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The Kabul Shura of Afghanistan
The recent story of how lessons extended from a rural community
in Bamyan Province to an urban settlement for displaced persons
in Kabul demonstrates a process by which communities can teach
communities. The Shaidan Central Valley shura (council) in Bamyan
Province, representing 72 villages, coordinates a wide range of
village workplans using locally-available resources, resolves
disputes, and has successfully enforced a ban on poppies.
Last year, Shaidan shura members taught the process of
community change to their family members in one of the many
displaced persons settlements that grew around Kabul during
25 years of war and civil strife. A local shura was organized.
Representatives went to see the success in Bamyan. They
returned confident with the knowledge that even though poor
they could improve the living conditions of their community.
As a first step, they conducted a household survey to gather data
on their community’s needs. The shura needed this data
to plan their activities and interventions with government
agencies. How could they create an accurate survey? With help
from Bamyan Site Director, Abdullah Barat, volunteers went
house-to-house with a better designed questionnaire. They
learned that their community had come from 11 provinces,
totaling 65,000 people representing all ethnic groups.
Today, the Kabul shura has three community learning centers and
many local sub-committees to meet a range of needs from literacy
classes to water taps and electrification. By bringing the needs
and desires of the people to the attention of the government and
external donors, the shura is a force for positive change in an area
that was initially populated by refugees and displaced persons.
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