Written by Sodaba Obaidi
In a ceremony organized by Afghanistan Think Room (ATR) in Kabul, a number of civil society activists, artists and university students emphasized the role of happiness and hopefulness among the Afghan people, particularly the youth.
The event called “The Autumn Rainbow Cultural and Artistic Ceremony” took place on October 25, 2013 at the Afghanistan Think Room headquarters in Kabul.
According to Abbas Arman, a senior manager of ATR and editor in chief of Dor-e-Dari – a Persian language literary institution – fighting against mounting desperation, hopelessness and promotion of happiness among the youth was the main goal of the ceremony.
“The level of happiness among people of Afghanistan, especially among the youth is very low,” said Arman. “This fact was one of the major factors which motivated ATR to conduct this ceremony.”
Arman stated that ATR will organize similar ceremonies in each season of the year and youth issues will be on top the organization’s agenda.
A number of speakers in the ceremony also emphasized the importance of happiness and warned about the low level of hopefulness and happiness among the Afghan people.
According to Reza Mahdi, one of the speakers, a study by Sustainable Development Solutions Network about the level of happiness among people of the world describes Afghanistan as one of the least happy nations in the world. In the study Afghanistan ranks 143th among 156 nations.
Media, management, public speaking, book and traditional handicrafts exhibitions were the other significant part of the ceremony.
“We organized these exhibitions, particularly media, management, and public speaking exhibits because these areas are on the top of our training agendas,” Murtaza Meraj, another senior manager in ATR said.
According to Meraj, ATR is one of the few institutions in Afghanistan which has provided the opportunity for a considerable number of Afghan youth, particularly students of social sciences to improve their public speaking and journalism skills in a professional manner.
Media Exhibition: Another Significant Part of the Ceremony
According to Jamal Temori, a senior member of ATR and head of Fluent Media Group, a large number of Afghan print media and a number of well known international professional media outlets were introduced to visitors as a part the media exhibition.
“Dozens of domestic print media and a number of professional news agencies, television channels and newspapers from many countries of the world were displayed in the exhibition,” Temori said. “The ceremony was organized thanks to the initiatives of ATR’s journalism students,” he added.
A large number of the ceremony’s participants were women, whereas normally, very few women participate in public events in Afghanistan.
According to Alia Rajai, the ceremony’s coordinator, women’s role was significant in the management of the event too.
“I am so happy to see that a number of civil society organizations pay equal attention to men and women in public events,” Rajai said. “Equal treatment of men and women is a good step towards elimination of gender based discrimination in Afghanistan,” she added.
Poetry and music programs and reading short stories were other significant parts of the ceremony.
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