Kabul Kids

Kabul October 30, 2009





There are children everywhere in Kabul. In 2002, according to the latest statistics I can find, 43% of the population was under the age of 15. With an average fertility rate that hovers around 7, I can only assume that the statistic has not changed much in the past 7 years, even with an above average infant mortality rate.

Every day when I am driven to campus I hold my breath and watch school children cross busy Darulaman Road, sometimes across 4-6 individually defined lanes of buses, cars, vans and motorcycles. There are no traffic lights, crossing guards or sidewalks. Those children who do attend school go 6 days a week. The boys in my area wear blue shirts and black pants, girls all over Kabul wear black tunics, black pants and white head scarves.

Children who do not go to school, at least the ones that I see, work herding sheep, clerking in their parent's shops, or they wander in traffic begging, selling gum or phone cards. It is a harsh way to live. Laws to protect children in the labor force are controversial primarily because working children are frequently an important contributor to the family income. The government does not provide financial assistance to needy families.

In my neighborhood there are lots and lots of kids and like kids everywhere they play and cry. Fight with their siblings, fly kites and run around the dusty streets. We all live in close proximity here so I hear all their comings and goings. The city is dangerous, bombs, grenades and rocket fire disrupt the lives of many but here in my neighborhood life continues uninterrupted. If the wind is blowing and you are home from school and have a kite to fly, you do regardless of the crumbling violent world around us.

Art in Afghanistan

October 22, 2009
Kabul

There is a National Gallery of Art in Kabul which we visited the other day. Riddled with bullets during the years of war, it has now been repaired and houses an interesting, if eclectic collection of old and contemporary Afghan art as well as European oils carried here by kings and ambassadors over the years.

During the Taliban years much art was destroyed and the museum has a glass case full of ripped and torn paintings and drawings - mostly of women that didn't survive. There is beauty emerging, however from the rubble. The Garden of Peace and Hope is an example. The roses, which are indigenous to this area are beautiful and continue to bloom even as the evenings grow cold. I hate to think about them dying off for the winter. From my time here in 2006 I know the winters to be bleak and muddy in sepia tones. The roses add splashes of color now.

Kabul Street Scenes

October 17, 2009
Kabul

Kabul streets are teeming with activity at all times. Vendors, shoppers, workers all weave in between cars and pedestrians and create a rich tapestry of street life. Shops are clustered by product sold. For example, all the rope makers are in one block, the grain sellers in another. The fruit and vegetable sellers are clustered in open air markets along the side of the road.

I am imprisoned in an AUAF car, unable to walk freely along the street. In our district there are some fruit and veggie stands that we may be driven to, and accompanied by an escort, we can walk among the stands and buy produce. And, of course there are grocery stores and craft shops that cater to the International population in Kabul. Other than that I experience Kabul streets behind glass.

The weather has begun to turn and locals are predicting a cold winter. Wood vendors have stacked cords and cords of wood in lots by the side of the road, and men pushing carts make deliveries of split logs. Heat here is produced either by electric heaters, kerosene, diesel or wood. It still reaches into the 70s during the day and I have yet to put on a coat.

We wait with baited breath for the election decision. We are on notice that our travel may be curtailed even further if the unrest they anticipate occurs. More on that next time.

Walking in a War Zone

Darulaman Palace from the new campus

Kabul, 10 October 2009

The University was given 45 acres of land on which to build a campus. Since my arrival I have heard that it was the only place to go for a walk here, since walking for exercise on the streets is strictly forbidden for Westerners. So this morning P and I decided to check it out. We accompanied two others who were planning to jog, a driver, an escort and an armed guard to the property. All along I had been imaging a park - lush with green grass, tropical plants, nice graveled paths. Well that was wishful thinking born of a desperate need to see a color beyond brown!

But, there was a soccer field carefully tended and newly mowed and after some exploration in the dust we spent 45 minutes walking vigorously around and around the field. The property is near Darulaman Palace which you can see in the photo and eventually it will be a spectacular campus. Right now it is mostly dirt which puffed up in a cloud around my feet as I walked. It was until recently full of land mines and we could see evidence of the de-mining activity. We have been assured that they are all gone now - the last two were discovered and removed in the spring.

The pile of white stones in the foreground indicates a mine has been removed from that spot. You can see the soccer field and then the palace in the background.

Standing next to an overturned burned Soviet tank which presumably will be removed before the campus is built!

Posing with our guard in front of an exploded mine - seems inappropriate that I have a big grin on my face. The guard, who was very vigilant and nice to have along was hamming it up and striking poses before the photo was taken.

Contrasts

September 20, Ramadan ended with Eid or Eid ul-Fitr a 3-day Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fitr means "to break fast"; and so the holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. It is celebrated after the end of the Islamic month of fasting on the first day of Shawwal. (tip of the nib to Wikipedia)

Because of my teaching schedule I was able to slip away for 10 days which actually turned into 14 thanks to the Afghanistan Consulate in DC which failed to return my passport and visa in time for my scheduled flight. For my break, I chose to return to Vermont where I relished all opportunities to walk freely, drive my car and keep my own schedule. Not to mention brushing my teeth with tap water!

Last night I landed back in Kabul and its hot streets swirling with dust and debris. Today I taught my management and business principles class. We discussed the steps in making a business, or really any decision. Determining the problem, establishing and weighting criteria, and finally developing and analyzing alternatives and making a final selection. The alternatives for solving problems in Afghanistan are decidedly more complex than in my Vermont world. Poverty, violence and concerns about security all limit options. Not to mention the challenge of travel and access to places abroad.

I share with you some photos of contrast. Brown dry Kabul overflowing with life and street commerce and more sedate Burlington with its beaches and autumn foliage. Both capture me in many ways but my heart is home in Vermont.