ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Nejrab District, Kapisa Province, Afghanistan

Almost 30 years of conflict have not only killed millions of Afghans, but have also decimated the land and natural environment. Centuries-old well-conceived water and irrigation systems have been destroyed; almost 50% of drinking water is contaminated; and Afghans, especially in urban areas, are exposed to many of the worst toxic and carcinogenic air pollutants known.

HTAC believes that a big part of our educational investment must address the issue of teaching children that awareness of and concern for the environment is crucial in the re-establishment of a civil society.

Designed by a leading Afghan authority on environmental issues, our Environmental Education Program helps children understand their unique relationship with the natural world; how actions they take in their life affect the environment; and how the environment itself affects their lives as adults and future generations.

Our program exposes Afghan children to key environmental concepts and teaches environmental responsibility. Our Green Rooms at each participating school provide an ideal learning environment where teachers can engage children in hands-on environmental projects; provide local eco-walks where they learn to identify local environmental problems as well as practical ways to resolve them.

One of HTAC’s long-terms goals is to educate young people who will be able to influence environmental legislation in Afghanistan that will help protect the country’s forests, wildlife, air, and waterways.

 Afghan children learn how to care for their immediate environment

• Students at our model schools take pride in keeping their school grounds clean.  You rarely see any trash or litter both in the school or play areas.

• Students learn how to plant and maintain gardens on school grounds and grow healthy vegetables.  This includes learning how to dig and construct streams for irrigation purposes.
   

• Students observe, first hand, problems that impact their local neighborhoods (i.e. the presence of toxic materials, ontaminated water, and other sources of pollution).
   

• Students learn how to test water to determine whether it is clean or polluted.  Students, in turn, share this knowledge with their parents and family members, reducing their vulnerability to sickness and disease.
   

• The school garden at Abdullah Bin-Omar Middle School in the Paghman District, West of Kabul, consistently draws raves from outside school officials and other visitors. 

• Students at Istalif High School in the Parwan District of North Kabul participated in a major effort to clear brush and plant new trees around the school grounds.
   

• Students at Aybak High School in Samangan Province took the initiative and (with the help of their parents and members of the community), turned their once-barren, dusty play area into a lush, green soccer field.  Irritating and harmful  dust no longer blows into the classrooms.