Afghanistan is in a humanitarian crisis now that the Taliban terrorist group has once again taken over the government and replaced new found democracy with force and fear. But despite the hardships that the country has endured over the past 4 decades or so, there is still something to be said about the courage of certain people within the region.
One prime example of this is that of Mohammad Tamim Hamkar, who is a part of the Afghanistan Youth Scout program. Regardless of the uncertainty of the country’s political state, he has chosen to revive the fairly young and recently established program that was put in place sometime back in 2010, located in a compound filled with peach and almond trees in the outer portion of Kabul.
Alongside his American NGO-partner and PARSA director, Marnie Gustavson, who also happened to live in Kabul during the initial days of peace within the country, the two have worked together to help boost the lives of the Afghan boys and girls in the region by using the worldwide scouting mandates. This was done mostly through encouraging them to have a sense of service and responsibility to the community, especially during the last two months since the Taliban takeover.
Both Hamkar and Gustavson are members of the nonprofit Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Services for Afghanistan, otherwise known as PARSA, which works to rebuild Afghan communities. And they both agreed that there is power in the Merit Badge when given to the youth in helping them attain meaningful paths to follow in their young lives, especially with the turmoil that the country is in.
Hamkar takes pride in being able to regain their membership in the World Organization of Scout Movements, which means being able to restore their standing in this national pursuit that goes all the way back to 1931. He has also trained at least 600 volunteers to become scoutmasters, and also
According to Gustavson, who sadly had to flee Kabul over the last Taliban takeover a few months back explained to KUOW, “We have about 10,000 scouts around the country.”
“What the scouts accomplish across the country – particularly their focus on community service – is just remarkable,” she added.
And regardless of her absence from the country, she and the rest of PARSA will continue to work towards a brighter future for the Afghan youth for as long as they can operate in the Taliban-led country. Thankfully, their NGO-license was reissued even under the new government, which means they can safely function for now.
At the moment, they have been busy supplying displaced people with supplies, and the hope is that they can continue to help the community in any way they can.
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