“You Hear My Voice, Hear that Sound . . .” Nuzhat Shahzadi

We began to receive a high volume of visitors in Herat. The UNICEF-western region office (Herat) caught the eye of the colleagues in Kabul and NYHQ, somewhat.

One morning (2007), our project assistant GH informed me about the arrival of my first visitor of the day. There were no early hour appointments scheduled, though. In a minute, she ushered in a boy-guest to my office––11 or 12 years old, small for his age, fiery-calmness trapped in his eyes. He smiled at me rather nervously.

“Hello,” I said and extended my hand. He shook it gently. A shy smile hovered on his face, lighted up his eyes.

 

The Editor and His Assistant

“What brings you here?” It was refreshing to begin the day with a child than bigoted adults.

Physical contacts between women and men were/(are) restricted in Afghanistan unless they were close family members. But if a woman extended her hand first, it was decency (for a man, though not a relative) to do a handshake––I was briefed early when I joined the Herat-office. My visitor was just a boy! And I was a foreign-woman.

He introduced himself as WA, a student of grade 6 . . . and claimed to be a child journalist. His words short-circuited through my brain . . .

After I joined, we formally involved youth volunteers from the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) to mobilize their peers and communities on CRC issues. In many of the UNICEF offices, we had engaged child reporters as advocates and champions for promoting child rights. Who better knows the concerns important to children more than them? I was looking for someone like WA.

I had discovered that UNICEF-Herat didn’t have a history of directly involving children and young people as equal partners in the past. It was time to correct that.

WA had brought samples of his work––he was publishing a quarterly magazine, “Rafahi/Rafa” for children/adolescents in Herat. It talked about social issues. He asked for UNICEF’s sponsorship for the magazine’s publication and distribution. I was impressed. He touched my heart with his passion, his commitment––his outrageous modesty.

Rafa magazine cover page

Rafa Magazine Back Cover

I wanted something bigger––remodelling of the content, training, wider distribution, integration with the departments of education and women, and with ARCS. But there were some realistic concerns––WA was still in school; he was a minor.

Our only option was to issue the contract to his father, naming WA as the chief editor, make sure his education wasn’t disrupted, and train him. In my past life as a Communication professional, I had trained programmers, managers, field staff and the media/journalists.

The other condition I imposed was that at every quarter, WA would bring his report card or class test results to me. If his education got impacted in any way, UNICEF-Herat had the right to terminate the contract. It was a unique treaty in an extraordinary situation.

WA hired two 18-year-old boy-assistants who towered over him. In upcoming months, he interviewed our Representatives––Catherine and Peter (her replacement), the regional director and many other national and international personalities when they visited us. A larger cross sectoral partnership was built for Rafa’s content development, publication, dissemination, and discussions were held around child rights. WA began to train others, including members of ARCS. Thousands of copies of Rafa were distributed in most schools through the Education department in all the four provinces in western Afghanistan. We described our work with ARCS and WA in the Afghanistan-annual report.

A journalist/photographer was sent by NYHQ to cover WA’s work.

“He wasn’t very happy with us,” the journalist reported after his first interaction with WA. There was some miscommunication––our NYHQ colleague had paid more attention to WA’s “towering assistants.” They followed my advice and reinterviewed WA as the Chief Editor of Rafa . . .the outcome was far better.

Girl journalist with Nuzhat

WA regularly shared his grades with me. We usually met for an hour to discuss his studies––planned the contents for the upcoming issues of the magazine. He showed up on time.

I looked for an apprentice girl-journalist. We found a 13-year-old. She came to see me with her father.

“Why do you want to become a journalist?” I asked.

“When I am speaking, I want the grown-ups to listen to me. It’s my turn now,” she said with an attitude––heartwarming, refreshing, terribly sweet.

Epilogue:

WA and I are still in touch. He completed Masters from Kabul and started an NGO for youth. I learned from him that after my (formal) departure in 2011, UNICEF-Herat stopped funding Rafa and ARCS.

In 2013, I met my successor (Herat office) at a conference. When I inquired about Rafa and ARCS, he said:

"We have changed our focus. Adolescents are not a priority for us anymore.” I was thunder struck.

Sometimes, UNICEF works like political parties––when a new administration is elected, they throw away all the things from the past that had worked well . . . a strange, myopic practice but true! And we allow this, somehow . . .

Involving children, adolescents and communities is rewarding, effective. It was never “us” alone, it was more of “them” with us that shaped our motivation, commitment and hunger to support the processes of change.

Read more articles by Nuzhat clicking here or on the label Nuzhat

You can contact Nuzhat at nuzhatshahzadi@gmail.com