In Afghan debate tournaments, Everybody wins
by Shoaib a.k.a Kandahar
Rushing through the crowd to get to the coffee table, then rushing back inside to the main conference room to find your teammate because they are about to announce the match-ups while secretly wishing you don’t get Opening Government, and that butterfly-in-the-stomach feeling right before the motion for the round is announced. Run the room while prepping (but not so loudly that the other teams hear us).
Which room is it again? What time does the debate start? Where’s my Economist?
Heartbeat races when the judge pops his/her head out of the room and screams “Results!!!”. The complex emotions after the result is announced when you either start blaming pretty much everything and everyone else for your loss (judges are the usual suspects) or celebrate your win.
Well done guys, good debate. Well done.
All these experiences teach debaters how to better cope with their own emotions, thought process and overall personal conduct. This growth is reflected in studies, work and their lives in general. If you win all your debates, or none at all, if you think about what you do, you will learn from this experiences.
Thankfully this great life-experience has expanded into Afghanistan over the past few years and has created a swarm of enthusiastic university students rushing to debate tournaments and training whenever possible. The students are eager to have the chance to listen and to speak, but most importantly to just be heard. In a country struggling with challenges in all walks of life, university debating is an attractive escape, in addition to being a useful one.
We hosted the “Kabul Elite Debate Championship” recently and had the great pleasure of having Behrad Taadoli in the Adjudication Core. Girls and boys from all around Kabul - with their case files, fact sheets, worn out Economist magazines and the occasionally pocket Longman dictionary - lined up to contest ideas, learn and build friendships.
Some stutter and some scream. Some speak with the voice of authority and some tell it like it is. One thing is for sure — they all have a spark in their eyes throughout the debate; a spark which tells a story of hope in uncertain times.
In a culture where critical thinking is frowned upon and where thousands have been persecuted for their thoughts and beliefs by whomever happened to be in charge, debating offers a breath of fresh air.
Debating’s impact on the young and intellectually starved Afghan mind is immense. Through my coaching at the university level I have seen young minds slowly developing the curiosity, courage and capacity to generate ideas and defend them amidst tough critical questioning. As an Afghan I have to admit that it’s extremely rewarding to be a part of this process of growth and self-discovery for such talented and committed individuals.
So in the end, we reached the Grand Finals of the tournament and as is customary, there were trophies and thank-yous. But one thing distinguishes Afghan debate tournaments from all others, and that’s the fact that here, everyone wins. Every speaker and judge leaves the tournament with a rare, deep and precious sense of utter satisfaction. Like someone who never walked, but now can run, we know we have done something few in our country can do, and until a few years ago, no one even dreamed of doing.
Let’s continue supporting nascent debate circuits in countries where it is a high-impact activity. Debating changes lives more than you can imagine in my country and I hope we are all committed to strengthening it any way we can.
Shoaib a.k.a Kandahar is an ex-debater based in Kabul and spends his free time coaching the debate team at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) as well as other Afghan universities. He is a Fulbright Scholar with a Masters from Duke University and Bachelors from MMU Malaysia.
