HELMAND -- Located in the centre of Lashkargah city, the provincial capital of Helmand, the Omari Modern Studies School is providing education to 700 boys and girls who have lost a parent, mostly fathers.
For many of the students, it is their first time attending school.
Some 300 of the orphaned students come from remote areas of Helmand's districts, according to Mohammad Essa Omari, an Afghan businessman and the founder of the private school.
"These children ... live in the dorm for free and get three meals each day as well," he said.
![This photograph taken on November 7 shows a classroom at the Omari Modern Studies School in Lashkargah, Helmand province. [Abdul Khaleq Hamim/Salaam Times]](/cnmi_st/images/2022/11/17/38795-h_3-739_416.webp)
This photograph taken on November 7 shows a classroom at the Omari Modern Studies School in Lashkargah, Helmand province. [Abdul Khaleq Hamim/Salaam Times]
Another 400 students are from Lashkargah and are provided free transportation to and from their homes by the school, he added.
All necessary school materials, such as books, notebooks, pens and clothes, are provided free of charge, Omari said.
Hedayatullah, 10, who was admitted to the school, is the son of a former police officer.
His father was killed in fighting three years ago in the Sangin district of Helmand, leaving Hedayatullah, his brother and two sisters without a guardian.
One of his sisters has also been admitted to the school; the other two siblings are still too young.
There is no school in Hedayatullah's village in Sangin and children cannot get an education there, he said.
"It is my first time coming to school, and I am very happy," he added. "I want my brother and other sister to be admitted to this school too once they are seven."
Hedayatullah said that he wants to study to build a better future for himself and his country.
Hopes for a better future
Ayesha, 11, another student at the school, lost her father five years ago when he was killed in a firefight near Lashkargah while working in his fields.
She said that she is very happy to be admitted to the school for the first time.
"I want to become a doctor in the future ... My mother has suffered a lot. I want to take good care of her after becoming a doctor," Ayesha said.
"I would have never been able to get an education had it not been for this school," she added. "We are in a very bad economic situation, with no money to buy clothes, pens, notebooks. This school has provided everything for us for free."
She hopes that like her, all Afghan girls will be able to study and have a better and brighter future.
Khalil Ahmad, 10, a resident of Nawa district who also attends the school, lost his father to an illness, leaving him along with his mother and three younger sisters without a breadwinner.
The Omari Modern Studies School has provided him and one of his sisters with free education. His other two sisters are not seven yet.
Ahmad said this is the first time he has stepped inside a classroom, adding that he is studying with passion and motivation and hopes to become an engineer in the future.
"I always hoped to go to school and study, but there is no school in our village," he added. "There is a school in the district centre, but I could not attend it due to distance and [other] problems."
"I am very happy to be able to study and for having access to all the facilities here," Ahmad said. "I have learned the alphabet [in Pashto] and can read."
Rescue from darkness
For children, "illiteracy keeps their minds dark, forcing them to spend their whole life in darkness", said Nazar Mohammad Samim, a teacher at the school.
"This school has helped save 700 lives from darkness," he said. "Each one of these children will be a force behind Afghanistan's development and prosperity through their education."
Illiteracy is the main factor behind Afghanistan's current chaotic situation and a future literate generation will build a better country, according to Abdullah Noorzai, a civil society activist in Lashkargah.
While thousands of children in the province are deprived of education, the admission of 700 children to the Omari Modern Studies School brings hope, Noorzai said.
"Unfortunately, our schools have been destroyed by many years of war, denying the youth education," he said. "Necessary actions have not been taken yet to reopen schools in the districts and remote areas of Helmand."
"In the current situation, the provision of free education to children in Helmand is a good step," he added.
Noorzai said he hoped more schools such as the Omari Modern Studies School are established, and that public schools will be reopened.
All families in Helmand want their children to go to school and become literate, but education opportunities have not been facilitated in most regions of the province, Noorzai said.
This is a good move. Hope other schools like Omari's School will be built. Wars have taken away fathers, mothers, and other family members from many Afghan children. There are millions of children in the country who are deprived of education. If other rich people like the builder of this school also take action, the future of many children will be bright.
Reply5 Comment
As a result of the last 45 years in Afghanistan, Russia, Pakistan, Britain, Iran, and Arab and Western countries orphaned millions of Afghan children. Some did these things directly for their benefit, and some indirectly. Not a single country showed mercy to these orphans and poor people. They remained illiterate, and their economy was destroyed.
Reply5 Comment
Thank you very much to the founder of this private school, Muhammad Esa Omari, who has provided the opportunity of education to this poor and destitute class. He is truly a hero because he is a hero who brightens the future of Afghanistan, cuts costs, and finally provides children to serve society. Many traders have gone to Iran and invested there to provide facilities to Iranians and enjoy their lives, but they don't care about the poor Afghans. Iran's Tasnim news agency wrote in one of its reports that Afghan investors and 1,600 Afghan companies have been established in Iran's Khorasan Rizvi city after the fall of the Afghan republic. Bashir Ahmed Ariayi, head of that city's Afghan business people's association, said that at least one billion dollars had been invested in these companies. Hotel management, tourism, the mining industry, agriculture, and business services are shown as important parts of this investment. And it is unknown how much capital Afghans have taken out of the country and used there in other cities of Iran for a year and a half. But pity our investors who drank the blood of Afghans and now enjoy it in other countries. Some have built hotels, some have bought houses, some have made companies, and some have started one thing or another. If it is investigated, with the return to power of the Taliban, billions of dollars of Afghanistan's capital have been withdrawn from the country. Meanwhile, Afghan children do not have food and do not enjoy other human rig
Reply5 Comment
After long days, I received a good news and I was very happy. In the province of Helmand, the educational institutions have been destroyed in several years of war, and there are many orphans in this province. Thanks to our dear brother Mohammad Esa Oamari for making an innovation that I have not heard of. Our other businessmen should realize that they should build schools for orphans and poor children who cannot afford to buy pens or books for themselves. Our brother Muhammad Esa Omari has solved all the problems of the students at Modern Studies School. These school students should also make good use of this golden opportunity and spend more time in studying.
Reply5 Comment
It is really an occassion of happiness as such services are provided in the war-torn province of Helmand. Unfortunately, Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, and other neighboring areas witnessed devastating wars in the past twenty years, as a result of which millions of young Afghans were deprived of getting education. We ask the international community and national businessmen to provide work and educational opportunities in the mentioned areas so that the residents of the mentioned province can become literate like other residents of the country.
Reply5 Comment