Good Things Brewing #3: Schools for Kabul - Kirsten | Learn English at EnglishCafe

Vocabulary Words:   

altruism:  unselfish concern or devotion to others

unbridled:  not controlled or constrained

forsaken:  deserted, abandoned

move: pass from one place or position to another

moved:  emotionally affected

Schools For Kabul

There are two scientific perspectives on altruism.  One says that altruism is a cultural tool, a distinctly human behavior, which allows social groups to function and survive by constraining our selfish impulses.  Another camp says that altruism is an ancient appetite, over six million years old, pre-dating even human existence.   Either way, our altruistic impulses play a significant role in the planet’s ultimate opera of life and death, good vs. evil.

As a mother and a part-time teacher I have spent a large part of the past twelve years amongst groups of children.  I have witnessed both unbridled brutality and fantastic altruism.  The brutality never surprises me.  The altruism always does, and, gloriously, it prevails.  Small children act on their impulses so readily.  When they sense need, they rush like water through a canyon to fill it.  They are empowered by their own goodness.  Their friends are empowered.  The world around them is empowered.  I have been inspired by children, and often remind myself to act like some child or another, to try to remember the goodness that is buried deep inside, and the energy that goodness liberates.   

Over the past year I have been admiring the work of someone who is no longer a child, but not yet an adult.  He is in a unique position:  his altruistic impulse is alive and well, and he is old enough to do something about it.  His name is Percy Stubbs and he is a sixteen year old living with his family in rural Marin County, California.   

Last year Percy, a sophomore in high school with worldly interests, read Khalid Hossieni’s books ( Kite Runner and 1000 Splendid Suns) and became intrigued by the complex and devastating history of Afghanistan.  Soon afterward, he and some friends attended an event in San Francisco where he met Rory Stewart, a Scottish journalist who had documented his travel by foot across Afghanistan in a book called The Places in Between.  Stewart founded The Turquoise Mountain Foundation (http://www.turquoisemountain.org/), a non-profit, organization whose mission is to regenerate Afghanistan's traditional crafts and historic areas and restore national identity.  His work inspired Percy.   

A lot of us would think to ourselves that it would be wonderful if we too could do something to help people who had been through so many wars and losses.  We might contemplate what we might do if only we could do something.  Not Percy.  He thought about how lucky he was to be able to go to a good school and pursue his interests and he thought about young people like himself living in a forsaken area, without opportunity for education, and he did something.  He got his friends on board, which he says was “incredibly easy,” and convinced both his school and his family to back his vision and, well, the way he makes it sound , voila! … Schools For  Kabul was founded.

Last year Percy and his classmates raised $20,000 to build a girl’s school in Istalif, a town north of Kabul.  This year he has raised $10,000 so far and is hosting a huge BBQ fundraiser this month with the goal of raising another $10,000 to fund literacy and art classes at Turquoise Mountain’s Art’s Institute in Kabul.  $40,000 is a big chunk that goes a very long way in Afghanistan.  Such a long way that it cannot be measured.  The “results” of Percy’s charitable impulse will manifest in the children of the children who are attending the school in Istalif right now, and their children’s children as well.

Once again, my role model is a lot younger than me.  “This has been by far one of the most satisfying experiences of my life,” Percy told me recently.  “I absolutely plan to continue in college, and it is even influencing my beginning thoughts about career choice.”  

Ancient impulse tucked away somewhere in the superior temporal lobe of the brain, or human behavioral construct to improve our chance of survival?  Either way, as far a I can tell, good is a good thing.

If you would like to make a donation to Schools For Kabul, visit   

http://www.schoolsforkabul.com/Contact_Us.html