Marines are winning in Marjah
Image via WikipediaTen months ago, foreign forces in south-west Afghanistan launched a major operation to clear Taliban insurgents from the district of Marjah, in Helmand province. As the BBC's Michael Buchanan found on a visit to Marjah, recent months have seen signs of progress for local people.I suspect they also fear what the Taliban would do to them if they found out they were in school. Still it appears that much of the fight has been taken from the Taliban in the area, or they have decided to go to Pakistan for the winter. The Marines are spending a lot of money to improve conditions for the locals while the Taliban are urging them to plant poppies for dope.
It was an unusual school opening. Wandering among the smiling student faces were about two dozen heavily armed US marines as well as armed guards provided by the local community.
They had all gathered to formally open the Balakino School in Marjah - a district on the edge of Afghanistan's insurgency. The marines funded the entire construction and resourcing of the school - the desks, chairs, and books, paid the teachers.
But on the makeshift platform where the speakers gathered for the opening, there were no Americans. The strategy was clear - get the Afghans to receive the credit for providing for their own community.
Once the formalities were over, the children returned to their classrooms. In one room, seven-year-old Maqsood was writing the alphabet on the blackboard. When asked if it was safe for him to come to school, he said: "There are Taliban and there is no security. They will cut me and they will kill me. I'm scared."
Maqsood is the brightest pupil in the class, says his teacher, who himself runs the risk of being attacked for working in the school. "I would like to serve my country and serve my students here," he says, "so they can know what education is, and can choose the pen rather than the gun."
All the pupils at the school are boys. In fact, the 1,200 students who regularly attend Marjah's school, all are male. Sgt Casey Littesy, who works on outreach projects in the area, has gently suggested that girls should be educated. "When they have younger daughters, under the age of 13 or 14, I generally bring it up," she says.
"Even in these houses we've just passed there are probably 30 girls that live there and don't come to school. It's just the cultural thing, they need them there to take care of the family, take care of the house."
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Marjah was one of the first areas where the Marine surge forces pushed the Taliban out of control. The Taliban appear surprised at the persistence of the Marines as well as their strength.
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