Experiences from Afghanistan

Karen and a Kandahari man who sells pashminas

Working with CIDA has taken Karen Christie across many borders, and she was recently in Kandahar.

Karen Christie started teaching English and French when she was 24. She completed her one-year BEd After at U of C and then received a teaching certificate in 1974 in French as a second language.

Karen’s first position after graduation was in the Yukon public school system. Two years later, she accepted a position at the Carcross Community Education Centre, which was located in a commune in Carcross, Yukon, a remote town of about 500. Next, it was off to Australia for a position at a boys technical school and then to Ethiopia where Karen taught at the Institute of Water Technology. In between, she fit in several years of teaching English as a second language at the secondary level in Calgary.

After teaching for 13 years, Karen decided to leave the classroom and pursue a different career path. In 1989, she moved to Ottawa and began working in international development, but maintained her ties to education. Karen’s first international development jobs were with World University Service of Canada and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges.

As an independent consultant before joining the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Karen spent time in the former Yugoslavia. In Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia, she gained a new respect for the power of fair elections–what casting a ballot gives to citizens in a war torn country. In Bosnia, she completed her first election supervisory role for elections in a town where NATO tanks were still on the streets. Bosnia was also Karen’s first experience with illiterate adults who came to vote, but could not write their name.

“In Bosnia in 1996, we were in a polling station near the former front lines,” she says. “I definitely felt anxious and nervous.” Karen and her colleague were presented with a brown envelope and “it felt like a gun was inside,” she said. After asking a nearby policeman for help and advice, they found out that the package actually contained candles. The building had recently been bombed and was without electricity.

In 2003, Karen began working with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) with the University and Colleges Program and then with Canada Corps. At the time, Canada Corps was a new initiative tasked with getting young Canadians on the ground in developing countries. Karen worked on the Mobilization and Democracy (MAD) team, tasked to organize and observe elections and ensure fair and due processes were followed.

Following Canada Corps, Karen joined CIDA’s West Africa Peace and Security Initiative, after which she left to join the Afghanistan Task Force. In July 2008, she landed in Kandahar as part of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (KPRT) to begin work on one of the six priorities for Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan–Education.

The KPRT is an active military camp in Kandahar City. As the busiest single-runway airport in the world, the Kandahar Airfield (KAF) is home to about 20,000 military troops and personnel from several countries, and the population continues to grow. .

Just outside its gates is Kandahar City, an impoverished and dangerous city where the literacy rate for men is about 13.8 percent and for women, around 1 percent. These stark numbers make it obvious why Canada is focusing on education to help Afghanistan rebuild. And rebuilding often happens in a literal sense. Canada is now building school walls, which are part of the culture of Afghanistan and also provide safety for the students inside.

In support of Canada’s education priority in Afghanistan, the Government of Canada will invest $12 million in education-related projects over three years to: build, expand or repair 50 schools in key districts in Kandahar province and build the capacity of the Ministry of Education to deliver quality educational services. Central to improving access to education and literacy for women is ensuring their safety. Canada is also working to provide safe and acceptable means of transporting women and girls to school.

During her time in Kandahar, Karen travelled occasionally to the Department of Education for meetings with her Afghan colleagues. To ensure her safety, three tanks and 18 soldiers were provided and Karen travelled in a light armored vehicle wearing a Kevlar vest and a helmet. “There was definitely anxiety to go outside the wire,” she says.

In contrast, Karen’s UNICEF colleagues chose not to travel in the company of tanks or soldiers but used 4 x 4 trucks to get around. “This is in sync with their philosophy that humanitarian efforts and military do not mix,” says Karen.

Schooling for children in Kandahar comes in various forms: community based non-formal school for young girls and boys as well asaccelerated learning centres. After puberty, Karen says, “it is important to remember that Afghan girls are less likely to go to school unless there are female teachers for them.”

Canada also partners with UNICEF and the World Food Program in adult literacy training, which has been very successful for women in Kandahar province. Canada is also making progress on its second signature project to build, repair or refurbish 50 schools in key districts of Kandahar, with a total of 16 schools completed, another 27 under construction and the remaining seven now contracted for construction.

Canada has had a presence in Kandahar working on education programs since 2006. Now, about 2.1 million girls have been able to safely attend school. In Kandahar province, roughly half the schools are open but 178 are closed for security reasons including threats from anti-government elements. Work is also on-going to improve the quality of education children are receiving, through teacher training programs.

Karen returned from her year in Kandahar in July 2009, and has been back at CIDA’s main office in Ottawa since. However, she had the opportunity to return in February 2010 for temporary duty and she may touch down at the Kandahar airfield again in the coming months.