STORY BEHIND THE NAME OF BESH KAPA SURKH SCHOOL

The Turkmen are one of the nomadic tribes of Central Asia who settled in Turkmenistan and the Northern provinces of Afghanistan, namely Faryab and Jowzjan. In keeping with their nomadic heritage, it has long been their custom to live in yurts or tentlike dwellings woven from coarse black sheep wool for six months of the year, during the summer. So, in the villages of Faryab and Jowzjan the Turkmen would live in their portable homes from April to October every year with their entire family, including women and children. The custom still exists, though it is not as commonly practiced now as it was earlier. When guests came to meet them at the yurt, the men would greet them and they would exchange melons as a token of goodwill. In these big yurts families would live together forthese six months, before returning to their permanent dwelling for the winter. The village of besh or ‘five’ kapa or ‘yurt’ was once home to only five yurts set in acres of open land.

With changing times, people have opted for a more settled existence in the area, but the memory of the traditional lifestyle of the Turkmen is honored in the name chosen for the school, which is also the name of the village.

The adjoining village is called Surkh which literally means ‘red.’ This is because in the months of May and June the land is covered by red flowers which come up spontaneously during Spring and clothe the ground almost entirely in this bright color. The name also denotes one of the local sub-tribes of the Ersari Turkmen, whose name literally translated means 'the red tribe.'

Besh Kapa Surkh Schools holds the name of two adjoining villages both of which have stories that define their name.