Marefat School

The Marefat School in the foothills of the Paghman Mountains is a place where young Hazaras, some of the poorest people in Afghanistan, are getting a chance at a future. As Terry Glavin reports from Afghanistan, this place has not always been so peaceful, even until recent times:

Last year, the school was attacked by a mob incited by Tehran's mullah in Kabul, Ayatollah Mohseni, from his gleaming, blue-domed madrassah down in Karte Se. The mob came screaming for Aziz Royesh, Marefat's short and stocky principal. The school is a dirty nest of Christians, communists and prostitutes, they shouted, there are boys and girls together, Royesh is an apostate, Royesh must die.

"I was right here," Royesh told me, standing in the rutted and muddy alley outside the school. "The boys quickly locked the doors to the school, and I ran into my house, right there."

Yet the students, teachers and administrators have struggled to keep this place going. But if Afghanistan is to have a future for its youth beyond the poppy plantations and battle-scarred villages, this effort must continue. The youngsters want a future:

"I will be a chemist. I will be a doctor. I will be a journalist. I will be a businessman."

They will be.