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Allison Lide Brings Montessori to Afghanistan

What do Conscious Evolution, Montessori, and refugee children in poverty-stricken Afghanistan have in common?  For Allison Lide, these areas have come to encompass the principles of an emerging worldview that supports human growth and development across the globe.  

Allison, a 2012 graduate of TGI's M.A. in Conscious Evolution, truly embodies the spirit of "action research" when it comes to merging the theoretical with the real world.  In 2002 she and her husband founded the House of Flowers, an innovative orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan that operates according to the principles of Montessori - a learner-centered educational model focused on supporting freedom, respect, creativity, critical thinking, and autonomy in children within multi-age learning groups.  In Montessori learning models, children learn to work with their hands as well as their intellects, and engage directly in their communities. As such, the House of Flowers is the only orphanage of its kind in Afghanistan.

Allison's original vision was to establish Montessori schools in refugee camps... where kids would get much more than an academic education, but would also have the opportunity to develop holistically into who they are meant to be.  "I think that Montessori has so much to offer for children," Allison says.  "It's a very holistic and developmentally-based system that provides children a foundation to become strong within themselves.  I felt like this was exactly what vulnerable refugee camp children needed.  They are floating around with parents who are barely surviving.  They need an experience that will feed their soul, not just their bodies." Ten years later, her dream has grown into a thriving orphanage with a full staff that provides a home as well as a developmental foundation for 32 children, ranging in age from 3 to 18.

Allison studied for her Montessori certification in in Bergamo, Italy in 2004, and in 2008, came back to the U.S. to take a Montessori teaching job in Norwalk, CT. She says that she learned so much by teaching Montessori in Connecticut.  It was also during that time that she completed her Masters degree in Conscious Evolution at TGI.  

For her Culminating Project, Allison undertook an analysis of Montessori education and how it epitomizes the qualities of an emerging worldview.  As she explains, the traditional education system is a product of the mechanical worldview that has dominated Western society since the Scientific Revolution.  This linear, hierarchical, and externally-driven way of interacting with the world is slowly losing its hold, as more societies begin to embrace the organic, non-linear, non-hierarchical and internally-focused orientation that characterizes 21st century thinking.  According to Allison, this is exactly how a Montessori classroom functions.  "Instead of being hierarchical, where the teacher is the main focus of the instruction, Montessori classrooms set up an environment where children pursue their own drives and inclinations," Allison explains.  "It's a completely different paradigm of education."
Allison indicates that there are a lot of similarities between TGI and Montessori.  Visitors to her classroom in Norwalk would often remark that it reminded them of a "little university."  Children would work in small groups on diverse projects and subjects that they self-designed.  As a result, the students ended up becoming independent, confident, and free.  And because Montessori classrooms are organized by developmental planes instead of ages, where students are together for three years at a time, they establish a kind of "cohort" of their own.

Similarly, Allison describes the children at the House of Flowers as being confident, peaceful, calm, artistic, generous, creative, and cooperative.  "These are words you would never use to describe Afghanistan," she reflects.  "Afghans are often shocked that these children can learn to control themselves and contribute."  She describes the environment in the orphanage as feeling like a true family.  "People walk in and immediately experience an incredible sense of joy," she says.  Sometimes foreign visitors will even come simply to "hang out," as it provides a kind of peaceful oasis from the turbulent climate throughout the nation. 

The House of Flowers has always been solely donor-supported, and thus has gotten by for the past ten years by the skin of their teeth.  But despite the tough financial odds, the program continues to reflect a high degree of success in building confidence and autonomy in its children... many of whom would never have another opportunity to move beyond their destitute and often violent roots.  Today, Allison is working on developing a full-fledged training program that extends the Montessori model to other Afghani orphanages and institutions in need. 

When asked to reflect on her studies at TGI, Allison says she recalls having many intriguing discussions about developmental models and spiral dynamics.  However, these philosophies she perceives as heavily Western-centric, and her goal today is to enable the emerging worldview to reach more than a select population of people.  "I would encourage people to keep in mind that we have to get beyond national boundaries," Allison says.  "We need to look at what we are studying at TGI and see how it fits with the whole rest of the world.  I'd like to challenge people to make it real."

Through the House of Flowers, and the Medical, Education and Peace Organization (MEPO) founded by her husband, Mostafa Vaziri, in 1999, Allison Lide has done just that.

Because the orphanage is supported exclusively by donors, Allison is currently raising funds to enable it to serve more children and expand its mission of bringing Montessori to other institutions throughout Afghanistan. To learn more about her organization's work and how to become involved, visit mepoonline.org. Or contact Allison directly at AllisonLide@yahoo.com

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