Why I'm trying to help young Afghans. (voices).

GILL, MASSACHUSETTS -- At a bomb-damaged high school in the heart of Kabul, the most basic tools of education are in short supply: notebooks, pencils, textbooks, chalk, blackboards, to say nothing of computers. Yet just like Americans, young Afghans dream of becoming doctors, journalists, engineers, and politicians, as I discovered in a visit to the capital of Afghanistan.

I was traveling with my mother, who works with a humanitarian organization. I decided to help in my own way by aiding the recovery of the country's schools.

After decades of war and oppression, many of Kabul's children had been denied a broad education, and many were forced to work to support their families. I was surprised, for example, to see elementary school kids selling cigarettes on the streets.

At the high school I visited, the students' enthusiasm was easy to see. The potential future of these bright young Afghans flashed before my eyes.

On another occasion, I was riding through the dusty streets of Kabul with Zilguy, our 17-year-old driver, looking for working teens. I was particularly struck by one boy we found in a bakery, where many teens find jobs. When I asked him if he'd like to go to school, he answered, "Nah." He had little to say, but I could tell that he was bright; he was well practiced in the highly prized skill of memorizing the Koran. If only he didn't have to support his family, I thought, he could be an A student.

My project, coordinated through a nonprofit group called Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Support for Afghanistan (PARSA), will provide Afghan youths who are three or more grade levels behind in their education with an accelerated curriculum. The goal is to improve their studies so they can be placed in the appropriate grade level in school. I am currently raising money for school supplies, the salaries of teachers, and facility expenses. My school, Northfield Mount Hermon, is donating textbooks and other basic materials.

This project especially targets the young women of Afghanistan who were denied an education by the Taliban from a very young age. Afghanistan is now free of Taliban rule and in transition; the country needs a helping hand, especially for the many teens living without the prospect of a proper education.

More information about this project is available at the PARSA website, www.parsa-afghanistan.org.