Saturday, April 09, 2016 Vol. 1, No. 33

2. Personal Essays3. Community4-5. News6. Creative Writing

7. Literary8. Interview

See Inside Quote of the Week“This sky where we live is no place to lose your wings so love, love, love.”

—Hafiz

Star Educational Society Weekly

Interstellar (adjective): situated or occurring between the stars; conducted, or existing between two or more stars

A message from Habiba Sadeqi, Director of Education and Cultural Development

In the past over 17 digni-fied, prestigious, and proud years, Star Educational So-ciety has had tremendous educational and cultural

achievements. Besides successful language class-es, futsal and sport tournaments, exhibitions of handicrafts and paintings, memorable speech contests, Fulbright advising workshops, and workshops to raise awareness of women rights and street harassment, Star’s Cultural Department has now aimed its focus on publishing. To this end, the Interstellar Bulletin, Star’s English weekly, started last year. This educational weekly has been warmly received in 32 issues and thousands of is-sues are published distributed weekly to readers in the provinces of Kabul, Herat, Mazar e Sharif, Bamyan and Daikondi. The soft copy (pdf) of In-terstellar Bulletin is distributed via email to read-ers around the globe.

The initial purpose of the Star’s weekly was to provide Star students with fresh and relevant educational reading and writing materials, help-ing to elevate to inspire their interest in reading and writing, and to increase their reading com-prehension and vocabulary. The Interstellar Bul-letin was a big step in Afghanistan’s print media. The eight colorful and well-designed pages of the Interstellar Bulletin cover diverse topics making the weekly an interesting work of literary as well as educational material. One of the key reasons for the Interstellar Bulletin’s tremendous success is the fact that the articles, essays, news transla-tions, and interviews are all done by star alumni, teachers, students and friends. Students find In-terstellar a framework where their writing submis-sions can be reflected in the best manner.

Building upon the success of the Interstel-lar Bulletin, Star’s Cultural Department has more good news in store. After conducting a three-phase evaluation, Starians discovered the need for a professional translation gazette which could connect our current body of literature with some of the most important contemporary masterpiec-es of English language literature. Thus Shahrzad came to existence. Shahrzad is Star’s new monthly magazine with a concentration on culture, art, and literature. This new publication promises to fill the void of Persian readers who want access to some of the best English works in their own lan-guage. Shahrzad together with Interstellar Bulle-tin, as two important published periodicals, are the success tickets of Star’s Cultural Department.

Shahrzad is the female storyteller of the sto-ries in One Thousand and One Nights, who delays her own execution and saves her life by telling sweet stories to her captor. Shahrzad’s stories in One Thousand and One Nights were educational, charming, and full of wit. They are extremely eye-opening, relieving, and optimistic, giving a new horizon of hope as a silver lining after the sable clouds.

Shahrzad stories are not only a popular col-lection of short stories or an anthology of some of the best historical works of literature in the East dating back to the golden period of Persian and Arabic literature, but are also quite popular in the West. Shahrzad monthly, by using the beauti-ful name of the storyteller in One Thousand and One Nights, is building a bridge between the lit-

erature of the east and west. Shahrzad, whose stories are translated into many languages, adapted to many movies, theaters, and plays which are visible all around the world, is reconfigured into the frame of a professional translation monthly with the purpose of introduc-ing some of the best contemporary

masterpieces of literature from other languages to Persian. The translation of these pieces and literary articles, poems, and beautiful short stories will serve the Persian language readers and literature lovers.

Shahrzad proved that if the story is not written, life will not continue and if

stories are not in the annals of history, they will eventually vanish. Our Shah-rzad also speaks, narrates, and tells these stories of the East and the West. Shahrzad’s One Thousand and One Nights tells us many tales of many lives and with this hope we introduce the in-augural issue of our Shahrzad.

Shahrzad, a bridge connecting Western and Eastern literature

شماره اول، سال اول، حمل 1395 هجری خورشیدی

ادبی، فرهنگی و هنری

رنج بردگی )حکایت زندگی یک بردۀ آمریکایی(

فردریک داگالس

ترجمۀ ادبی در حد ترجمۀ مفهومی و انتقاِل مفهوم، امکان پذیر است

گفت وگو با استاد حسن رضایی، استاد دانشگاه، نویسنده و مترجمُمدشدگی تاریخ و تاریخی شدن ُمد

مرثیه ای برای هامونسی سالگی

یادی از زنان پایتخت درد

April 09th, 2016

Vol.1, No. 33 Personal Essays

Page 2

I live in a country whose people are thirsty for peace. They seek tranquility and a prosperous life. In addition, my country

The village has always been known a place of peace and qui-etness. The scattered houses among hundreds of plants and trees indicate the lack of activities in the village. The workers in the vil-lage leave their homes early in the morning to work in the farms or towns nearby. Some have their own farms, and some make handi-crafts and other things in their homes to sell in the towns.

A few of the villagers, including women, go out to catch fish in the streams and rivers found in the village. Though the people of the village do not usually earn much, they seem to be content. In the afternoon, most of the villagers are at home. Some of them take a nap after lunch, do some work in their small gardens or visit the small shops in the village. In various parts of the village, chil-dren may be found playing the popular games of the village. Oc-casionally, a cyclist passes by.

In the evening, the villagers meet one another. Some play cards and other types of games which are unique to the village. Some talk about the day’s incidents in the village, and those whose minds go beyond the village discuss world events. In almost ev-ery village there is a village leader whose duty is to settle quarrels among the villagers and maintain peace in the village. Whenever there is a dispute, the villagers go to the leader who is held in such esteem that his words have the force of law. In this way the villag-ers have developed their own simple laws, and the crimes of cities are almost unknown to the people of the village.

During a festival, the whole village is alive with activities. Ev-eryone is in a happy mood and plays his part to make the festi-val a success. This is the time for the men, women and children of the village to wear their best clothes and the village is full of color. These simple ways of life in the village, however, must soon change. Progress in science and education has already begun to affect the outlook of the people in the village. Hundreds are leav-ing the village to seek their fortunes in the towns and cities.

and creativity. At the school all are work-ing to abolish war and to achieve a stable peace, In the class on nonviolence, the children symbolically broke their toy guns and declared that they are not the genera-tion of war. Instead of weapons they will use pens and books. They are the children of peace and kindness. One of the children said, “The sky is not the place of war and killing, it is the place of the moon, sun, stars, kites and birds.” In their creativity class, they share their dreams and goals and the way that they can achieve them. We all try for stable peace in our country. Today we sow a planet of peace in their hearts. It will grow and they will give the fruit of peace for the next generation.

Now the children understand that they are also human beings and are cru-cial citizens of this country. I can see their potential. I can see their desire to create a different and peaceful future. I can see a deep aspiration for greater knowledge as they strive for a change. Their enthusiasm sparkles and I can see the desire for learn-ing and a bright future in their eyes. Today I am helping them. Tomorrow they will help someone else, as Mahdi does.

Mahdi is 13 years-old. He polishes

is home to nearly two million children working outside their homes to earn mon-ey to support their families and meet their basic needs. These poor children work tirelessly every day of the year, even in the winter when the frigid weather keeps most people indoors. They are responsible for buying food, fuel and anything the family needs to survive. They can’t attend school regularly in order to work more and earn more money. And some of them have left school because they couldn’t find time to do their homework and were subject to punishment by their teachers or teasing from their classmates.

Education is fundamental for the development of a country. Therefore, it is not fair that these children are unedu-cated. It is a basic right that they should not be deprived of. Last year a group of youth activists came together and estab-lished a school for these children. Every Friday these street children attend classes and each month their families receive a donation of rice, cooking oil, and beans. They also receive clothes and a quilt in the winter. The Borderfree Street Kids School is not only teaching the children writing, reading and math, but also nonviolence

boots every day for three dollars. He works to feed his family. He also comes to the Borderfree School to learn and help. He said that if this school helped him to be educated and rescued him from the dark-ness of illiteracy without expecting any-thing from him he can also help other people. Now he helps us with the duvet project as a volunteer. He wants to be better educated in the future and serve more people. Mahdi’s bravery, generosity, hopefulness and righteousness are a great model for us and others.

When I first saw street children, I blamed the government for not doing anything. But I discovered that the gov-ernment needs the cooperation of its citi-zens. If I can study and be educated, then I can help the poor and needy people, too. Thus, I joined the Borderfree School to teach. I think that I can pave the way so that they can find their own pathways. I believe there is undiscovered strength in-side these children to bring a change. One day they will realize and show their hidden power. They are the heroes. The suffering children who work on Kabul streets will be the honest leaders of tomorrow.

Helping to educate Afghan street kids

My Dream Village

About the Author: Mahtab Jalal is a Star alumna. She is currently studying Busi-ness Administration at the American University of Afghanistan and a volun-teer teacher at the Borderfree Street Kids School. She wants to be a businesswoman in the future.

About the Author: Milad Jafari was a diligent student of C-Branch of Star Educational Society. Currently, he is studying Advance A at B-Branch. He likes to write more and tries to be a good writer in the future.

I am your child. We want a school.A poem from the Borderfree Street Kids School republished from: http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/2015/01/i-am-your-child-we-want-a-school-afghan-street-kids-walk/

“I want a school,unlike a school.”Inam, unaware he was making Afghan history,walked, morphed into a mini-visionary, and understoodthat we don’t get things by asking,especially asking government officials in high, swivel or mahogany chairs.We get bread byfracturing the side of a used engine oil bottle,strapping it on as our shoe cleaning box,and sitting in the littered streetspolishing other people’s boots.Though he doesn’t feel goodabout his view of passing legs hidden in jeans or burqas,there are customers herein a commoditized life,where, instead of growing food,the city bangs on computers and copies sheaves of forms,to extract from her slum-dwellerstheir energies and bribes, and the land’s mineral flesh,as well as their children’s.Inam arrives for the walk,zooming in for the lego set,putting the blocks in place piece by piece,the blue doorof his dream school,‘where I can study’, safely,he says, because you’ll understand this too,‘I am your child.”

"Inam building his dream school from a lego set"

Photo from Borderfree Street Kids School

April 09th, 2016

Vol.1, No. 33Community

Page 3

I received a message Tuesday morn-ing from Star Educational Society’s alum-na and former teacher, Halima Habibi, in-viting me to an Afghan Peace Volunteer’s event in Babur Garden. The Afghan Peace Volunteers (AVP) are an inter-ethnic group of young Afghans dedicated to building non-violent alternatives to war. At 2:00 the same afternoon, I joined dozens of young Peace Volunteers on a crowded, rented bus for the short trip from AVP’s Border-free Nonviolence Center in Karte-seh to Babur Garden (Bagh-e-Babur). There were an equal number of young men and wom-en from all ethnic groups talking cheer-fully on the ride. It was the most ethnically mixed gathering I had attended since my arrival in Kabul nearly two months ago.

When we arrived at the park, we wait-ed for many other volunteers who were traveling on their own from different parts of the city. The young participants greeted each other warmly and enthusiastically and it was obvious that these were peace-

dohul player started to drum on his big-barreled, two-sided drum and the Attan performance began. The young men in their crisp white clothes began the circu-lar dance and followed the lead dancer round and round to the deep, low beat of the dohul. As the rhythm and beat became faster, the dance intensified. Several of the young men left the circle, and the remain-ing four most experienced dancers contin-ued until a climactic finale.

I sat on the stone wall next to Sherri Maurin, an American educator and long-time peace activist, who has been to Kabul four times in the past year and a half vol-unteering with AVP. I was also introduced to Afghan-American, Fahima Vorgetts, who is the director of the Afghan Wom-en’s Fund, and an award-winning activ-ist for peace, justice and human rights. Both women are great friends of AVP and enjoyed warm relations with many of the young volunteers.

Afghan Peace Volunteers is an Afghan civil society volunteer organization which was created in 2008 after a three-month Peace Workshop at Bamiyan University. The workshop was facilitated by Singa-porean medical doctor and humanitar-ian worker, Dr. Hakim. The 50 university students who participated concluded that ‘peace in Afghanistan is not possible,’ but 16 of them from six different ethnic groups agreed to live together for a semester to demonstrate the possibility for ethnic unity.

Extending from this effort, Bamiyani youth gathered to raise their voices for peace and to protest against war, violence and killings in Afghanistan. They held a tent vigil at Bamiyan Peace Park, which they had helped to establish, asking U.S. President Obama to bring genuine peace and reconciliation to Afghanistan. After the vigil, a core group of Afghan youth as-sembled and called themselves the Afghan Peace Volunteers. They began communi-cating with international peacemakers and sent their message of nonviolence to people in other parts of the world. With their new person-to-person relationships

loving activists who were committed to overcoming the tensions and conflict that have plagued Afghanistan. Once inside the park, we were led to a beautiful area I had not seen in my previous visit. It was a circular, stone-lined sub-garden with a single tree in the center. Young men in traditional Afghan clothes began to as-semble inside the circle to perform the “Borderfree Attan,” one of many multi-ethnic projects of the Center. The Attan is an Afghan national dance that is tradition-ally danced by the Pashtuns at weddings and other celebrations. But the Attan that I witnessed was performed by Peace Volun-teers from all ethnic groups, AVP’s friend and mentor, Dr. Hakim, (Dr. Teck Young, Wee - a medical doctor from Singapore), and other park-goers who joined the circle of dancers.

Some of the female Peace Volun-teers dispersed among the crowd to dis-tribute bright blue Borderfree scarves for all the dancers and participants. The

with other Afghan youth and with interna-tional peace groups, they began to cam-paign consistently for an end to violence and war.

In 2011, the core group of Afghan Peace Volunteers moved to Kabul to study, live and work together in their commit-ment to non-violence. The organization was officially registered with the Afghan Ministry of Justice and they organized one of their first campaigns in Kabul, the ‘I wish to live without war’ campaign. They invited 25 international peace builders of a U.S. based peace group, Voices for Cre-ative Nonviolence, to participate and have maintained close ties with this group ever since.

Since its inception, AVP has con-ducted an after-school tutoring program; hosted a seamstress workshop for Afghan women; organized the making and dis-tribution of thousands of duvets to poor families in Kabul, including those in refu-gee camps and helped the women who made them to earn an income; created the Borderfree Street Kids School; and estab-lished a Food Bank to receive and store donated food items from Afghan shop-keepers, business persons and charitable groups, to be distributed to needy fami-lies, starting with the families of the 93 Af-ghan street kids at the Borderfree Afghan Street Kids School. They have held conflict resolution and peer mediation training; have an Afghan women’s tailoring co-operative; are developing the Kabul Peace Garden; and have begun a new project, with the help of Halima, called the ‘Bor-derfree Cycling Club’ which was formed to encourage Afghan boys and girls to use the bicycle instead of motorcycles and cars.

At the end of the Attan performance, the seventy plus Peace Volunteers walked to another part of the park where they en-joyed cake and motivational speeches be-fore leaving the park and heading home. It was a joyful celebration and helped me to imagine how Afghanistan would look when all the ethnic groups can live in har-mony and when war and violence are no longer a part of the country’s landscape.

An afternoon with the Afghan Peace Volunteers

About the Author: Kara Lozier has been a long-time supporter of Star Educational Society and, most recently, has been very instrumental in the success of the Interstellar Bulletin. She is a former community coordinator for American Councils for International Edu-cation and has worked with Afghan students and students from many other countries through the Youth Exchange and Study program, a one-year high school exchange pro-gram created in response to the tragic events of September 11th.

Kara Lozier and Halima Habibi

Page 4 April 09th, 2016

Vol.1, No. 33 News

Minister of Mines resigns

America gives four A29 battle planes to ANA

Incapable and incompetent municipality

Dawood Shah Saba, Minis-ter of Mines and Petroleum of Af-ghanistan, resigned from his job. Yet, President Ashraf Ghani has not accepted his resignation. Similarly, Presidential Press Office has not had any reaction.

Mahyodin Noori, Minister of Mines Spokesman told, “I don’t have detailed information about Minister of Mines resignation but he himself said that by sending a letter to Presidential Palace he had an-nounced his resignation.” Officials

Dawlat Wazeri, spokesman of Ministry of Defense says that United States of Ameri-ca Today, Tuesday, March 29, delivered Four Battle Planes A29 to the Air Force of the country. Mr. Wazeri by posting this news on his public Facebook Page, written that these Battle Planes are brand of “A29 Super Tech-no” delivered to the Air Force of the country as previous agreement of America.

Wazeri added that by accede these planes, Number of A29 Planes of Air Force increased to eight planes. These Planes will be effective and some tactic problems will be solved. In November this year, Ashton Carter, Defense Minister of America in a trip to Afghanistan promised that his country

Kabul Municipality is incapable and incompetent. This office even cannot construct a canal for roads, streets and alleys. Kabul Municipality with a lot of engineers and technical experts and a wide and long organization cannot build a watershed in the heart of Kabul. We cannot justify this failure with any ex-cuse. However, the heads of the National Unity Government have also a role in this failure. Kabul has no Mayor now. Unfor-tunately, no election was held to elect Mayors in the last ten years. Although the Constitution mandates that the May-ors should be elected, no ballot box was set up to elect Mayors along holding the presidential, parliamentary and National Assembly elections.

Mr. Karzai, former President has to be blamed in this regard, but the heads

streets and alleys to other ways. Children, women, elder and young people are crossing streets with difficulty. It seems that there is no Municipality within the government’s framework.

It is better that the government takes action as soon as possible. A commission should be established and some ways for prevention of standing waters in public squares be sought. The problem of stand-ing water at intersections needs a techni-cal solution. Road construction and ur-ban management experts should come together in a commission and discuss on solving of this problem. It is clear that a lot of construction work in the past ten years has caused wiped out of Kabul’s old water. Also, unstandardized construc-tion of roads and neglect of watersheds or canals also contribute to the problem. In the days of raining, it is very difficult that someone from Kabul outskirts could reach the city center without difficulties. The President once had said that Kabul should have several mayors, maybe this is a good idea, but now we need to solve the urgent problem of road blockage and the sinking of intersections under water

of Ministry of Mines didn’t give any information about Minister of Mines resignation but some media has told that one of the cause of his resigna-tion was giving him limited author-ity by government. Mr. Saba told in his last interview with BBC that mines of Afghanistan are looted. In addition, he criticized it strongly. He told that Afghanistan was not ready to extract its big mines. Minister of Mines criticized the contraction of extracting mines and told that those contraction were not beneficial for Afghanistan. Dawood Shah Saba was the governor of Herat during Hamid Karzai’s presidency for some years.

will give 20 Battle Planes to Afghanistan till January 2016. Last year, in December, this country had given four Battle Planes brand of A29 to the Air Force of the country in Ka-bul. In February, NATO Forces had given 2 Battle Planes to the south zone of the coun-try.

These Battle planes have constant wings and are also armed with lighting sys-tem. Moreover, these Battle Planes can car-ry heavy battle equipment. Likewise, these Planes are equipped with laser system and can carry 25 kilograms of bombs.

Military Forces of Afghanistan previous-ly emphasized that the army is not provided with Air supports when fighting against the adversaries. But, apparently the equipment of Air Forces was under the focus of Afghan Officers as well as the supporting countries.

of National Unity Government also had not been able to find a Mayor for Ka-bul until now. When an office does not have an incumbent and powerful head, it is clear that it cannot handle its work properly. Kabul Municipality even with the presence of capable Mayors was not able to do its job, now that the town has no Mayor, the degree of Municipality’s inefficiency has become very high. The President and the Chief Executive have seen the city what it has become in rainy days. Roads are full of water and in case of sever rainfall, parts of Kabul will go un-der water.

There is no preparedness for heavy rainfalls. Local departments have gone into rabbit sleeping and have not un-derstood the depth of the problem. In some areas, police drive away water from

in rainy days. For this purpose, it is necessary to

form a technical and professional com-mission and seek solutions for the prob-lem. Also, the president should appoint a mayor for Kabul immediately, so that the affairs should not become more unorga-nized. Any kind of political or non-politi-cal problem facing to elect mayor should be solved. The President and Chief Execu-tive must take decisive decision and solve Municipality’s problem. It is required in the future that beside holding parlia-mentary and district councils’ elections, election should be set up in cities too so that people could elect mayors for their cities. Electing of mayors is a constitu-tional mandate and therefore should be implemented as soon as possible. When mayors are elected by people’s votes, they will put more efforts to provide services for voters. The reports of Meteorological Organizations show that Kabul will saw rainfall in coming days too, because of this, an immediate solution to prevent sinking of intersections under water to be sought.

Translated by: Nadia Qasemisource: BBC Persian

Translator: Emran Poya Source: Etlaat-e-rooz

Translation: Jawad DadbaanSource: Hasht-e-Subh Daily

Page 5April 09th, 2016

Vol.1, No. 33News

spection group is ordered to thor-oughly investigate the accident. However, Rafiullah Gul Afghan, former council member said the mine was exploded near his house and his car, and four people were killed and fifteen other injured. Ministry of Interior Affairs con-firms only one death.

Head of 11th district is sus-pended after the ministry of interi-or affairs announced last week that the responsible officials of districts will be suspended or even fired and introduced to judicial and liti-gation organizations, if kidnap or organized crime cases happen in the areas under their authorities.

Ministry of Interior Affairs suspended head of Kabul’s 11th district and four other police offi-cers following the mine explosion in the area. Ministry of Interior Affairs announced that one civil-ian was killed and nine other were wounded after an embedded mine exploded in a culvert. The mine exploded on Tuesday in ‘Panjsad Family’ area of 11th district, Kabul.

The announcement also men-tions that the head and four po-lice officers of 11th district are suspended. In addition, the in-

As he was putting the toys on the wooden boards, he was trying to prevent any harm which could destroy the toys

toys attracted him, and their beautiful colors made him much more cautious for putting the toys in appropriate places for sale.

Rohullah is ten years old and is a resident of Kart-e-Parwan, Kabul City. It has been two years that he continuously is busy with selling toys.

Although he has sold hundreds and thousands of toys, none of those toys were his.

According to him, if he had taken one of those toys, he would have been blamed because he was not allowed to do that.

He says: “I love remote control vehicles but I was even scared to touch it because if it was damaged then no one would buy it. Whenever a boy with his father buys such vehicles then I wish I was that boy and own remote control vehicles.”

He adds that, I buy the toys from Mandavi (a common and broad center of buying and sellling) and carefully sell them because the shop is not mine and I am just an apprentice.

Rohullah, daily earns about 500 to 600 Afs and according to toys’ sales during a day, he is only allowed to take 100 to 150 Afs.

According to him, about two years

Hasht-e Subh Kabul: the Higher Eco-nomic Management Council approved the expanding of the free economic nar-row water field and generating of labor force office.

The President’s Office says that those plans are approved on Saturday in Higher Economic Council meeting by the lead of President. President Ghani has said that a common team had to work together for the purpose of land price determination and for the expanding of the free eco-nomic narrow water field with presence of different sectors representatives. Ac-cording to him, this act will cause the en-couragement of private sectors for more enterprises and also is an income for gov-ernment.

The President also includes that the need for expanding of the free econom-ic narrow water field to electric power and water should be studied. He also has asked New Kabul Bank Develop-ment Office to work cooperatively with vice presidency in economic affairs and offer a specific proposal for the Higher

The president also talked about the beginning of a practical work of some infrastructure projects including some dams in the National Provision Commis-sion meeting.

According to a declaration of the Presidential Office, the ministry of Energy and Water has submitted 9 big, medium and small water dams in that meeting and the president has asked the Ministry of Finance to act for the provision of fi-nancial source for this projects.

because he knew that by harming the toys, his wage will decrease. He will go home with no money in hands. What he had to be more careful about, were the toys.

Different and appealing colors of the

ago when his father got jobless then he was forced to venture this job and work as an apprentice.

He states that my father is jobless and I am the only financial supporter of my family. We are four brothers and three sisters and I am the oldest of all my siblings. I daily earn 500 to 600 Afs but just take 100 to 150 Afs and give the remaining money to my employer.

According to this 10 years old boy, the whole investment of the shop is 5000 Afs. He does not have that much money to open a shop and work independently so all the advantages go to the shop’s owner.

Rohullah who has put his toys for sale in Dahan-e-bagh, Shahrara, Kabul city, says that most of the time from one side policemen don’t allow us to work and force us to escape and from other side the sales ratio is low compared to last year.

He further adds that, he hates policemen so much and does not even want to sell any army games (a type of toy for children).

Rohullah’s request from policemen is, not to disturb them but let them sell their toys!

Economic Council. He says that the gov-ernment will focus more on the private sectors economic locomotion in the ex-panding of the free economic narrow wa-ter field project rather than government’s incomes. According to him, the more we have economic locomotion, the more job opportunities will be created.

Pointing to the origination of Labor Force Office approbation, he has said that the government would observe the labor, ability and capacity of the private sectors and the labor force would focus on filling those voids that the private sec-tors did not show enthusiasm for them. He affirmed that about work and ability, a plan should be established for the pre-cedency and the area of the Labor Force Office that the area should be clear.

And also it is planned in Higher Eco-nomic Management Council meeting that for cleaning the city of Kabul a quar-terly labor force should be used. The par-ticipants said that, though it was the Ka-bul’s city provost job to clean, the labor force should cooperate.

Mr. Ghani says that for the practi-cal beginning work of the infrastructure projects including the building of dams should be launched according to the ex-isting facilities.

Moreover, the Chief Executive Offi-cer, Abdullah Abdullah, has also said in the National Provision meeting that first the development projects should be pri-oritized. According to him the prioritized projects should be started with no delay by the consideration of the facilities.

Head of 11th District suspended

Wandering toy seller

Two economic plan approvals in Higher Economic Management Council

Translation: Walid RahmaniSource:

Translation: Sahar SajjadiSource: Hasht-e-Subh Daily

Translated by: Hadi ShaikhzadaSource: Hasht-e- Subh

Page 6 April 09th, 2016

Vol.1, No. 33 Creative Writing

day through. Arriving home, I directly en-tered into my own little room and did not let anyone else know about my coming. In the afternoon I wrote a letter and asked my mother to take it to Mahtab in Gol Khana high school. Mommy was so sym-pathetic and knew everything because she was the first one to whom I revealed my feeling for Mahtab. She knew how I loved her and knew that I quitted my job for the purpose of getting married to her.

THE NEXT MORNING she went to Gol Khana high school where Mahtab was studying her 12th grade. By noon when I came back, the first thing Mommy told me was: “Mahtabat Ghorob Kard - Your Mahtab set.” Then laughed to lessen the severity of my feeling and show that it was not a very big deal. I said nothing, neither had I known to say something. I stared at her shocked and drawn. “No worries my son, I met her parents when I returned from Gol Khana and tonight we’ll go there again”, mommy said. She had vis-ited Mahtab’s parents for three times for the purpose of marriage proposal since I shared Mahtab’s concern that a boy and his family proposed to marry her. Mom-my knew where their house was and how their reaction would be, but did not let me know. Her last response relieved me for a moment because I was thinking that it might be a solution, but the fire inside me burned me up and did not let me be silent. “Go now, eat your lunch and have your afternoon nap and we’ll talk things over,” she said.

“Well Karbalayee jan, you know why we are here. You know that my son has quitted his job to marry Mahtab jan. You know that they are in love,” said mommy with a begging manner after dinner in Mahtab’s house. There were Mahtab’s par-ents (Ibrahim and Fatana), Mahtab’s older brother (Hassan), mommy and I sitting on the brown mattresses and cushions in a woody ceiling house. The ill-humored,

THE LAST TIME I met Mahtab was at least five years ago. She was a sharp, ca-pable young girl with brown eyes, golden hair and wide-sweet face. At a spring-time noon as I crossed the crowd in Pol-e Sokhta, Mahtab called me after about a month of no contact to ask where I was. After greeting, she lowered her voice and with a panic and shrivel in her voice, said: “I love you very much, but we can’t get married to each other.” It’s been 12 days since I came back from Helmand, where I risked my life to find money. I was dying to hear her voice because from the time that her parents knew about our rela-tionship, had forbidden her to hold a cell phone and contact with any outsider boy. For a second I reviewed the hardships and difficulties I endured to get enrolled with US Marine Corps for a well-paid job and how I overcame challenges for "leave" to arrange our wedding party. I reviewed her first and last kisses; her promise for an endless love. I reviewed how I fought with my elder brother and made him sad to convince him for our marriage. Her voice broke me down. I did not know what to say. Even a word did not come to my mind. Her voice silenced both of us for 30 seconds. By the time I struggled to find a proper answer, the call was cut off. I was looking forward to hearing good news from her like my parents liked you and agreed upon our marriage. Or let’s meet each other by the coming Friday. Or sang her favorite song. Many things flashed in my mind. I did nothing for the next 60 seconds. I stood in the right corner of the street at the edge of a muddy-wall restau-rant panting, sweating, and wishing she had told me something else. The crowd mixed of men and women around me seemed strange as though flies in the air beeping and going nowhere. I gazed at the clusters of people some of whom I could barely hear their laughter and chatter around Mazari square. The cool sunlight was flickering through the slices of gray clouds.

AFTER A MINUTE, I tried to call her back. “The number you have dialed is switched off…” was what I heard from my cell phone. I tried again and again, and heard the same response. I was hope-less. The whole plan seemed to be ruined. Both past and future; because she was my past and future. We grew up in love and happiness for the past 26 months. She had changed my life in many ways and she had shaped my fate of which I am to-

short-heighted plump man next to me was Mahtab’s dad. He stood up and head-ed to hallway to spit off his snuff. Trying to sit down, he said: “Look aunt, you are welcome to come here any time and for any purpose, but please never ever come here for the purpose of marriage pro-posal.” Mommy tried to say something, I nodded, understanding her to let him fin-ish his words. “You came here three times during last winter, we agreed to see your son and discuss it with him in person, but he didn’t show up and when I saw you this morning and now it seems nonsense to me,” he continued. I cleared my throat to say something, but I was not sure enough how I could impress and convince an obstinate and a one track-minded per-son. “Look Karbalayee Sahib, I’m sorry for being late…” I said with a trembling voice, but he suddenly tuned his face and snapped by his roar: “You don’t need to say anything. Even a word, got it?” My comment had exasperated him and his black beardy chin was shaking as if he tried to slap me in the face. I was shocked and swallowed the secreted saliva in my throat. I knew that my face had tuned as pale as the moon hovering above and for a short time I lost my courage. A sweat drop erupted on my forehead and I sud-denly cleaned it with a hand-made Kha-mak handkerchief. I found out that his left knee was touching with my right knee and I was afraid if he felt my knee was trembling. I slowly moved my right back and imagined how savage and cruel can he be. How could Mahtab dare to share her love story with him and how Fatana could bear him for her entire life. “You don’t know me. That’s why you dare to say bullshits before me and dare to ask for an engaged girl to be married to” He roared.

Was she really engaged? Who with and why? The boy she had raised her con-cern about? Did they love each other? Did Mahtab betray me? These were the ques-

tions dominating my mind. After listening to his annoying, harsh

sound for a while, I finally sighed and dared to say something. “Look, all you said is alright, but Mahtab and I had promised each other not to marry anyone else. I am sure even if she agreed upon it, she did not mean heartedly” I said. “Who the hill is she to make such an important decision? She is my daughter. Don’t ever forget it” he roared again. The clink in back of the white door on the front corner of the house distracted us. I felt someone was overhearing. I felt Mahtab was wait-ing to hear the good news as I did. I felt she was there to see me because we have not met each other since fall’s last year before I left for Helmand. Fatana elbowed Hassan to see what was going on.

Ibrahim flicked his newly lit cigarette and turned his face to mommy. Sighing heavily, as he twirled his handy glass half-full of green tea between his fingers, said: “She is now someone else’s bride and I am not allowed to arrange the wedding of other people’s bride for your son. I hope this is clear. It is not worth if you wait and discuss it until tomorrow morning.” Mommy was disappointed more than I did as result of the conversation which lasted about 30 minutes. She huffed a deep breath and closed her eyes listening to an unpleasant roar of Ibrahim who did not let her to express her last words: “Fa-tana, pair their shoes, they are leaving.”

It was 10:50 pm. Mommy and I left their house angrily without saying a word. Neither we, nor they said good bye. We walked in silence under the bone-colored moonlight which was getting brightened and then blurred by a thin cloud. In the dim light of the moon, I saw the glazed look in mommy’s eyes. She seemed sad as if she had lost her most beloved one. A soft wind was touching our faces, letting us feel the joy of a springtime weather.

About the author: Mohammad Ali Fakur is a Star alumnus and a human rights activist. He has a BA with honors in Law and Political Science from Gawharshad University. He is also a civil society activist with numerous appearances on TV shows. He is currently studying Creative Writing at Star Educational Society.

THE FIRST LOVE

“I love you very much, but we can’t get married to each other.” It’s been 12 days since I came back from Helmand, where I risked my life to find money. I was dying to hear her voice be-cause from the time that her parents knew about our relationship, had forbidden her to hold a cell phone and contact with any outsider boy.

Page 7April 09th, 2016

Vol.1, No. 33Literary

Sometimes the difference between a smart person and stupid person becomes clear when they have to face change. The same applies to a people,

and a tribe. Our people have usually been stupid. They made stupid decisions. We are still paying for it.

My parents told me many stories about Hazara elders who were taken away, pushed off a cliff, or stoned to death. The elders were taken to jails run by the kings’ men. They were put face down on the ground, covered under a shawl, and then pelted with rocks by tens and hundreds of people. One of your an-cestors, not sure which one it was, was taken away by the king’s men. They made him dig a hole in the ground, and then buried him in it chest high. They pelted him with rocks un-til he was covered in blood and wounds and dust. He was buried under a pile of rocks. They assumed he was dead and left him out in the open to be consumed by wolves and jackals. The man was alive. He must have been very blessed. In the darkness of that

night, he crawled out from underneath that pile and escaped into the mountains. He lived, and made his way back to the village. He was the only survivor the old villagers knew.

Every year the king sent polooss to the villages. They brought with them orders, tax demands, and a lot of terror. The po-looss stayed in the best house in the village, and only the bravest men in the village went to speak to them and serve them food. The people had to comply with his orders and demands – an entire village surrendering to a single polooss, that was us. There was usually one tax on the harvest yield, another to pay for polooss’ journey, another for each head of cattle, and another if the king was at war somewhere. The tax was rarely collected in currency, and usually in the form of butter, wool, jewellery, cattle, crop-yield, and other valuables. If a village refused to pay, the king sent more polooss armed with sticks and guns. A visit from the polooss forced villag-ers into the hills. Some families hid in their homes, many just picked up everything they

could and run up the nearest mountain. Our hills and mountains have always been our protectors.

Years passed and the king was deposed. A new king came to power. There was a change. The king’s men came into the villag-es to open schools. They made it compulsory for girls and boys and men and women to go to school. The people complied. The mullahs preached against it. They said the schools were there to turn people into communists and non-Muslims. The mullahs kept preach-ing against education for women and girls. They preached that girls were being sent to school to be turned into prostitutes, the boys to be made into communist soldiers.

The people believed the mullahs and turned against schools. They bribed the po-looss to keep their children out of school. I know of a family in the village who handed all their wheat-yield for the year to the polooss to keep their son out of school. We were afraid. I buried a Quran in the fields because the gov-ernment was taking away people found with Quran. In some areas the villagers burned down their schools and killed the teachers. In

other areas, they declared jihad against the government. People said they would rather die than send their girls to school. And in some places they did that – they died but did not send their girls to school. Instead, many sent their girls and boys to the mullahs. Some of the mullahs then mistreated, assaulted and raped their girl students. Interestingly, those few who were too poor and weak to take their children out of school were lucky. Their children became teachers, pilots, engi-neers and soldiers.

What was the result of all of that! The result was that many generations of our peo-ple, all of us remained illiterate and unedu-cated. We did that to ourselves. We had no access to schools for a generation and more. We burned down the schools, we killed and chased away the teachers, and brought in the mullahs. Our world was confined to the val-leys of the mountains. We turned our backs to change and to the rest of the world. Our people became stupid. We suffered for those mistakes. We are paying for those mistakes.

*Polooss = Police

StoriesMy Grandmother

Told Me

40 About the author: Hadi Zaher was the first graduate of Quetta's branch of Star Educational Society in the year 1999. He has an MA from the University of Wollongong in Australia and is currently a post-graduate student at the University of New South Wales.

The Thousand and One Nights, also called The Arabian Nights, Arabic Alf laylah wa laylah,collection of largely Middle Eastern and Indian stories of uncertain date and authorship whose tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sindbad the Sailor have almost become part of Western folklore.

As in much medieval European literature, the stories—fairy tales, ro-mances, legends, fables, parables, an-ecdotes, and exotic or realistic adven-tures—are set within a frame story. Its scene is Central Asia or “the islands or peninsulae of India and China,” where King Shahryar, after discover-ing that during his absences his wife has been regularly unfaithful, kills her and those with whom she has betrayed him. Then, loathing all womankind, he marries and kills a new wife each day until no more candidates can be found. His vizier, however, has two daugh-ters, Shahrazad (Scheherazade) and Dunyazad; and the elder, Shahrazad, having devised a scheme to save her-self and others, insists that her father give her in marriage to the king. Each evening she tells a story, leaving it in-complete and promising to finish it the following night. The stories are so en-tertaining, and the king so eager to hear the end, that he puts off her execution from day to day and finally abandons his cruel plan.

Though the names of its chief char-acters are Iranian, the frame story is probably Indian, and the largest pro-portion of names is Arabic. The tales’ variety and geographical range of ori-gin—India, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, and possibly Greece—make single authorship unlikely; this view is sup-ported by internal evidence—the style, mainly unstudied and unaffected, con-

brought to the Middle East by the Mon-gols. Most of the tales best known in the West—primarily those of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sindbad—were much later additions to the original corpus.

The first European translation of the Nights, which was also the first published edition, was made by An-toine Galland as Les Mille et Une Nu-its, contes arabes traduits en français, 12 vol. (vol. 1–10, 1704–12; vol. 11 and 12, 1717). Galland’s main text was a four-volume Syrian manuscript, but the later volumes contain many stories from oral and other sources. His translation remained stan-dard until the mid-19th centu-ry, parts even be-ing retranslated into Arabic. The Arabic text was first published in full at Calcutta (Kolkata), 4 vol. (1839–42). The source for most later transla-tions, however, was the so-called Vulgate text, an Egyptian recen-sion published at Bulaq, Cairo, in 1835, and several times reprinted.

Meanwhile, French and Eng-lish continua-tions, versions, or editions of Galland had add-ed stories from

oral and manuscript sources, collected, with others, in the Breslau edition, 5 vol. (1825–43) by Maximilian Habicht. Later translations followed the Bulaq text with varying fullness and accuracy. Among the best-known of the 19th-century translations into English is that of Sir Richard Burton, who used John Payne’s little-known full English trans-lation, 13 vol. (9 vol., 1882–84; 3 supple-mentary vol., 1884; vol. 13, 1889), to produce his unexpurgated The Thou-sand Nights and a Night,16 vol. (10 vol., 1885; 6 supplementary vol., 1886–88).

tains colloquialisms and even gram-matical errors such as no professional Arabic writer would allow.

The first known reference to the Nights is a 9th-century fragment. It is next mentioned in 947 by al-Masʿʿdʿ in a discussion of legendary stories from Iran, India, and Greece, as the Persian Hazʿr afsʿna, “A Thousand Tales,” “called by the people ‘A Thousand Nights’.” In 987 Ibn al-Nadʿm adds that Abʿ ʿAbd Allʿh ibn ʿAbdʿs al-Jahshiyʿrʿ began a collection of 1,000 popular Arabic, Iranian, Greek, and other tales but died (942) when only 480 were written.

It is clear that the expressions “A Thousand Tales” and “A Thousand and One…” were intended merely to in-dicate a large number and were taken literally only later, when stories were added to make up the number.

By the 20th century, Western scholars had agreed that the Nights is a composite work consisting of popular stories originally transmitted orally and developed during several centuries, with material added somewhat hap-hazardly at different periods and plac-es. Several layers in the work, including one originating in Baghdad and one larger and later, written in Egypt, were distinguished in 1887 by August Mül-ler. By the mid-20th century, six suc-cessive forms had been identified: two 8th-century Arabic translations of the Persian Hazʿr afsʿna, called Alf khurafah and Alf laylah; a 9th-century version based on Alf laylah but including other stories then current; the 10th-century work by al-Jahshiyʿrʿ; a 12th-century col-lection, including Egyptian tales; and the final version, extending to the 16th century and consisting of the earlier material with the addition of stories of the Islamic Counter-Crusades and tales

The Thousand and One NightsWritten by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica

Saturday, April 09, 2016 Vol. 1, No. 33

About the interviewer: Farid Shefayi is a teacher at Star Educational Society. He studies Political Science and International Relations at Ibne-Sina University. He has worked as an English teacher and private tutor in the past and aspires to be a suc-cessful diplomat in the future.

contact me as soon as he returns. Until now they have not called and there has been no attention from their side.

Based on your descriptions, this is a useful and affordable technology. Why is it not widely used? I personally cannot develop it or start distributing it. It must be arranged with the Ministry of Com-munication of the country. Afterward, we need to talk with the companies that distribute IP addresses around the world, such as IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), ISO (International Organization for Standardization), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), to firstly create protocols and standards. Then the international rules and regulations must be observed and the process completed. It means that this technology must be changed to a center that can be developed, similar to how the U.S. Department of Defense introduced TCP/IP which was a basic form/ type of internet. This technology must be introduced to an international organization to be standardized, then we can distribute and implement it. Even our government cannot develop it by itself. It has to be introduced to relevant companies that can standard-ize it and then implement it around the world.

How do you see the future of the tech-nology you have invented? One issue was very common between those in the technology field - the dream to transfer oneself through airwaves or internet to anywhere in just in few seconds, like teleportation. I think if the technology I created could be implemented, there would be no need for that because we could control all our things from any lo-cation just by the devices in our hands. It means that at the same time you can be in several different places, because you have control over your things.

What would you do if you had enough resources? If I had enough resources, I would create a worldwide research cen-ter dedicated only to technology and relevant fields and I would take the tech-nology one step higher from where it is now. Based on our budget, this organi-zation would work on new issues to pres-ent something new to the technology`s world. I would use all my efforts in these kinds of issues.

How do you consider the situation of knowledge and technology in the country? In my opinion, it is declining dramatically because in other countries all their systems are technology-based> Unfortunately, in Afghanistan, we don’t have a proper IT system in our most im-portant ministries. A good example can be the Electronic Identity Cards. They were supposed to be distributed long ago but still we don’t have it. We have to go and get paper ID cards that are very vulnerable for more corruption. Simi-

larly, in most ministries we don’t have a systematized database system. We still need to use the old paper files and dos-siers, which definitely increase cases of corruption and also are very time con-suming. Overall, the situation of technol-ogy in Afghanistan is quite unsatisfying. But there is a little hope from the Ministry of Communication that it can be devel-oped. However, compared to the rest of the world, the level is very low. Do you think if you were in another country you could develop much more? One hundred percent “yes.” If I were in another country with this thinking, in-vention, and my hard work ethic, firstly the government would work on imple-menting this technology in their own country. Secondly, they would build a research center for me to continue de-veloping and advancing my technology. But, unfortunately, in Afghanistan none of these are possible. Meritocracy is nev-er considered. Overall, I am disappointed about the future of my country.

You are teaching too, how do you find your students? Are they as motivated as yourself? Yes. They are the new genera-tion of Afghanistan and they have a keen interest in technology. I hope they invent new technologies so they will be effective on developing Afghanistan technologi-cally. I am very hopeful of these students and all those who are in the field of edu-cation that they can bring change. But all we need is security, both physical and mental security.

How do you imagine the future? Is there any hope for advancing the country’s technology? In my opinion, it is possible only if our young generation gets the op-portunity to replace the old officials. If the old generation continues to hold high positions, they will never understand the importance of technology and the facili-ties it can bring to us.

What is your short message for our read-ers? Always be the best in any field you are in, even it is not a popular field of study. Do your best and you will be the winner.

the rooms. If the water in the storage tank is finished, we can turn on the pump to refill the water. We made this home, we tested it and it was successful. Also the professors from our faculty visited and discussed it.

There were some technologies in the past that could do the same tasks. What is the difference between yours and those? In the old technologies, we could not control our devices from a farther place, beyond the local region. It was impossible to control something in Af-ghanistan from the U.S. The good point in this technology is that this technology is based on IP. Therefore, with this tech-nology we can even set IP in our electric heater, water pump, the gas that we use for cooking or anything you can imag-ine, and control it from anywhere in the world. For doing this we just to connect the internet and log into our device. For example, the electric heater can increase or decrease the temperature. And this is based on IP V6, which the older tech-nologies were based on wireless connec-tion that could only control a very limited area. It was impossible to control some-thing between continents. Using IP is an improvement. The reason why IP V6 was created is that it has the capacity to support 2128 devices in the world at the same time. It means that if we decide to give the IP address to someone, we can give him/her millions of IP addresses. IP V6 helps us to go toward globalization and enables us to share things all over the world or control them.

How was your invention welcomed? In the academic area, it was warmly wel-comed and encouraged for development. Also it was shared to make it known to of-ficials and people in high positions. When it was first introduced, I received a call to meet the minister from the Ministry of Communication and Information Tech-nology. At the time, they said the minis-ter was on a business trip and they would

Please give us more information about your invention. We can call it a new technology or the new generation of technology that I have named it X-net. This technology is based on Internet Protocol Version 6 (IP V6). Through this technology we can create devices which can be controlled from anywhere in the world by giving them IP. The controlling can be done by computer, phone, tablet or any other smart phones. Besides, this technology can bring us many other fa-cilities. For example, through this tech-nology we can create an Electronic Army or Cyber Army. We can settle them in our borders and there is no need for the physical presence of our troops there. The devices can be installed there and whenever an unauthorized person enters our borders the machine will automati-cally prevent him/her from entering. The device can shoot the person, it can in-form us, and we can watch the scene by video feed. Another example is creating Electronic Transportation. The devices will be placed in cars and the cars can be driven automatically. A third example is creating electronic houses. For instance, if we need to travel immediately from the U.S. to Afghanistan, the technology can turn on and off our power system, water system, air conditioner or other things. It can adjust the temperature in the house. These are only a few examples of what we can do with this technology. Briefly, we can say that by using this technology we can base all our lives on IP, all the things that a person uses we just need to set an IP to it and control it from anywhere in the world.

How do we implement it? For example, you said that we can make a Cyber Army with it. How can we do it? This technol-ogy has two systems, one hardware sys-tem and the other software system. The hardware is the device which we make for a specified purpose. For example, we set a gun in a way that we could shoot or control the gun in any way. The gun is the hardware and the controlling system is the software which we install in our com-puter or other smart device to control the gun in the battlefield. The gun can turn side to side or detect the target.

Tell us about the smart home you cre-ated. I created a smart home to show how this technology works. A video is also available if you are interested to watch. The smart home was designed with a gate, power system, water pump system, and a garage for the cars. These features can be controlled by a smart phone. From anywhere in the world, we can open or close the garage door with our phone, we can turn off or on the lamps of

Young Afghan technology innovatorInterview with Alim Ahmady

Editor-in-Chief: Ali Reza Yasa, ChairmanEditorial Staff: Murtaza Qasemi, Murtaza FarjadDesigner: Musa AutbinDistribution: Najibullah Malikpoor 0785103920

B Branch: Yasin Rezayee 0748009565C Branch: Yadullah Rezayee 0776292665Bamyan: Essa Omid 0773609598Daikundi: Hamid Naderi 0767961513

Add: Star Avenue, Sabiqa Stop, Dehburi, Kabul.A Branch Phone: +93-785 10 39 20 / +93-744 56 37 55

Website: http://www.star.edu.af Email: interstellarbulletin@gmail.com

Alim Ahmady is a senior student of Computer Sciences in Kabul University. He has recently invented a new technology named X-net. Besides, he is the best student of the faculty and he plans to develop his invention worldwide and also to continue his studies in the U.S. He is also the co-founder of Tech-Box Professional Academy of IT Training where he teaches Networking as well.