Amy Poirier says she doesn't know much about school-life in Afghanistan.
Now, thanks to a new exhibit at her school, she's got a glimpse of the harsh conditions there. "They don't have much freedom," she says, especially the girls, "and what's life without freedom?"
Students here don't have to worry about being murdered if they try to go to school she says — not so in Afghanistan. "I couldn't imagine going to school and trying not to be killed."
Poirier was one of the many students this week that checked out the Kandahar Through Afghan Eyes exhibit now on display at St. Albert's Bellerose Composite High. The exhibit, which features 30 pictures and articles created by high-school students in Afghanistan, opened Thursday.
Yvonne Jones, the teacher who brought in the exhibit, says she hopes it helps students better appreciate their lives in Canada and motivates them to help others abroad. "It's important for them to see there's hope in war-torn areas, and that young people like themselves don't give up."
Afghanistan: the other story
Jones says she accidentally called in the exhibit after seeing the Afghanistan 360° showing at St. Albert Place two years ago. (That photo exhibit focused on reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.) When she called CIDA the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to get that show at Bellerose, the agent thought she meant the Afghan Eyes exhibit, which, as she learned, was much more interesting.
The display is a part of a travelling exhibit that's been touring Canadian schools since late 2010, says Alex Asselin, spokesperson for CIDA. It's part of a project to teach Afghan students aged 18 to 24 photography and literacy skills.
The exhibit involved 15 students from Kandahar City who were supplied with digital cameras and training, Asselin says. "There's a lot of images you wouldn't typically connect with Kandahar," he says. "It's not all necessarily conflict and desert."
The photos have stunning colour and lighting. Robed men bustle through a crowded outdoor market overflowing with pea-green watermelons in one image, while a four-year-old girl in an emerald green and navy blue dress learns to read in another. Others show ripe red pomegranates, huge fields of grapes, and sheep.
One shot depicts a a pre-teen barber cutting a child's hair. Years of war have robbed many children of their education, the photographer writes in a passage translated from Pashto, and driven them to work. "These children, while doing hard work, do not feel their obligations for their community as they should, and their minds are focused only on earning money."
The author urges Afghans and the international community to make sure these kids get the schooling they need.
Many Bellerose students have family in the military serving in Afghanistan, she says, and at least two are recent immigrants from that nation. "[The exhibit] brings that different perspective to the students other than the one they necessarily see profiled through the regular media."
It's a cool exhibit, said student Jed Groenenboom, who has heard about Afghanistan through relatives in the military. "It's not really what you think. It'ss a pretty beautiful country if you go there."
He was most surprised by a picture that showed an old man with crops strapped to a donkey. A long line of cars had formed behind him. "You wouldn't see that today in our society," he says, but it's a common sight over there.
The exhibit runs until March 10 and is open to the public. Guests are asked to check in at the front office upon arrival. For details, call the school at 780-460-8490 or email [email protected].
