Arts & International Affairs: Volume 2, Number 2 | Page 115
Empathy in an Orphanage in
Afghanistan
Mahtab Farid
Mahtab Farid is an Iranian-born American journalist, linguist, educator and public diplomacy
strategist with background in communication and international relations. For over a decade, Farid
covered the conflicts in the Middle East and reported on US policy in the region for Voice of America
and for USI News, which she founded. She served in Afghanistan as a public diplomacy officer with
the US Department of State. Embedded with NATO troops in Forward Operating Bases of Ghazni
and Bagram, Farid facilitated conflict resolutions, cultural initiatives, and trained over 90 Afghan
journalists including women to help Afghans tell their stories. Upon return from Afghanistan, she
joined Georgetown University as a Boren Scholar and taught language and culture at Defense
Language Institute. Farid is the recipient of US Department of State Expeditionary Service Award
for her service in Afghanistan. Her dream is to solve global conflicts with communication and culture.
Empathy can be described as the ability to relate to another person or a group
beyond the confines of one’s nationality, culture, race, gender, and economic
background. It can also play a prominent role in learning about other
cultures, which can lead to more effective policymaking. Let me illustrate
this point through a personal experience I had visiting an orphanage in
Afghanistan.
When I was assigned by the US Department of State to conduct cultural
outreach and public diplomacy programs in eastern provinces of Afghanistan,
where daily security was a challenge both for NATO and Afghan forces, I
often wondered what programs a reconstruction
team can execute in a war zone. Endless strategy
meetings with our team, which included local
Afghans, yielded suggestions for financial assistance
grants, development programs, capacity building
projects, and employment opportunities. However,
a visit to an orphanage in mountainous province of
Bamyan taught us that displaying empathy was a key
element in reaching out to Afghans. Without it, we
could not have internalized the children’s experience
and recognized the urgency of their situation.
When we visited the Samar Orphanage, our team
was greeted by about �� cheerful kids of all ages—
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