Monday, September 14, 2009

Afghan Soldiers Can't Read

I don't really know what point to make with this, but apparently 9 out of 10 soldiers in the Afghan National Army can't read. Here's one guy:
"I face difficulties. If someone calls me and tells me to go somewhere, I can't read the street signs," Ahmadi, 27, a member of a logistics battalion, said while walking through downtown Kabul. "In our basic training, we learned a lot. Some of my colleagues who can read and write can take notes, but I've forgotten a lot of things, the types of things that might be able to save my life."
Wait, he's part of the logistics team? How do you do logistics when you can't read? And then this dude:

"Unfortunately all my friends and I cannot read," said soldier Rosey Khan, 19. "It is very bad, particularly during the fighting. They taught me a lot of things, but I've forgotten most of them. ... Even the officers cannot read."

That kind of sucks. I hope we know how to deal with this, but I doubt we do.

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