Reasons to Break the Wall

Last December, a man who is known as the Head of the village unexpectedly claimed that a portion of the school was being built on his own land. In his anger, he proceeded to destroy one of the school walls that were still undergoing construction.

(PICTURE: The broken wall)
From the very offset of this project, village representatives, teaching staff, the school principle, and the members of the education council were put together to constitute a well-balanced School Management Committee, whose very purpose was to avoid such problems. Under this Committee, JEN felt that we are doing our best to both prevent and resolve conflicts involving rights to information and land.

However in spite of our efforts, a problem had arisen is the midst of such a small village and the explanation for this can be linked to many factors.

One possible cause is employment. In a remote region where the unemployment rate is close to 100%, a construction of a school provides a unique opportunity for employment. However, this chance of employment cannot possible benefit everyone; it is possible that bitter sentiments due to the missed opportunity may have been the root of this conflict. Often armed groups that have been active through the time of the Cold War or civil war may be behind such problems.

Both the aforementioned causes contributed to our problem. As these individuals are armed, even the village leader has a hard time persuading them to compromise. Finally, the Head was convinced by the School Management Committee to step aside.

This shows that it may be some time before we can reach peaceful times here in Afghanistan.