Scouting was reintroduced in Afghanistan in 2009 and now has over 1,000 members, 40% of whom are girls. Scouting takes on special meaning in Afghanistan as the scouts risk death to attend meetings and learn skills like first aid and bomb detection. While boys can do camping and hiking, girls' activities are more restricted due to security concerns from extremist groups. Scouting aims to promote leadership and community among Afghan youth and counter recruitment by extremists, but faces an uncertain future after the planned withdrawal of foreign troops in 2014 without more local and financial support.

1. Afghan Scouts: Learning survival skills
in a war zone
By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 06.20.13
Word Count 848
Scouting was restarted in Afghanistan in 2009 and now has a membership of around 1,100 members, 40 percent of them
girls. Here, a group of scouts attend a recent event at American University Kabul, where they enjoyed a game of tug-
ofwar, April 18, 2013. Photo: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/MCT
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Mohammad Aziz Ayob adjusts his Boy Scout neckerchief, leans
over, and plants a sapling into the dry Kabul soil. Two helicopters pass overhead, the clack-
clack clack-clack of their blades echoing off the neighboring mountains.
Young boys wearing uniform green shirts and caps seems dangerous in a war zone. But
organizers of Afghanistan's new Scouting program say community service and leadership
are sorely needed in a society scarred by decades of war and violence.
Ayob, orphaned as a child and raised by his aunt, can barely afford to attend high school,
and worries about finding a job. But such concerns melt away when he puts on his Scout
shirt. "I love my uniform; it makes me feel proud," said Ayob, 18. "Scouts are like my
family."
The group's motto, "Be Prepared," takes on a special meaning in this country. In
Afghanistan, young Scouts risk death to attend meetings, earn the "rule of law" merit
badge, and learn how to spot roadside bombs in first aid class.

2. Girl Scouts Work In Hospitals
Meanwhile, Girl Scouts in this conservative Muslim nation are much less visible. The girls
volunteer in hospitals, for example, rather than working out in the open.
Afghan Scouting's program manager, Mohammad Tamim Hamkar, said "it's hard to let the
girls do everything" because of extremist groups like the Taliban.
Camping and hiking are also restricted to boys, given the security concerns. Campfire
singing stopped after strict Muslim clerics accused the Scouts of worshipping fire. The
recent debates in the U.S. about allowing gays to participate in Scouting wouldn't happen in
Afghanistan. In this country, the very concept of homosexuality is taboo and open
discussion is unthinkable.
Though they have less opportunities, girls often make better Scouts than boys, organizers
say, because they have fewer outlets for activity in such a male-dominated society. Girls
thought to be shy or "meek" are empowered by the Scout uniform, said Keith Blackey, 68,
an American advising the Afghan Scouting program. Blackey previously helped develop
Scouting in Iraq.
"It's like a superhero putting on a cape. Then they take it off and they're meek again," is
how he described the power of the uniform.
Taliban Banned Scouting
Scouting was introduced in Afghanistan in 1931, and its golden years were in the 1960s,
said Gul Ahmad Mustafa, who is the national training commissioner. But the Soviet
occupation of the 1980s virtually ended the movement. And traditional Scouting was
banned during the Taliban era.
Instead, the Taliban directed the Scouts to spy on their parents or, later, to clean mosques
and fill ablution pots used for washing rituals. Afghanistan has not been a member of the
international Scouting organization for decades.
The Afghan charity Parsa focuses on orphans, women and literacy. Parsa reinvigorated the
Scouting program in 2009 to counter youth recruitment efforts by religious or political
extremists.
Scout troops are active in only six of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, most of which are too
dangerous for international advisers to visit. "We're starting from zero," Hamkar said,
pointing to patchwork uniforms, unfinished manuals and limited funding.
Hoping to learn from mistakes in Iraq, where Scouting expanded too quickly and then fell
apart, the Afghan focus is on steady growth, Blackey said. The program now has 1,062

3. members, 40 percent of them girls. It hopes to have 1,500 Scouts signed up by the end of
the year.
Going Local To Survive
Scouting's links to the West and its English-language elements could mean trouble for its
members if Afghanistan descends into chaos after the withdrawal of foreign troops in 2014.
So organizers are working hard to make Scouting a local program in Afghan life.
In Ghor province, a Scout troop's volunteer work includes cleaning mosques, proving that
Scouting is not trying to threaten traditions in Afghanistan. Blackey said that the
organization is not promoting a different religion. "We're teaching them the same things
their parents are," the organizer added.
Afghan Scouting is currently funded 100 percent by foreign grants. Organizers worry about
what will happen after the foreign troops leave. It is also difficult to train and even look after
local staff.
"If things get ugly, anything with an international connection could be targeted," said Marnie
Gustavson, Parsa's executive director. "If the foreign staff becomes a liability, we'll leave."
Still A Long Way To Go
Scouting in Afghanistan has a long way to go. According to Abdullah Rashid, who works for
the World Organization of the Scout Movement, it is still years away from official recognition
by the rest of the world's scouts.
During the dark years in Afghanistan, loyal Scouts hid their uniforms. "I was too scared to
wear mine, even alone in my room," said training commissioner Mustafa. "Sometimes I'd
peek in the drawer, though, and remember better times."
Mike Farrar, an American military contractor helping train Afghan Scouts, said the program
has proved invaluable.
"I never went to a Scout meeting where I had to wear a flak jacket and carry a weapon," he
said. "If the Taliban comes back, obviously Scouting goes away. But if the Taliban doesn't,
Afghanistan will embrace it."

4. Quiz
1 The article first introduces the Afghan boy scouts by:
(A) providing a personal anecdote
(B) providing detailed images
(C) stating several opinions
(D) making a comparison
2 "Girl Scouts Work In Hospitals" was MOSTLY included in the article to:
(A) convince the reader that boy scouts are weaker than girl scouts
(B) prove to the reader that Afghanistan is a male dominated society
(C) convince the reader that homosexuals should not participate in scouting (D) show
the reader the effects that Taliban has on Afghan boy and girl scouts
3 What is the connection between 1931 and scouting?
(A) Scouting was banned in 1931.
(B) Scouting was introduced in 1931.
(C) Scouting was reinvigorated in 1931.
(D) Scouting was taken over by Taliban in 1931.
4 Select the paragraph from the article that provides a connection between scouting and the
withdrawal of foreign troops.