.
Search
Email this articleE-mail this story  Discuss this articleWrite letter to editor  Discuss this articleOrder a classified ad



Former Sissons student Sgt. Tavis Beaubier sits on a cannon left over from an Afghanistan war fought centuries ago. He is the Canadian army's contact with Kabul citizens. - photo courtesy of Tavis Beaubier

Sissons students donate supplies

Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 07/05) - There are so many kids at the Sarasiab school in Kabul, Afghanistan, that the 4,000 students go to class in three shifts each day.

With few desks, nothing to write with or even paper to write on, basic education is a struggle.

It's hard to even compare Sarasiab to the luxurious halls of J.H. Sissons school in Yellowknife, but the two have forged a bond this week.

Sgt. Tavis Beaubier of the Canadian Armed Forces delivered a bit of Canadian "luxury" to the Kabul school in the form of pens, pencils and notebooks donated by J.H. Sissons and other Canadian schools.

The supplies were sent to an army base in Belleville, Ont., before being sent on to Canadian base Camp Julian in Kabul over Christmas.

"It's something our school takes on as a global mission," says assistant principal Sarah Berry, of the project.

"We want the children to understand the importance of peace and the importance of our service people overseas," says Berry.

Each student brought in supplies to send along with postcards for Canadian Armed Forces personnel this past Christmas.

"The children are extremely excited. They take it very seriously and are very diligent about the care they take in the writing and in the supplies they send," says Berry.

Beaubier hand-delivered the supplies to school officials at Sarasiab, telling them stories of the place they came from as well.

The Canadian Forces sergeant knows the North well, having attended Sissons from Grade 1-6 in the 1980s.

As the military link to civilians in Kabul, Beaubier sees the needs of the Afghan students and their schools every day.

"A lot of them (the schools) are in very poor condition. The kids sit on the ground in the shade of a tree or with a tarp set up," he said from Camp Julian this week.

Some of them are in bombed out buildings and others share space with farm animals, says Beaubier.

With no supply of heat, the schools close during the winter months in Kabul, where lately the temperature has been dipping to -30C.

Beaubier is proud that his old school took on the project.

"I think it's fantastic," he said.

"It's a great way for the kids to learn about people's living conditions and geography."

As long as the Armed Forces helps facilitate the donations, Sissons will keep the project going, says Berry.

rry.