A Far Away Home (7 page)

“Why?”

“We are at a lower altitude here, so there is more lift.” This was something new
for Ali. Dan explained that it had to do with more air molecules. “You will get used
to knowing about how much room you need. You'll be able to pick out a place on the
runway, and to judge about how fast your speed needs to be to take off. Also, use
the speedometer. You need to go about one hundred twenty kilometers per hour to get
this plane to fly.”

Sure enough, at about one hundred five the tail lifted, and at one hundred twenty
the plane began to fly. Dan flew up and around the airport, then began a descent
onto the runway. “I'm going to do a touch and go. We'll touch down briefly, then
speed up and go around again. It will save us time and fuel and give you more practice.
Now, you take control.”

Ali flew the little plane around the airport, moving into position off the end of
the runway that put them landing into the wind. Ali started down, little by little.
It was really hard
to actually put the plane down on the ground because he was afraid
it would land too hard. He didn't get low enough so Dan told him to just keep flying
and fly around and try again. Ali was embarrassed because he didn't do it right.
“Don't be embarrassed. It's just a matter of learning it. My first time landing,
I did the same thing.” Now Ali felt better. Even Dan had not done it correctly the
first time.

This time Ali watched the airfield and his gauges and gradually eased the plane down.
The front wheels touched down on the smooth concrete runway. Dan told him to speed
up again to take off and do some more practice landings. Each time he got a little
better. They did this five times. The last time Dan told him to actually land. He
did it perfectly, the front wheels, then as they slowed, the tail wheel, and they
taxied over to their parking space. Ali grinned as Dan complimented him on how well
he had done.

As he climbed down, two pilots from the Afghan Airlines walked over to talk. They
had seen the touch and goes and were surprised to learn it was a young Afghan pilot
learning to fly. They said they learned on a similar plane when they joined the Air
Force, eventually moved on to small jets, then learned to fly the big passenger planes. Most of their training had been in America,
in Texas. They complimented him on his landings. Now he beamed. Maybe he would join
the Air Force or even the national airline.

Bondi-Amir • By Don Beiter

When they flew back to Sharidure the next morning, Dan let Ali fly the plane some
of the way. He showed Ali some of the landmarks along the way, the city of Bamiyan,
the two giant buddhas carved into the cliffs above the city, and the big lakes between
Sharidure and Bamiyan. They looked really blue, and he could see how they were like
giant steps, one above the other.

Soon they entered the valley of Sharidure. Dan turned to line up the plane with the
small airfield. It looked tiny,
even as they got closer to the lower end that looked
out over the cliff. Dan reminded Ali he couldn't cut too much power, or the plane
would fall. This was a much harder landing site than the huge Kabul airport. After
Dan lined up the plane and brought it close to the end of the runway, he told Ali
to take the landing. Ali was ready but nervous. Dan was also ready to take over if
needed. He didn't need to. Ali eased the front wheels down and kept it online up
the hill. The hill helped the plane slow down. Ali's heart was racing. “Bisyar khoub
(Very good).” Dan smiled as he said it.

***

Winter in Sharidure came quickly and lasted a long time, about six months. There
was lots of snow. Usually the doctors went back to Kabul for the winter, but this
winter, one of them stayed, the man.

Doctor Hagel went to Ali's house to tell Ali to be up at the airfield at ten. Dan
was flying in some medicine and other supplies. The road was closed, so the plane
was the only way. Ali thought about the snow on the runway. “Doctor Hagel, how can
I clear the snow off the runway? Dan can't land in that much snow.”

“Don't worry. He has skis on the plane, so he can land on the snow.”

“What are skis?”

“They are long pieces of wood he puts on with the wheels. They keep the plane on
top of the snow. You'll see when he lands.”

Ali went up the hill above Sharidure to help Dan when he landed and to see these
things called skis. Sure enough, Ali heard the now familiar sound of the little plane
coming up the valley. He thought of how nothing else could get to Sharidure through
the snow and how easily the plane could just fly over it. He watched Dan line up
to land, then ease down on the bottom of the runway. The skis hung down where the
front and back wheels usually were. When Dan got closer, Ali could see the wheels
were still there, and they actually stuck out a little lower than the skis. If there
was no snow, like maybe was the case in Kabul, the wheels would be used for landing.
Now this was something really smart. He had a new word, “skis.”

Ali helped Dan unload the medicine and supplies. He wondered how they were going
to carry all of the things
down to town. From one side of the plane, Dan unstrapped
another thing Ali had never seen, a sled. “This is how we are going to get the supplies
down to town.” He began to load the boxes on the sled. Dan also put some smaller
skis on his feet. He moved around a bit, sort of sliding and walking on the skis.
He looped a rope around his shoulder and began pulling the sled along the road that
led up to the airfield. Ali thought there were lots of things to learn about the
world. “Ali, when we get down to town, maybe you will want to try these skis.”

The next time Dan came with the plane, Ali used those skis to get up to the airfield,
pulling the sled behind him. He practiced a lot with Doctor Hagel, who helped him
learn to ski. The skis and the sled were the source of a lot of fun for Ali and for
the children of Sharidure. Everyone wanted a ride on the sled. Ali's dad studied
the sled and made several for families. He tried to make skis, but they didn't work
as well as the skis Dan brought.

Dan had a surprise for Ali, another pair of skis because Doctor Hagel radioed Dan
about how much Ali liked to ski. Now, Ali and Doctor Hagel could ski together, and
it would be more fun for both of them.

Chapter Six

Russians in Sharidure

“Those planes aren't Afghan.” Ali was working with his dad. Now that he was nineteen,
he was helping Hassan more and more at their carpentry shop. Five planes had just
flown over, zooming down the valley, flying low and fast. Ali heard them and looked
out of the window just in time to see them. “They were military fighters, and they
didn't have our Air Force symbol on the tail. I wonder where they were from.” He
didn't have to wait long to find out. Over the radio came the message that the Russian
army was going to help the Afghan army, and that the Russian people were going to
help all of Afghanistan.

“I didn't know we needed any help.” Hassan heard rumors for the last month about
how the Russians were coming, and now, it was true. “Maybe they won't come to
our
town.” He hoped that was true. Ali went to the teahouse to ask about the radio message.
He wasn't the only one. The place was packed. There were lots of questions and not
many answers. Everyone was wondering what it meant for them. That evening Hassan
got a call from his cousin in Kabul. He asked about the Russians. The answers were
sobering. There were lots of Russian soldiers, lots of tanks, lots of military planes.
President Daoud and his family had been killed. There was a new Afghan president.
Cars and trucks were stopped and searched. The Russians were coming through the Salang
Tunnel on the road from the north toward Kabul. The Russians had built that road
and tunnel. Now, they were using it.

The first changes were at Bamiyan that spring when the snow melted from the high
passes. Several Russian officers and about 50 Russian soldiers joined the Afghan
soldiers at the fort. They didn't get far out of Bamiyan, usually patrolling in jeeps,
just watching. People were afraid of them and avoided them. The first serious opposition
to the Russians came when the principals of the schools told parents that the children
had new teachers and that there was a new
curriculum, one that was written by the
Russians. That made it seem that the Russians were helping the Afghans.

There was also to be no teaching of the Koran in school. The Sharidure principals
hoped these changes wouldn't come there. Afghans have always held education in high
regard and taken their religion very seriously. They didn't like either of the proposed
changes to their schools. They would not support this. There was a meeting at the
school about what to do.

The changes weren't long in coming. A new principal and several new teachers were
sent from Kabul, people that no one in Sharidure knew. They brought a new curriculum,
a better one according to them. Soon the word was out that the children were being
taught how great the Russians were and how awful the previous Afghan leaders had
been. The children were told at home how that wasn't true but to be careful not to
say anything about it at school. At the teahouse and in homes around Sharidure people
began to talk about having their own schools. Shireen was asked to be a teacher,
and Ali thought he might be a teacher, too. Hassan volunteered his home as the school.

***

The secret school went into action the next week. At first, only ten children came,
either after or before their half day of government school. Ali watched how Shireen
taught, mostly thinking how patient she was with the children. In time, the number
of students grew, and Ali began with the older children in a second room. Although
the school was a secret, someone must have said something or overheard someone talking
about it, because the new principal made a visit to Hassan at his carpenter's shop.

He asked Hassan about a school in his home. Hassan didn't want to lie, so he said,
“Why do you think I have a
school in my home?”

Carpenter Shop • By Howard Faber

“I have ways. Is it true?”

Hassan thought quickly. “If you think so, why don't you come to my home tonight and
see.” One of Hassan's friends was in the back of the shop and quietly left out the
back door. He ran to Hassan's home to warn Ali and Shireen. They dismissed the students
for the day and scrambled to rearrange the rooms and hide the books and paper and
any evidence of a school.

The principal realized it would be very rude to demand to see the home immediately,
but he insisted he wanted to see for himself. After all, he represented the new government,
and Hassan was only a small person in this pitiful little town. He had not seen Hassan's
friend go out the back door.

Hassan was trapped and feared for his children's safety. He offered the visitor some
tea, hoping to find a way to delay him. The principal said, “No thank you.” To refuse
once was polite. Hassan offered again. It was polite to offer a second time. The
principal refused again, still culturally correct. Both he and Hassan knew the rules
of this cultural game, and to refuse a third time is very rude. Hassan asked again,
“Would you like some tea?”

The principal wavered. He was still a stranger in this town, and he was under orders
to try to gain acceptance. However, he considered himself to be superior to this
illiterate villager. He also was more than a little angry about the possibility of
there being a secret school. How dare these Hazara have their own school? The anger
overcame the orders to be polite. “Stop stalling. You claim to have nothing to hide.
Where is your home?”

Hassan's mind was racing about how to explain the school to the principal, but he
could think of nothing. He thought about Shireen and Ali and feared for their safety.
Maybe he could say it was his idea, and he made them teach. After all, he was the
father, and they were supposed to do what he said.