Words by Smiley Team
In a dimly lit room in west Kabul, stacked with shelves full of books, a small crowd gathers around the warmth of a gas heater. Books clamped under their arms, they are eager to share the stories they’ve read over the course of the week.
Members of Afghanistan’s youngest reading club, the Book Cottage, range in age from four to 13. The club is just one of many reading circles that are springing up across the capital and reviving a book culture that, once lost, is now vibrant, liberal and expanding once again.
“You have to start them young,” explains the initiative’s founder, 25-year-old Mashed Mahjor. “The country is still at war, so children don’t have a lot of opportunities to talk freely and ask questions, especially girls. We have to bring our book culture back to life.”
After starting the reading club six years ago, she now has up to 20 regular members – and hundreds of book donations from all over the world.
Afghanistan has a long literary tradition, but also a history of destroying and burning books. During the Taliban era, whole libraries were looted and demolished. The books that reach the country remain subject to a rigorous censorship process.
At 31%, Afghanistan has one of the world’s lowest literacy rates. The rate among women is lower still, at 17%.
But trends are shifting. In west Kabul, a neighbourhood with laid-back coffee shops, small startup businesses, a quick-growing dating scene and – at its heart – Kabul University, reading circles for all ages are expanding. They have started to provide a platform for Afghans to discuss, in a mixed-gender environment, issues not on the public agenda of a conservative society.
Original article by Stefanie Glinski - Source The Guardian
