Many new things happened to the KJRC boys during the two weeks the Bridges Academy team visited. They learned about the world (the Earth is round, the solar system, other countries, etc.); they had people who wanted to help them do more with their lives; they opened up about painful pasts; they shared their ideas; they visualized new possibilities for their lives. As a result of these experiences, their attitudes about themselves changed. Discuss experiences in your own lives that have changed or impacted your attitudes and beliefs in yourself.At the end of the story, Bridges Academy was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Discuss ways that they boys’ efforts as teachers and mentors to more and more Afghan youth can lead to peace. How are these efforts different than other efforts to achieve peace in Afghanistan?

Please respond on my Teacher's Page, under the 'My Blogs' section

This Blog Response is due by 10/28/14 

Yasameen says that democracy in Afghanistan won’t work unless people understand its meaning. What does she mean by this? Based on the interview with the boys who voted in the 2009 election, do you agree with Yasameen’s statement? What are the issues of bringing a true democracy to Afghanistan? What would it take to bring true democracy to Afghanistan?

Due 10/27/14

When the Afghan boys and girls met for the first time at the White Page studio, they were able to discover things they had in common. Do you have any examples of people that you judged before you got to know them (other cultures, races, or religions)? How did your opinions change after you knew them?

In the video, Fatima stated that education gave the boys the power to judge situations. Discuss how participating in this class has given you the power to judge what is happening in the world. Share your thoughts about the situation/relationship between Afghanistan and foreign security/aid personnel.

Finally, please tell me something you took from today's lesson about Malala Yousafzai and her fight for her life and the right of education for women and girls. 

DUE BY 10/23/14

Journal 9 - Blog questions:

The boys got expelled because the Marefat Board of Trustees had reason to worry for the safety of their students. How does this decision help the Marefat students? How does it harm them? (continues their lack of exposure and assimilation to new groups, perpetuates cycle of fear and discrimination) The boys were judged by the actions of others at the IDP camp. How might the cycle of danger at the camp continue as a result? How can communities work around these issues and come together?

Video blog questions (they will be answered together):

Describe Zerwali’s expression/body language when he said he lived at the IDP camp. Knowing Zerwali came from a family of poppy farmers in Helmand and now lives in an IDP camp, can you empathize with him in any way? How difficult might it be to be a teenager in third grade? How can Bridges Academy break the cycle of discrimination in Kabul?

due by 10/22/14 

What did you think after meeting the Marefat girls? Did they seem to talk or behave in the way you imagined Afghan girls would? What did you think about hearing their thoughts on the Taliban’s plan to return to power? Marefat encourages students to be leaders and free thinkers. How might this sort of education put students in danger by challenging the status-quo? What sort of value do you think the girls place on education? What do you think they might do if the Taliban came back into power and they couldn't go to school? Once you've read the "ARTICLE: Afghan Headmaster Risks His Life to Give Girls an Education," you will realize that educating girls in Afghanistan can pose dangers to not only Aziz, but the administrators and students as well. Should he continue to get more girls in school knowing that everyone there could be at risk? Are the benefits worth the risk? Is it more understandable for Aziz to challenge the status quo as an Afghan than Dina as an American?

Please respond on my Teacher's Page, under the 'My Blogs' section

This Blog Response is due by 10/22/14 

due by 10/22/14 

Dina felt that she had failed in cultural diplomacy by running out on the elders, but she went ahead anyway. Do you think she did the right or wrong thing by going around the elders and sending the boys to school? How did her cultural values influence her decision-making? What historical comparisons can you make about other people who risked going against the rules, laws, or advice of the community? How have those people shaped progress vs. the human cost? Aziz Royesh’s report telling how the boys thought America was underwater showed how misleading information can be when cultures remain isolated from one another. How might that idea have originated? How might this idea impact the war presently going on?

Please respond on my Teacher's Page, under the 'My Blogs' section

This Blog Response is due by 10/22/14 

What are the expectations of your “village” on your class’s future?

- What are the values that the previous generation has instilled in your generation?

- Do you agree with these values?

- Based on the community that you live in, what does the future look like for your generation (jobs, housing, family size, religion, political affiliation, etc.)?

- What is the expectation of your generation’s contribution to your community/society?

- Do you agree with this expectation?

Please respond on my Teacher's Page, under the 'My Blogs' section

This Blog Response is due by 10/21/14 

Why did the making of the music video cause such a 'kerfuffle' (that's my word - a synonym would be: stink, uproar, issue, problem, anger...etc.?) Why do you think the boys yelled back at the man who was yelling at them - is this proper etiquette? Would you yell back? Why is Pastor Jones choosing to burn the Koran - why does he call off the event, then? Back to the video - is it wise for Elissa to use American students in the video? Is she fully aware of the cultural differences? Do you think she is going about the making of the video the right way? Tell me about the American school in Minnesota - does it seem to be like Jackson HS? Do you think these kids can relate to the Afghan teens? Do you think kids at our school (JHS) would be willing to do something like this for another school in another country - do you think they would care? Why or why not? When Dina asks Ahmad  “Why don’t you make briquettes?” what is his response? Why do you think this happened? How vastly different is Amhad's response to a response you would give? How is this connected to education? When Dina meets with the elder Mira Jan, why does he keep changing the subject on her? What did you think of the ending to this Journal Entry? 

Please respond on my Teacher's Page, under the 'My Blogs' section

This Blog Response is due by 10/21/14 

DUE 10/19/14 (Sunday evening)

"Afghan Leader Courts the Warlord Vote"

Why did former Pres. Karzai appoint a KNOWN corrupt official? Based on what you've studies so far with the Afghanistan Project - what is going on in the Afghan government? Why/how would this problem DIRECTLY affect the people/kids in the refugee camps? What is the mujahedeen's role in the government of Afghanistan? What is your opinion on this, and do we have same thing similar going on in our own country? How is the mujahedeen connected to the Taliban?

Why is 'hope' so powerful? What has come of the two groups - the sponsors and the trainees - as they have worked building the briquette making center at the camp? Why does all of the 'good energy' seem to turn to bad as the season progresses in the camp? Tell me about the impact of the 'scrap of paper' - please talk about cultural perspectives here. Think about how we (Americans) value confidence, culturally - we are taught from an early age that we can do ANYTHING. How is this different in Afghanistan? Why do you think it is this way? Is 'optimism' valued differently in Afghanistan, too? Yet, why at the end of Journal Entry 5 are people in the camp seemingly in a 'happy' mood? What is going on here???? Is there something going on here with illiteracy???

Sooooo, what did you think of the entire briquette making process? Is this something that is easily made, and can it be a viable solution for the refugees? How does working effect the boys in the camp? Does it change them, and if it does, why? What are the girls doing while the boys are training in the briquette making business? How does Dina pair up the sponsors and the boys? Looking at the Optional Questions - what jumped out at you from the boys/sponsors responses? What is going on between these people as they share their personal stories?

What is Dina saying about a class like JAGS? :) As she begins developing her 'plan' what does she realize has changed with the Afghani people she's been working with in the camp? What do you think of her 'briquettes' plan? Will it work? What do you think will be a major obstacle to making this plan work? Do you think Dina and the Afghani people have the GRIT needed to make this work? Would you? What is the role of 'fate' in this story - how does 'fate' intervene?

What is life like at the Charahee Qambar refugee camp?  Why are the people living here, is this by their choice? Why do the people living in this camp feel that nobody knows of their existence? What are their 'homes' like? Was their anything shocking about what you read? Is Dina living in the same situation as the refugees while she is in Afghanistan? Why do you think that is? What causes her to break down? Even with all of the international organizations in Afghanistan (EX: The Red Cross, USAID, UNICEF, UNHCR) set up to help the people/refugees, WHY are they NOT being helped?

Please respond to the Article The Afghanistan Justice Project