Lesson Plan #5
Humanitarian Issues in Afghanistan

LESSON LENGTH: 1 class period
GRADE LEVEL: Middle School
SUBJECT AREA: Social Studies

OBJECTIVES: Student will

• Students will understand the difficulties being faced by Afghan society, specifically by women and children.

• Students will discover what different aid agencies are doing to resolve these difficulties.

MATERIALS:

 • Statistics about Afghanistan that are calculated to represent the number of students in the class. [A translation of these statistics to a class of 30 is attached].

• Table containing different aid agencies, their website address, space to write what they are doing to help Afghanistan’s population and a space to comment on reasons why this initiative will be successful or why it may not be [attached – see above link].

• Computer to research above chart.


PROCEDURE: 
 Part I:

1. Number students off from 1 to 30. Remind them that it is important to remember their number.

2. Have students sit in a position in which they can see everyone in the class.

3. Read the attached script regarding percentage of students who will stand to represent a given statistic.

4. Debrief the activity by asking questions. Some possible questions are:

• “Did anything surprise you about the statistics presented?”

• “Did the statistics correspond to your view of Afghanistan?”

• “Does this activity make you feel uncomfortable? Why?”

• “What do you think the major obstacles to Afghan society are?”

• “Are these obstacles the same for everyone?”

• “Do certain members of Afghan society suffer more than others?”

• “Why might this be?”

5. Explain to the class that these statistics come from reputable organizations, but that it is difficult to verify percentages in a country that has as poor an infrastructure as Afghanistan. For example, it is even hard to find out the exact population because it is estimated that at least 100,000 people are nomadic in search of food.

Part II:

6. Distribute the table attached (see link above) and ask students to move to computers to complete it.

7. Ask students to present to the class any initiatives they may have found interesting and why.

AFGHANISTAN IN THE CLASSROOM SCRIPT

Numbers 1 through 5, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghan babies who will die at birth. Please remain standing.

Numbers 6 through 13, please stand up. You represent the number of children who will die between birth and age five. One out of four Afghan children will die before age five. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 4, please stand up. You represent the number of women who will die this year from childbirth. One in 7 women will die giving birth in Afghanistan, and 45 women will die each day giving birth in Afghanistan. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 29, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghan children who will witness an act of violence by age 16. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 20, please stand up. You represent the number of children who will experience the death of a close relative by age 16. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 26, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghanis living in poverty. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 25, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghanis with no access to safe water. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 though 27, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghanis with no access to sanitation. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 21, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghanis who are undernourished. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 though 7, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghanis who will need food and health aid in order to survive the winter.

Numbers 1 through 4, please remain standing. You represent the number of women and children needing aid to survive the winter. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 18, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghani boys attending school. Please sit down.

Number 1, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghani girls attending school. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 16, please stand up. You represent the number of men who are literate in Afghani society. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 7, please stand up. You represent the number of women who are literate in Afghani society. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 through 19, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghani women who have considered suicide. Please sit down.

Numbers 1 though 5, please stand up. You represent the number of Afghani women who have attempted suicide.

Sources for information presented above:

• Population Research Bureau, 2000, http://www.prb.org/wf/quickfacts_mortality.html

• National Center for Health Statistics, www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lifexpec.htm

• World Health Organization, Sept. 2001

• National Center for Health Statistics, 1998

• Statement made to UN Coordinator reported by Associated Frontier Press, 4 December 1998, http://rawa.fancymarketing.net

• Report to the United Nations General Assembly, 2001. http://www.reliefweb.int/

• UNESCO, 2000, http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/social/illiteracy.htm

• Reuters report, Kabul, 27 February 1998
  

EVALUATION: 

Ask students to present to the class any initiatives they may have found interesting and why.

Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson.

• Three points: Students researched the initiatives carefully and thoroughly. The presentation was detailed and easy to follow.

• Two points: Students researched the initiatives, but did not show depth of coverage. The presentation was brief and less detailed.

• One point: Students did very little research. The presentation was hard to follow and showed a lack of effort.