Books bound for Afghanistan

31 August 2005

The Monash Asia Institute has facilitated the donation of almost 1100 books to the University of Kabul library in Afghanistan.

Books for Kabul team of volunteer packers.
Back row (from left): Mr Ahmad Sarmast, Ms Jowati Juhary, Mr David Treisman, Mr David Templeman, Mr Dinesh Kumar. Front row (from left): Ms Jimaima Lako, Mr Guibin Zhang, Mr Sanjeev Veloo.

The institute's director Professor Marika Vicziany saved the books from the Faculty of Business and Economics' Donald Cochrane Library at the Clayton campus when it was undergoing refurbishment in 2003.

The duplicate books include journals and other publications covering economics, politics, foreign policy and the social sciences. They were stored at the institute until a way of delivering them to Afghanistan could be found.

This problem was solved through Mr Ahmad Sarmast who recently completed a doctorate on the music of Afghanistan at Monash's School of Music-Conservatorium, and who is now an honorary research associate at the institute and the school.

Mr Sarmast, a central Asia musicologist and the son of Afghanistan's most famous musician -- Ustad Mohammad Salim Sarmast - is well connected in Melbourne's Afghan community. He made contact with Dr Nouria Salehi at Afghan Volunteers Australia and the shipment was quickly organised.

Over a week, institute postgraduate students and research fellows worked as volunteers, packing 108 boxes of books.

The boxes were dispatched last week, loaded into a container bound for Afghanistan via Iran. The journey is expected to take between two and nine months.

Professor Vicziany said the University of Kabul library was completely destroyed during the rule of the Taliban and subsequent bombings. "This is an opportunity to help rebuild Afghanistan and make a difference by nurturing cultures that became divided," she said.

"Most of these publications, which date from the 1960s, can no longer be bought and are not available on CD Rom, which makes them even more valuable."

Mr Sarmast said the books would be greatly appreciated by the University of Kabul's library.

"They have very little over there and will be very happy to receive the books," he said.

Mr Sarmast, a musicologist and musician who plays trumpet and piano, is working on a joint project with the Monash Asia Institute, the Monash Science Centre and the School of Music-Conservatorium to establish a centre in Kabul for the revival of music in Afghanistan.