From China with love
Iranian blogger uses her Chinese social media connections to raise funds for Afghan schoolkids
Arezou Shah Mohammadi, an Iranian blogger on Chinese social media, conveyed a “message of love” from China to a special group — children of Afghan immigrants in Iran.
In the southwestern district of Iran’s capital Teheran, there is a compact school for Afghan children named Farhang, or “culture” in Farsi.
Nader Mousavi, the school’s principal, who is also an Afghan immigrant, established the school with his friends two decades ago, as many Afghan immigrant students were denied education at Iranian public schools.
Due to its shared border, close culture, mature social network and other factors, analysts note that Iran has been one of the largest recipient countries of Afghan refugees. More than 3 million Afghans are living in Iran, 780,000 of whom are refugees, over 2 million are undocumented and 600,000 are Afghan passport holders with Iranian visas, according to Iranian media.
Mousavi recruited teachers for the new school, most of whom were also asylum seekers who had fortunately received education in Iran.
“We were all from the same race and came together. We understood each other and understood our shared problems. Being together was a great encouragement that enabled both us and the students to love the school,” Mousavi recalled, adding that many of the children who started school at Farhang later continued their education and eventually returned to become teachers at the school.
Last year, when Mohammadi planned to produce a video about
Afghan refugees living in Iran on her social media page, the school came to mind.
After a phone conversation with Mousavi, she learned that most of the 251 students are taking online classes at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many of them do not even have a separate desk at home to do their homework. They have to sit on the floor with their backs bent, reading and writing.
Also, the school’s operation has been restricted by a lack of funds and life is not easy for the educators. The income of each full-time teacher is only about $30 per month, barely enough to maintain a minimum standard of living, while part-time teachers work free of charge.
Mohammadi then decided to donate all the proceeds from the video to the school and to help equip the Afghan children’s families with study desks.
In addition to the video’s broadcast revenue on Chinese social media platforms, she received as many as 356 donations from her followers there, totaling 9,189 yuan ($1,422).
In February, Mohammadi visited Farhang again, gave gifts to the teachers “as encouragement for their hard work”, and held class activities with the children.
The Afghan students did not know much about China, so she introduced China to them, showing them the map and national flag of China, and guiding them to learn about the Great
Wall, pandas and kung fu.
Children drew pictures to show the China in their mind. Some drew the national flags of China, Afghanistan and Iran, depicting friendly relations among the three countries. A depiction of one of the small desks that the children were looking forward to receiving was also added, with the words “thank you” written in newly learned Chinese alongside.
“I wanted to thank you for giving us the desk. Thank you. I love you,” Bahareh Hosseini, one of the students, wrote on her drawing.
“These gifts represent the donation of love from Chinese friends to the children at the school. That’s why I call it China’s goodwill,” Mohammadi said.
Recent developments in Afghanistan have stirred up concerns in Iran over a possible surge in refugees as videos on social media show that large groups of Afghans, carrying simple baggage on their backs and holding their children’s hands, crossed the Afghanistan-Iran border to seek asylum.
“With almost 1 million Afghan refugee cardholders already in the country, the government of Iran has consistently welcomed Afghans fleeing protracted conflict and violence for over 40 years, including through exemplary inclusion of Afghans in national health and education systems,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in August, appealing to the government to “continue this tradition of hospitality and lifesaving protection”.
These days, what concerns Mohammadi the most is that, due to the COVID-19 resurgence and other factors, it is not easy to find suitable woodworkers to build the promised desks in Iran. She said she will follow up with the situation and send customized desks to the children as soon as possible.
“Unfortunately, the building where the Farhang school is located is going to be torn down soon, and they are looking around for a new site,” she said, adding that there are many other schools like Farhang in Iran that are struggling.
“I hope to continue to help other such schools and children through greater effort and engagement of benevolent Chinese in my online social network,” Mohammadi said.