I love libraries. I love book mobiles.

And I’ve been fortunate enough to live my entire live without being in a war zone, or having my country torn apart by other countries waging war over my home.

Not everyone has this same level of good fortune in their lives.

So it would cool, no matter where it was, to see these library buses sent out to help connect kids to books! But to see it in Afghanistan?? It’s close to amazing!!!

Check out this article about the library bus, and the truly impressive woman who is running it.

The library bus in Afghanistan that is driving change

At only 27, Freshta Karim is the founder of Charmagz, an organisation that transforms buses into mobile libraries.

They drive them around Kabul so that Afghanistan’s youngest citizens can develop and foster a love for critical thought and reading.

“We are a group of young Afghans who have witnessed war and its direct impact on our childhood firsthand,” says the Charmagz team in their mission statement. “Our childhood, like millions of other Afghan children, was lost before we could live it. The pain brings us together in order to make a difference in other children’s lives.”

Children are encouraged to drop by before or after school to read, play chess, learn and debate.

The bus stops in each location for about two hours, and when The National spoke to Karim last year, she told us that they have to take the still devastating realities of life in Afghanistan into account when they choose where to base the bus:

“We park the bus on the inside roads, and within communities, to avoid crowded places that could be likely terrorist targets.”