“I know it’s not much time,” Mother said when she announced the plans to the rest of the school during morning assembly, “but you are all well prepared already. Your teachers tell me you are working hard in your studies, and this will give you a chance to show off your talents and knowledge to the whole community.” The girls were enthusiastic. Many of them had tried to explain to their parents what they did all day, but if their parents had never gone to school, it was hard for them to understand. Now they could show them. First, villagers would arrive and be formally welcomed by Mother. Then they would visit the classrooms and sit in on a lesson. Parvana decided her class would do an arithmetic lesson. She had been teaching them about earning and spending money. She gave them problems to solve: If you have twelve Afghanis, and oranges cost three Afghanis each, how many oranges can you buy?
