Alexandria Students Up at Dawn for Video Conference with Afghan Students

Seventh-grade girls from Alexandria’s George Washington Middle School came into school before dawn Thursday to video-conference with their counterparts from a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to a news release from Alexandria City Public Schools. The girls’ conference took place at 7 a.m.; it was 4 p.m. in Kabul. Here’s more about their exchange, from the release:

The two groups of girls talked about the differences and similarities between their schools, their clothing and how they socialize. They also talked about their impressions of each other’s countries and their views on the war. While one of the George Washington students has a father who served in Afghanistan, the American girls’ counterparts in Kabul experienced the war first-hand.

“It’s living in the past that makes real peace very difficult. If we can live in the present, we are more likely to have real peace,” one of the girls from Kabul said through the interpreter.

They told the George Washington students that when they have parties, the girls and boys have to be in separate rooms. The Kabul school also has a strict uniform policy, which means covering their heads and all body parts. The George Washington girls talked about wearing jeans and multi-colored sweatshirts to school.

“We are only restricted if we wear things like really short skirts,” one of the George Washington students, who sat in a circle with a Starbucks coffee cup in front of her, told her counterpart on the screen. In Afghanistan, the girls from Kabul sat in straight rows with nothing on their laps.

Seventh-grade student Kate Bernstein said, “I learned about their culture and daily lives. I found out that we are both similar and different.”

“My favorite part was when the girls sang a Justin Bieber song in perfect English. It was worth coming in early for,” said student Destiny Basquez as she discussed the 7 a.m. video conference with the other 16 girls from George Washington.

“The girls in Afghanistan were very positive and optimistic. They are determined to get an education and to be successful in their lives,” said seventh-grade student Iris Castro.

The video conference was set up by seventh-grade Social Studies Teacher Kelly Mayer. It was coordinated by nonprofit Global Citizens in Action. This is the fourth year that the program, for girls only, has run at George Washington Middle School.

This year is unique for the girls in Afghanistan, however, as it is the first year that any of the students have reached the 12th grade and therefore graduated. Prior to the war, it was difficult for girls to get an education. Under the Taliban, women were deprived of the right to an education.

PHOTO of 7th graders at GW Middle School courtesy of ACPS