more at www.pazzobooks.com.
