This past Sunday, September 21, the official Opening Ceremony of the Afghan Scout Volunteers Society was held at PARSA’s main offices in Marastoon. The ceremony was attended by volunteer Scout leaders from several provinces, as well as two members of parliament who are supporters of the Scouts: Baktash Seyawash and Dr. Ramazan Bashardost.

It was a great afternoon and an important step forward on the road to expanding the Afghan Scouts into a nationwide successful program. PARSA’s Executive Director Marnie Gustavson handed over the society’s official registration with the Ministry of Justice to the Chief of the Volunteer Society, Sayeed Hussain Agha.

It was a great afternoon and the entire PARSA family is proud of this important step taken by our Afghan Scout leadership.

Visit the Afghan Scouts’ Website to learn more about Scouting in Afghanistan.

The Scout Master Training of 2014 was a success! Great times, new friends made, lots learned. And now Afghanistan has a whole new set of Scout Masters who will go back to their home towns to start new Scout troops and expand Scouting in Afghanistan. We at PARSA are extremely proud of everyone involved. Well done!!

Scout Master Training 2014: Opening Ceremony

Today PARSA’s Afghan Scouts welcomed future Scout Masters from across Afghanistan to our Scouting grounds in Marastoon for our 2014 Scout Master Training Opening Ceremony. We are honored to host WOSM representatives Thian Hiong Boon of Malaysia and Chinnaswamy Reddy from India for this weeklong event that will see over 40 volunteers from 8 provinces graduate to the rank of Scout Master. They will then return to their home districts and establish their own Scout Troops, giving countless young Afghans the opportunity to become Afghan Scouts and leaders in their communities.

We will be posting daily updates both on our website and on our Afghan Scouts Facebook Page sharing with you the highlights of this exciting week.

The Afghan Scouts provided the entertainment for our first PARSA Friday Brunch of the new year by putting on an “Elections Day” skit for us. They definitely captured the drama of elections day and, most importantly, the great work of the Afghan Police in stomping out the corruption and saving the day. What a great day!

Friday Brunch:

The Elections Day Skit:

First: The bad samaritans stuffing the ballot boxes.

Then: The Afghan National Police arrive, thanks to a tip off from the Scouts.

The ballot box-stuffers are arrested.

They admit their crimes.

Then they are led away by the police.

The ANP thank the Afghan Scouts for their tip off.

It was positive collaboration between the ANP and Afghan civilians that led to such positive election results. Another great skit by the Scouts, and another great afternoon at PARSA’s Friday Brunch!