Bamyan, Afghanistan

Photographer: Abdullah Shayagan

Year of Submission: 2016 (Educators Edition) 

Riding a bicycle carrying a box filled with books, Saber Hussaini travels from village to village in Bamyan, a province in Afghanistan’s central highlands. At every stop, children gather around him. They return books borrowed on his previous visit, then look for something new in his collection to take away this time. Saber’s books are mostly story books. In a part of Afghanistan where most people are more worried about feeding their families than educating them, his main goal is helping children find joy in reading. When it comes to their content, Saber has just two absolute rules: nothing religious, nothing political.