Afghanistan Scout Association
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The Afghanistan National Scout Organization ( ps, د افغانستان څارندوی ټولنه ''Da Afghānistan Sārandoy Tolena'', usually shortened to ''Zarandoi'') was officially founded in 1931 in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
by a royal decree. The site of Robert Baden-Powell's second posting in 1880, Afghanistan was a member of the
World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOS ...
from 1932 until the Afghan government dissolved the Scout Association in 1947. Afghan Scouting was formed again from 1964 to 1978 and recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement.


History

The organization was established during the reign of
Mohammed Nadir Shah Mohammed Nadir Shah (Persian and ps, محمد نادر شاه – born Mohammed Nadir Khan; 9 April 1883 – 8 November 1933) was King of Afghanistan from 15 October 1929 until his assassination in November 1933. Previously, he served as Minist ...
, with approximately 300 members. In 1947 the organization was forbidden by the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
, which had accused the Scouts of being fire worshipers, as during a camp they had made music and sung around a
campfire A campfire is a fire at a campsite that provides light and warmth, and heat for cooking. It can also serve as a beacon, and an insect and predator deterrent. Established campgrounds often provide a stone or steel fire ring for safety. Campfires ...
. Scouting was reestablished in 1956, rebuilt in the context of the democratization efforts of Mohammed Zahir Shah, who had just become ruler in his own right after thirty years of ceding power to his paternal uncles,
Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan (1884 – 26 October 1953) was a political figure in Afghanistan. Life He was the younger brother of King Mohammed Nadir Shah and the elder brother of Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan and Sardar Shah Wali Khan. Hashim put in ...
and
Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan (Pashto/Dari: سردار شاه محمود خان – b:1890 d: 27 December 1959) was the Prime Minister of Afghanistan from May 1946 to 7 September 1953, under King Mohammed Zahir Shah's monarchy. He was from the Pashtun ...
. The organization, named ''Da Afğānistān Zaranduy Tolanah'' (DAZT), was readmitted to the World Scout Conference on June 1, 1964, counting a membership of between 2,000 and 7,000 Scouts, both boys and girls and adult leaders. The viewpoints of king Zahir Shah at that time were practiced by the organization. The administrators added further obligations to the general principles of the Scout movement, obligation to king, nation and country.
Discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...
and
obligation An obligation is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral. Obligations are constraints; they limit freedom. People who are under obligations may choose to freely act under obligations. Obligation exists when the ...
were welcome educational goals for governing, and Scouting was organized very tautly and almost militarily compared with other nations. The government used this organization for the stability of the state; however the organization made a large contribution to youth work in Afghanistan, above all that of responsibility, self-reliance,
sense of community Sense of community (or psychological sense of community) is a concept in community psychology, social psychology, and community social work, as well as in several other research disciplines, such as urban sociology, which focuses on the ''experie ...
and equal rights, as well as behavior toward girls and women. The
Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
provided the uniforms for the Afghan Scout Association. Dr. Eberhard Krüger and Mrs. Rosemarie Jungermann came from Germany in order to train Afghan Scout instructors further. The organization was attached by national authority to the Ministry of Education, under Minister of Education Dr. Omar Wardak and Dr. Ali Ahmad Popal, deputy Minister of Education. A school for the training of Scout group leaders was created in its office. Starting in 1959,
women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...
played a large role within the structure of the organization. In the
celebration Celebration or Celebrations may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Celebration'' (musical), by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, 1969 * ''Celebration'' (play), by Harold Pinter, 2000 * ''Celebration'' (TV series), a Canadian music TV serie ...
s and independence ceremonies in the 1960s and 1970s, Afghan Scouts of both genders participated with the structure and the organization of cultural events. Mermon Parwin supported the organization, sang Scout songs and appeared several times in the pavilion of the Scout organization. In 1961 a group of Scouts took part in the
11th World Scout Jamboree The 11th World Scout Jamboree was held 1–11 August 1963 in Marathon, Greece. Jamboree activities The Jamboree Camp had 11 sub-camps for the participating Scouts and 5 sub-camps for administrative and technical personnel, and covered a total are ...
at Marathon, Greece, held concurrently with the 1963 19th
World Scout Conference The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...
in
Rhodes, Greece Rhodes ( el, Ρόδος, ''Ródos'' ) is the principal city and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which it is the seat and a m ...
. Dr. Said Habib, a deputy president of the Afghan Scout Association, supported the establishment of
musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
Scout groups. On January 6, 1964, the organization participated in the 4th Asia-Pacific Scout Conference in
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and received the membership document of re-admittance to the
World Scout Conference The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...
. The youth and woman's work as well as the music, sport and play of Scouting constantly increased in the years from 1964 to 1973. The association, which now had local groups in different parts of the country, created further musician Scout groups, organized camps and accomplished other leisure and educational measures, in which
children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
and
young people Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...
learned handicrafts,
painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
and
singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
. However, most activities of the association were limited to
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
. With the 1973
overthrow Overthrow may refer to: * Overthrow, a change in government, often achieved by force or through a coup d'état. **The 5th October Overthrow, or Bulldozer Revolution, the events of 2000 that led to the downfall of Slobodan Milošević in the former ...
by pro-
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Mohammed Daoud Khan Mohammed Daoud Khan ( ps, ), also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan (18 July 1909 – 28 April 1978), was an Afghan politician and general who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup ...
, the Scout association became part of the
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
, took over police tasks and became a part of the Afghan police. Scouting went downhill, as during the years of unrest and war, approximately ten million left the country and looked for refuge abroad. At the beginning of the unrest, the privileged
social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...
es left the country, so that such organizations could not exist anymore in the countryside. The
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
government banned the Afghanistan Scout Association with 11 members. By 1981, DAZT was no longer recognized by the 28th
World Scout Conference The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...
, because of domestic disturbances that deprived Afghanistan of the democratic environment necessary for Scouting to continue. Until the Soviet invasion, there were American Boy Scouts in
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, serving in Boy Scout Troop 2, linked to the Direct Service branch of the
Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...
, which supports units around the world, in coordination with the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
.


Revival

Several times in the 1990s, and again in 2012, political and social changes in Afghanistan opened opportunities for the rebirth of Scouting in Afghanistan. In early 2002, the Interim Administration of Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested embassies of selected countries to assist in reviving Scouting in Afghanistan, and groups began to emerge, led by adults who had been involved with the program prior to 1978. The new organization is Da Afğānistān Sarandoy Tolanah, the Afghanistan Scout Association (ASA). It formed in 2003 and is working toward WOSM recognition. Work on the ASA Constitution continues in Dari, Pashto and English and it is hoped it will be sent to Parliament for approval in late 2008 or early 2009. Scouting falls under the Sports and Scouting branch of the Ministry of Education and occupies space in a sub-office near the Kabul Stadium. A branch reorganization took place in July 2008 and reduced the number of employees to 25 in six sections: National Secretariat, Budget, International Relations, Training and Youth, Programs and Plans and the band (although there is still much discussion about who will manage this last section). The national office tracks about 34,000 Scouts countrywide, all within groups under Ministry of Education auspices. A troop sponsored by American Scouters operated for a time at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul but had no connection with ASA. Afghanistan Scouting falls under the auspices of Asia-Pacific Region (APR) headquartered in Manila. The APR office supplies ASA with advice, some training funding and adult trainers. Even more, it helps coordinate South Asia Foundation efforts to send Scouts to international events and June 2004 saw the first Afghan Scouts leave the country in 25 years. They traveled overland to participate in the Pakistan National Jamboree. Later in the year three female Scouts traveled to Korea. 2005 saw Afghans in Nepal, 2006 in Sri Lanka and Korea, 2007 in Pakistan and Japan and this year it is anticipated 12 male and female Scouts will travel to Bangladesh. ASA also receives periodic support from international scouters. Adult Scout leaders for all sections are usually schoolteachers, but others volunteers may join, subject to the approval of the Ministry of Education. All Scouts work in the schools, acting as hall monitors, crossing guards and honor guard for school visitors. Some groups are beginning to work outside the school as well, making public announcements in the bazaar, cleaning mosques, helping firefighters, performing first aid and helping injured people get to hospital. The Afghan Scout program is focused more on civic duty rather than as a pastime. Currently the Afghan Scout Association is for boys and girls, men and women, and offers Cubs (ages 8 to 12), Scouts (ages 12 to 18) and Rovers (ages 19 to 25). Cubs, Scouts and Rovers all wear their uniforms to school or university, as that is where they perform most of their duties. Although Afghanistan does have a Guiding organization (possibly coeducational, or in a separated body), work towards
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association supporting the Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 152 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, ...
membership recognition remains unclear. Uniform standardization is difficult due to difficulties in countrywide communication. Scouts have to make or buy their own uniforms although in Kabul some of the Ministry's budget is allocated to uniform manufacture. If one is not assigned a uniform the only remaining option is to visit the tailor. The national uniform is tan-colored. Boys wear a shirt and pants, girls wear a long shirt and baggy pants. For headwear, boys wear navy blue berets. Girls generally wear a headscarf chador sometimes with a beret. The neckerchief is blue with a yellow border. A leather Scout belt with a brass belt buckle completes the uniform. The total cost for these items is about 1800 Afghanis, or 36 US dollars; a huge sum when one considers $10 a good daily wage in Afghanistan. Although scouts may perform odd jobs to earn the money a few Afghanis at a time, in some areas uniforms are simply unaffordable. In these places troops substitute dress shirt and appropriate trousers or visit the bazaar to buy a paramilitary-style shirt and pants. War left Afghanistan with a broken communication system, so word has been slow to spread between the national headquarters and troops. There are very few computers, limited Internet access and insufficient mobile telephone coverage. Scouts have to be counted during visits to the regions. New policies from Kabul are difficult to spread. The
Scout Motto The Scout Motto of the Scout movement is, in English, "Be Prepared", with most international branches of the group using a close translation of that phrase. These mottoes have been used by millions of Scouts around the world since 1907. Most of t ...
is ''Tayar Osay'', translating as ''Be Prepared'' in
Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
.


Afghan Scouting abroad

In
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
there is a Scout Fellowship founded by Scouts and Guides from Afghanistan, named ''De Afghanistan Zarandoi Tolana-Afghanische Pfadfinder Organisation'' (Afghan Scout Association) and affiliated to the ''Verband Deutscher Altpfadfindergilden e.V.'' (Fellowship of German Former Scout Guilds), a member of the
International Scout and Guide Fellowship The International Scout and Guide Fellowship (ISGF) is a worldwide organization of adults in support of Scouting and Guiding. The International Scout and Guide Fellowship is open to former members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl ...
. The Chairman of this Scout fellowship, headquartered in Lingen, is Dr. Said Habib, former vice president of the Afghan Scout Association.


See also

* Education in Afghanistan


References


Further sources

*Scouting 'Round the World, World Scout Bureau, Geneva, Switzerland, 1977 * and **Article in ''The Canadian Leader'' by Lieutenant Colonel David Ross while stationed in Kunduz, Afghanistan as a UNAMA Military Liaison Officer
Homepage De Afghanistan Zarandoi Tolana
(German) *Parts of this article have been translated from the German Wikipedia at :de:Zarandoi


External links

*
Afghanistan Badge Catalog
{{WOSM, asia Youth organisations based in Afghanistan Non-aligned Scouting organizations Youth organizations established in 1931