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Ghuncha Gul Barakzai Obituary  

Gul Barakzai ObituaryGhuncha Gul Barakzai was born on  March 11, 1953.  His death was on May 19, 2019.Ghuncha Gul died in the hospital in New Delhi, India after a heart  attack.

Ghuncha Gul lived in a small village named Joygange in a part of Afghanistan growing up. No one went to school at that village because their parents wouldn’t allow them to. Once Ghuncha Gul  grew up a little he would draw on the ground and write letters. His parents saw this and thought, if they let him go to school he might become something good for the village.When he started going to school all the villagers made fun of him and his parents for letting him go to school, saying he won’t learn anything and were upset at the parents for letting him go to the school, but his parents didn’t care. They still let him go to school and study. The school was 2 hours away from the village so he would walk 2 hours everyday back and forth to school just to study. His parents would always wait for him, until he got out of school. The villagers stopped talking to his parents and the kids would not play with him or be his friends because the villagers believed it was a sin to go to school. He always had his parents' support throughout the school.

One day when he was in 5th grade he made a boat out of paper and the village kids saw this and were amazed because they didn’t know they could make a boat out of paper, so they asked him how he did it. He told them, “There’s a lot you can learn at school. I learned how to make boats in school, you can learn so much more going to school.”

The kids started telling their parents they wanted to go to school and the villagers got very angry and asked their kids who taught them about school. The kids told them that Ghuncha Gul  was the one who told them school was good. The villagers were very unhappy with this and called for a meeting. They  told Ghuncha Gul’s dad that he shouldn’t let his son talk to their kids about school and that they should only work with them in the farms and house. Ghuncha Gul  spoke up and told them that if one day they were sick, or they were hurt, or in need of help, their kids would be the ones helping them if they become doctors, engineers, mechanics; they would be able to help their parents.

The villagers thought about this and some let their kids start going to school with Ghuncha Gul.When Ghuncha Gul hit high school he was very smart and got a lot of scholarships, so they sent him to Russia to study for 2 years. 

When Ghuncha Gul returned he became the governor of the village for 1 and half years. He made so many changes for the village like building a school building, a hospital, etc. The villagers were very happy and realized that he was right about everything and school really does change your life.

After 1 and half years Ghuncha Gul quit being a governor and started to become a teacher. He was teaching for 33 years of his life.

People loved him because he would bring peace into people and would resolve their problems with them. He was a great handwriter and had classes to teach kids how to write perfectly. Time went by and he got married, had kids, and decided he would send his daughters to school. His brothers were really mad about this because they believed girls shouldn’t be able to go to school and stay home. He didn’t mind them because he was the first person from his village to go to school and the first person who let his daughters go to school.

His cousins, uncles, and aunts stopped talking to him and cut off all ties with him because of the fact that he let his daughters go to school. They even gave him death threats, But he didn’t care and still sent his daughters to school.

After years and years his daughters became either a doctor, a teacher, or a nurse. One of his daughters started working as a midwife for the hospital in the village and helped with pregnant women from the village. Once again the villagers realized they were wrong again and sent their daughters to school. They were very happy that he taught them about school and education and how it really helps people.

In 2019 when Ghuncha Gul  died everyone was very sad because he was a great person and had a kind heart and soul. And to this day we still feel a piece of us missing because he’s gone but I hope he rests well in paradise.

Written by: Lailuma Nudrat