Building Bridges between our Countries

AFF’s goal is not simply to build schools in Afghanistan.  We are working to engage, educate and empower students and their families in both Afghanistan and America.  Our work with Coe Elementary School in Seattle, Washington illustrates our work.

Coe Elementary School was the first school to participate in the school project, and it has become a national role model of cross-cultural learning and community service.  They have become our heroes, as well as the heroes for many kids in Afghanistan.

At the time Julia gave her first Afghan show & tell in the spring of 2002, Coe students were temporarily housed in another school, because their school had burned to the ground.  While most communities would have been focused on simply getting through the year and worrying about their own kids, Coe parents, teachers, students and staff asked, “What can we do to help the children in Afghanistan?”  With their encouragement, Julia went back to her American colleagues working in Afghanistan and asked if they were interested in building a school for girls.  What we started back in 2002 was a small grassroots project called “Journey with an Afghan School.” 

Our partnership with Coe, which started five years ago, is still going strong.  We would like to share a bit of our story with you, because it is a microcosm of our larger project:

• Julia has spoken no less than 50 times at Coe, both in classrooms and at assemblies.  She taught the students about Afghan history and geography, Afghan houses that lack running water and electricity, the bazaar, water sources and usage, and the overwhelming poverty.  With the teachers’ help, she tried to make the classes as interactive as possible.  In addition to trying on turbans and burkhas and dressing up in Afghan clothing, kids got to visit her (pretend) Afghan house, carry water, and sample Afghan foods.  Consequently, the students gained an appreciation of the contrasts between America and the developing world and a better understanding of the blessings we have. 

• After learning about the severe lack of schools in Afghanistan and how girls were forbidden from attending school during the time of the Taliban, the Coe community decided to help Julia raise funds to build what was then one of the first girls’ in northern Afghanistan.  (Today it serves about 1,000 girls.)  They also committed to raising $3,600 per year for three years to help repair the school.   

• When Julia started the project, she challenged the kids to raise $.50 per week for 10 weeks.  This was not a project for their parents but for them.  Her hope was that they would learn about the importance of helping others and start giving to other charitable causes in the future.  Much to our surprise, many of the children started emptying their piggy banks and asking classmates to bring money instead of birthday presents to parties.  One little girl and her mother baked 1,000 cookies.  Others sold baked goods or played instruments on street corners; some babysat or washed cars.  Even today, children from the school knock on Julia’s door from time to time and hand her a jar filled with pennies, and many now set money aside on a regular basis to help others.  The kids inspired their families and members of the community to give as well.  To date, they have raised almost $20,000.

• When the program first got off the ground in the spring of 2002, Afghanistan was ranked as the poorest country in the world by the United Nations.  Most lived on less than $1 per day.  Few children had shoes or coats.  None had paper or pencils.  Together with other families and schools in the region, Coe collected clothes, school supplies and athletic equipment.  In the spring of 2003, we helped send over four, shipping containers worth over $1 million to Afghanistan.

• 
• We did not only want to build structures; we wanted to build relationships.  In 2003, Coe kids started a cultural exchange program with their sister school in Afghanistan.  The students and families made photo albums, videos, art work, and banners for the kids in Afghanistan.

• Coe started working with a Seattle non-profit called Bridges to Understanding to help AFF develop a curriculum focusing on cross-cultural learning.  Our hope is that we would come to understand those who differ vastly in their expressions of religion, culture and scope of opportunities, and they would come to understand us.

• Coe held several large assemblies and invited various Afghan guests to the school.  In 2006 they honored the Director of Women’s Affairs from the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is also a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council.  Additionally, they’ve hosted other visiting guests and networked with members of the Afghan community in the Northwest.

• To show other kids that they, too, could make a difference in the world, the Coe Community agreed to have students speak on the radio and television.  Several were also interviewed for local newspapers and national magazines.  One of these magazines, called FACES, did an entire article about the Coe kids.   Many other communities around the U.S. heard about our work as well.

• Finally, outside of the classroom several of the kids have written letters to their Congressman and one former student even went to Washington, D.C. with Julia one summer to talk with members of Congress about their work in Afghanistan and the importance of educating kids in the developing world. 

• To learn more about Coe Elementary School’s work with “Journey with an Afghan School,” click here.

Although the kids have gotten much of the attention in the media, a great deal of credit is owed to Coe parents, teachers and staff.  There is no question that they have a huge heart for making this world a better place.  It is an extremely unique community, starting with the principal, David Elliott.  His passion for education and compassion for children in need really radiates throughout the school.  It’s clear that this isn’t a place where children are learning to simply read and write, but learning about the bigger world and their responsibility for helping others, albeit their neighbor or someone on the other side of the world.  

In the spring of 2007, Mr. Elliott joined the AFF team in Afghanistan for two weeks, where he had an opportunity to meet members of the Afghan community and Coe’s sister school. 

• To learn more about Mr. Elliott’s trip and his see his daily podcasts, click here.

Interestingly, when we speak to the Afghan teachers, students and principal in Afghanistan about Coe, eyes simply light up.  Despite the miles, this community has managed to bring hope and opportunity to one of the most desperate places on earth.   Last time Julia was in Afghanistan, she received a beautiful, handmade rug from the principal of the Afghan school for Mr. Elliott.  Woven into the design are two flags:  one American and one Afghan, showing the friendship that has been formed between these two communities.  Given that this is a country where there was such hatred against the United States, this simple gift speaks volumes.   

Although we have highlighted the Coe community here, we would be remiss if we didn’t say that we are extraordinarily fortunate to have several “Coe-type” communities involved with our project, including ones from Austin, Texas; Rancho Palos Verdes, California; Madison, Wisconsin; Aspen, Colorado; and Washington, D.C. 

Margaret Mead once wrote, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”  On behalf of the children of Afghanistan, we thank these communities from the bottom of our hearts for their support over the years.