Thankyou Google

Thousands of schoolchildren write the internet company a kilometre-long letter.

The letter is a thank you note to Google for adding Pashto to its worldwide list of languages for translation.

Thousands of schoolchildren write the internet company a kilometre-long letter.

The letter is a thank you note to Google for adding Pashto to its worldwide list of languages for translation. Users can click on Google Translate to read translations in Pashto of words in any other language on the list.

Grateful students in Zabul, Helmand, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Kunar, Kabul, Baghlan and Balkh wrote thank you letters. What was even more unusual was the letters were all glued together to form one long letter that was unveiled at a special function on March 10 at the cricket stadium. Later it was handed over to Dawakhan Minapal, head of public libraries, to keep it in a public library.

Sayeed Zabuli who delivered the inaugural speech said the letters were written by female and male schoolchildren between the ages of seven and 14.

The messages were both statements of appreciation and requests for help from the international community for Afghanistan’s progress in technological development and also for peace and stability in the country.

Najibullah Manalai, cultural expert, called Pashto’s inclusion a “big initiative”. He hoped Google would ensure translations into Pashto were “precise”.

According to Hamdullah Arbab, an artist, Afghans want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with people all over the world in this age of technology.

Hamid Shirani from the government’s information technology office read out a statement in English for the benefit of the “international community” which he said was on behalf of Afghan children who wish for peace and for access to technology. Sayed Marjan from the same office urged Afghans with a good command of Pashto to assist in making the language equal to other world languages.

The curtain came down on the event spread over an afternoon with a resolution read out by Habib Totakhil, reporter with the Wall Street Journal, “on behalf of all Pashtuns”. The one-km letter was created from letters sent from different cities and districts of Afghanistan. “We want to show the international community that Afghans are peace loving. We welcome the new developments … and request other international offices that work in technology to pay attention to development of Pashto language and help Afghans in technology,” the resolution stated.