# CIMIC Officer Urges UBC, Students to Help Kandahar University



## The Bread Guy (7 Nov 2008)

Well done, folks - it'll be interesting to see if UBC responds...  Public information event highlighted.  Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the _Copyright Act._

*Soldier urges students to aid Kandahar University*
Education effort key to positive development in Afghanistan
Vivian Luk, The Ubyssey (University of British Columbia student paper), 7 Nov 08
Article link

It’s midterm time. While most of us are wishing we could be doing anything but studying, there are people in Kandahar dying to go to university—literally.

Tylere Couture can testify. He served in Kandahar as a civil military cooperation officer from February to August, and worked on a project building a wall around Kandahar University to protect those attending the school. Though Couture is back in Canada now, as an education student at UBC, he still feels a need to aid students back in Afghanistan.

“It’s a matter of life and death for a girl to go to university. Anyone can peer into those dorms. Even if they want to go to school, they’re more afraid of becoming targets for Taliban insurgencies,” he said.

Women are not the only ones craving an education. “A new generation of young Afghans who have not grown up in conflict has emerged,” said Couture. “If we can get them a proper education and basic training for public administration, we can get the momentum rolling for development.”

Proper education is important when most of the municipal staff in Kandahar are uneducated. “The mayor, Ghulam Haider Hamedi, doesn’t trust them,” Couture explained. “There’s so much news of corruption in Kandahar. He’d rather have fresh graduates who have the tools and are sincere about building the city from the ground up.”

Unfortunately, Kandahar University lacks the funding, facilities and infrastructure to grant its students quality education. Though it has over 1200 students, security concerns have prevented faculty and students from improving the university—not to mention aid.

“Dr Hazrat Mir Totakhailai, the chancellor, has a vision for his university,” said Couture. “He wants to establish partnerships with other schools in the world, exchange ideas, staff and students, and provide night schooling for adults. The problem is lack of funds and the perception that Kandahar is unsafe.”

Brian Platt, a history major, believes that UBC can be part of the solution. Inspired by Couture’s work in Kandahar, Platt is frustrated that there hasn’t been more discourse about Canada’s role in Afghanistan except from anti-war groups.

“All we hear about is bringing our troops out,” he said. “There isn’t much talk about what we can do to help them develop.”

If Kandahar is looking for partner universities, Platt thinks UBC should step up. “Kandahar is Canada’s place, and UBC’s got an international focus. We need to take advantage of that. It can be as simple as fundraising for school supplies or to just raise awareness and provide moral support. We need to let students there know they have friends here at UBC. There are many levels where this can happen, but first, we must get the word out.”

Couture and Platt hope to bring together anyone interested in helping a society recover from 30 years of constant warfare. *They have already organized an event on November 13, in which Couture, along with Dr Tooryalai Wesa, the first chancellor of Kandahar University, and Lauryn Oates, a volunteer for Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, will speak.*

“UBC students will show solidarity in Kandahar,” Platt envisions. “We can form a club, get ideas flowing, get enthusiastic faculty and unions involved. It will happen because activism is what students excel in.”

_*Brian Platt and Tylere Coutoure’s speaker series will be held on November 13, 7pm at the Liu Institute. Entry is free, but small donations are encouraged. All proceeds will go towards buying school supplies for Kandahar. For more info, contact canada.afghanistan@gmail.com*_

_- edited to fix spelling mistakes -_


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## Bruce Monkhouse (7 Nov 2008)

I know we have at at 3 U of Guelph students on the site.

This would make a fine proposal at the next student council meeting. Make that moron 'professor' Michael Keefer put his ideals to a *real* test.


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## geo (7 Nov 2008)

Wonder if the UBC student & academicians will bite.
UBC has been so - anti Afghanistan - for so long, it would be a surprisingly good thing to see them realise that there is more to Canada's presence in Afghanistan than being considered a part of the US imperialist's war machine (which we're not).

The Afghan people have gone thru a half century of war & have tumbled back down to the stone age.
To bring them back up to today's standards of society isn't about to happen - getting em up to the Middle ages would be a good step in the right direction....

UBC - any takers ???


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## medaid (7 Nov 2008)

Tylere is a great guy! I was his AAdjt before he left for work up. Known him for quite sometime. He's actually going to speak at UBC I believe on the 13th, and I hope to see him there.


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## leroi (7 Nov 2008)

Bruce Monkhouse said:
			
		

> I know we have at at 3 U of Guelph students on the site.
> 
> This would make a fine proposal at the next student council meeting. Make that moron 'professor' Michael Keefer put his ideals to a *real* test.



At least 4 now on this site. I recently became a student again while still working full-time ... And the issue has been raised within the university community but has not borne much fruit because ...

The U of G has thrown much of its institutional weight toward supporting and assisting the eradication of AIDS in Africa, most notably with their Masai Project: http://www.uoguelph.ca/president/masai/index.html

It's a pet peeve of mine because I'd rather see Canada making a coordinated effort in Afghanistan instead of expecting the Canadian Forces to solve all the problems there. And while it's a good thing to help alleviate sufferring in Africa, the U of G (alias Cow College) could be doing so much more for Afghanistan especially considering that our research/academic strengths are rooted in food/agriculture technology and animal husbandry and Afghanistan is a country whose economy is based on agriculture--it would be a perfect partnership. (We're developing food to be grown on Mars for goodness sake; imagine what we could do for Afghanistan!!)

In fact, this past spring, Ashraf Ghani, former Minister of Finance for Afghanistan, came to Guelph and made that plea claiming Afghanistan did not have even one university of agriculture in the entire country. What a shame. He spoke directly to some of our local farmers about this issue.

So, I applaud the UBC students who are taking this initiative and hope to see more of it in the future. Some of us will continue to raise the issue here at the U of G. 

(Sorry for the rant everybody; this thread touched a nerve.)


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## chris_log (7 Nov 2008)

Bruce Monkhouse said:
			
		

> I know we have at at 3 U of Guelph students on the site.
> 
> This would make a fine proposal at the next student council meeting. Make that moron 'professor' Michael Keefer put his ideals to a *real* test.



HA! Good luck, it's so much easier to draw up some posters and wave them around then it is to attempt REAL change.  

Edit: Just sent an email to the CSA (Guelph's student union) external affairs twit to see what the CSA's position on such an activity would be.


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## CougarKing (7 Nov 2008)

MedTech said:
			
		

> Tylere is a great guy! I was his AAdjt before he left for work up. Known him for quite sometime. *He's actually going to speak at UBC I believe on the 13th*, and I hope to see him there.



venue details, please? Like which building and exact time?  :-\


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## leroi (7 Nov 2008)

Piper said:
			
		

> HA! Good luck, it's so much easier to draw up some posters and wave them around then it is to attempt REAL change.



_Piper_, it's good to know you and _AEC Kapp _ and _Corp of Guides _ and other ROTP students are on campus setting a respectable example for the poster-waving few to follow. 

(Hopefully we'll have another M&G in the spring before you're all posted away--and we'll shanghai Mr. Monkhouse into it too!)


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## MarkOttawa (7 Nov 2008)

One of the things Tylere Couture was up to, mentioned in the story:

Canadians to build Great Wall of Kandahar University
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2008/07/08/the-great-wall-of-kandahar-university/

Mark
Ottawa


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## leroi (7 Nov 2008)

MarkOttawa, that is an awe-inspiring story!


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## GDawg (7 Nov 2008)

Brilliant idea! I wonder how MAWO will react. Their hip hop for "indigenous self-determination" will look down right retarded next to a heartfelt drive to help a struggling university. I suppose allowing the people of Afghanistan a chance at a real secular education (a right that MAWO no doubt sees as enshrined as the holiest of holies on the publics dime for themselves) would be seen as another brick in the wall of the Zionist Bushite imperialist war drive. Maybe they can put down their placards and hacky sacks and roll up their sleeves to actually help the world instead of being implicit cheerleaders for poverty and oppression. Rant over.  I'd donate some good engineering textbooks but they were ruined somehow by flood damage while I was in the 'stan. If a registered charity turns up you can count me in!


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## The Bread Guy (7 Nov 2008)

CougarDaddy said:
			
		

> venue details, please? Like which building and exact time?  :-\




From the original post:


			
				milnews.ca said:
			
		

> .... _*Brian Platt and Tylere Coutoure’s speaker series will be held on November 13, 7pm at the Liu Institute. Entry is free, but small donations are encouraged. All proceeds will go towards buying school supplies for Kandahar. For more info, contact canada.afghanistan@gmail.com*_....


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## CougarKing (7 Nov 2008)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> From the original post:



Thank you. I should have seen that.


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## MarkOttawa (7 Nov 2008)

More on Capt. Couture here:

A Day In The Life of Tylere Couture: Soldier, Activist, And Fellow CASC Member
http://transmontanus.blogspot.com/2008/07/day-in-life-of-tylere-couture-soldier.html

Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (7 Nov 2008)

CougarDaddy said:
			
		

> Thank you. I should have seen that.



No worries, or offence intended - they could have included the details higher up in the story, too...


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## Technetium (10 Nov 2008)

geo said:
			
		

> Wonder if the UBC student & academicians will bite.
> ...
> 
> UBC - any takers ???



The UBC Arts Undergraduate Society (largest student org on campus?) is holding an Arts Gala on Friday and has chosen "our cause" to raise money for at their event, with the AUS matching student donations.  They also asked us if we wanted to have a booth there, and that we'd have a chance at the mic to speak about our goals.

Hopefully we'll see more of this as we start to build awareness at UBC.

-Tylere


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## gun runner (10 Nov 2008)

Ok, two questions... first, what is MAWO, and second,at what phase of construction is this wall currently at? Ubique


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## brian platt (11 Nov 2008)

MAWO is the Mobilization Against War and Occupation, a cultish "anti-war" (troops out of Afghanistan is only an anti-war position if you define war solely by its content of western troops) organization that preys on campuses for most of their propaganda and such.

And I'm not exaggerating when I say it's cultish. http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2008/03/12/what-i-did-in-the-revolution-and-why-im-sorry/.

I won't speak for Tylere, but one of the main reasons I got involved in this project is to take away the dominance of the anti-intellectual, anti-military, apologists-for-theocratic-thugs student clubs which are the only voices that seem to ever get heard on campuses when it comes to Afghanistan. I'm willing to bet that the majority of students are on our side in this debate--in keeping Canada committed to the security and development of Afghanistan--they just need a few people to get the ball rolling.

At any rate, we just had the Arts Undergraduate Society at UBC explicitly support our cause of showing solidarity with students at Kandahar University, so we're off to a good start. If anyone reading this is a UBC student and wants to get involved, give me a shout......canada[dot]afghanistan[at]gmail[dot]com.  the blog is here: http://canada-afghanistan.blogspot.com/

Cheers


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