KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Provincial Governor Abdul Jabaar Naeemi speaks during a shura in Jaji Maidan. During his visit, he commemorated two new schools to be built in the Peace District. (Photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Matthew Lohr, Khowst Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs)

Regional Command East
Combined Joint Task Force 1- Afghanistan

KHOWST, Afghanistan (May 29, 2011) – Provincial Gov. Abdul Jabaar Naeemi arrived in Jaji Maidan to lay the cornerstones for two new boys’ and girls’ schools, May 26.

Naeemi said the schools send a strong message that the government supports a unified tribe which maintains tight security and rebuffs insurgents regularly.

“I love the people of Jaji Maidan,” said the governor to hundreds of the district’s elders, mullahs and residents prior to opening the school construction sites.

Naeemi cited the security in Jaji Maidan as the best in the province. The security and stability of government in the district is so good in fact, it was declared it a peace district last December.

The governor began his visit in at the district’s medical clinic where he, with help from the Khowst Provincial Reconstruction Team, donated six large boxes of much-needed medical supplies.

He spoke with doctors about potential future projects, including a proposed maternity clinic and other female medical service centers.

From the medical clinic the governor walked to the area where the new schools will be built, stopping to talk to locals and children along the way.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” he asked the children. Doctors and teachers were popular answers; ones which, the governor reminded the children, require much education.

“Promise me your children will use these schools,” Naeemi said to the crowd.

After a brief lunch with the Afghan National Police following the shura, Naeemi concluded his trip to Jaji Maidan by making a surprise guest appearance on Khowst TV’s quiz game show.

The show, which is hosted by an energetic Afghan teen and taped in a nearby school, pitts Jaji Maidan students against each other on Afghan history, government policies and Islam.

“This is the future of Afghanistan,” Naeemi said, handing out backpacks to the winning students.