The Sounds of Kabul

Being here has been very interesting. I wake up at 4 a.m. with the singing ---It's the Call to Prayer from the mosques. There are many mosques scattered around the city and the clerics go into the minaret of their respective mosques and sing their prayers. The singings from all the mosques blend and just come wafting through every window. It is very pleasant to listen. They do it again at 5 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Each time it happens, I want to just stop and listen for a while. It seems that the "callers" all have great voices. It is also great that in Afghanistan, they still do the Call to Prayer by singing naturally. In some countries, they have tried loudspeakers and I noticed that in Bosnia, they would play very bad tape recordings over a loudspeaker. It sounded like a scratched record. Here in Afghanistan, it is indeed a beautiful sound....

We have 3 -4 young male employees at the CNFA office who work as program assistants, drivers or guards. They don't make a big deal about their religion. They are very nice young men who want to have a good job, have the freedom to worship, raise a family in relative peace. One reporter summed it up: "The Taliban's strict approach to Islam forced every Afghan to be a radical Muslim. For the six years the militia ruled the country, men had to go to the mosque seven times a day and grow long beards -- or face public beatings or even jail. Women had to quit their jobs, cover their faces and their entire bodies with burqas, and leave their houses only with their husbands or fathers. But now that the hard-line movement's strong grip on Afghan society has been released -- even in the countryside, where support for it was strongest -- some people are not sure they want to be Muslim at all. Most Afghans say they consider themselves devout Muslims, but few pray five times a day, as the Koran instructs. " (Anna Badkhen, SF Chronicle Staff Writer, Jan. 2002) It seems that the people here are no longer as united by Islam as they are by the wish to live in a free state that has no more wars.

I am getting to the end of my assignment here. In a way I hate to leave this place. I will miss the singing, the people I've met, the sounds and sites of the streets of Kabul. There are so many things undiscovered. The Bomb this week forced everyone to restrict their movements. The security alerts system here warn that there will be more suicide bombings as we get closer to Mr. Karsai's election. I forgot to ask if anyone is running against him---haven't heard that there is. It seems that if someone has something to say, they ought to run for office but it doesn't work that way here yet. Meanwhile everyone is going about their business trying not to give opportunity to be a target.

This morning, I went to Kabul University and made a presentation to the College of Agriculture faculty. I spoke about Rural Development, and Extension systems. We had a very nice reception from the Dean and the Ag faculty -many speak English---and they are so interested in improving services to farmers. There are a few women enrolled in the College but none came to my class. It is great to see girls go to school here now. 70% of this country is still illiterate, but last week was the beginning of the school year and the streets are full of girls and boy going to school. At the University, one professor told me that when women marry here, there usually is no courtship. Marriages are arranged. The boy's parents have to pay for all expenses of the wedding and presents for everyone. It can be an elaborate affair costing up to $5000 or more. How any parent in this country-- where the average monthly salary is under $100-- can afford a marriage is a mystery! Well so long Kabul, it has been great....


Photo Credit: Linda Aines

The reality of Afghanistan

It is very easy to get complacent here when day after day you have settled into a routine. You get up and have breakfast along with the other patrons of the guesthouse, go to work at the office or out around Kabul to various meetings, then back to the guesthouse, dinner, and then to bed after doing your email. Although the streets of Kabul are full of delightful scenes that are new to my eyes, security dictates that you don't go out and about without caution. The Kabul streets are so normal and really, there is very little sign of the International Forces here, except an occasional sighting of an army truck or a jet overhead. I had really started to feel like I could go out (always with caution,) and chat with merchants and people on the street.

It happened today.... KaBoom! A big explosion around 5:30 pm. It shook our guesthouse so much that I thought we had been hit. Things flew off the shelves and I thought the windows had shattered but they didn't. I looked outside and no sign of smoke---only the other guests venturing outside their room to find out what happened. But there were obvious signs of activity outside out compound wall. The television was on and it seemed that within 20 minutes, an announcement was made on BBC that a huge explosion had happened in the Center of Kabul-- near the US Embassy and other International Organizations. Well no sweat, this is miles from here. Just the same we didn't go outside of our compound and all ate dinner at our guest house tonight. We were only too glad to stay close to home, swap stories with the other guests. A later newscast and the hotel gossip brought it all closer..... The bomb, likely a car or truck bomb, detonated about a block from our hotel. It was targeted at an American security company. Some seven people have been killed, four of them Americans. It is so sad! We had received alerts or warnings today of potential violence or suicide bombings in the Kabul area.

It seems that accellerating violence is expected here over the next month due to Karsai's pending re-election or rather first time election. There are some who do not want to see him elected. They see him as a puppet of the U.S. Yesterday, in an Embassy meeting, I heard this on the security situation: "Here 99% of the people are really good and glad to have us here. But it is the one percent that we really have to worry about." It has also been my impression here that most people here are glad for having had this year of relative normalcy in Afghanistan. The past year has helped the Economy grow, GDP was up a whopping 20% in 2003---investments are being made in the country. There is money here and people who are willing to invest in new ventures and get in on the start of a period of rapid expansion.

I wish I could stay and help it happen, but I am a big chicken. I will be on a plane heading home by Friday of this week. Enjoy the pictures... L

Here is a picture of my guesthouse in Kabul. It is quite pleasant inside these compound guesthouses. There are lot of flowers including roses and geraniums; and lots of people to water 24 hours a day.

Photo Credit: Linda Aines

Kabul, Afghanistan...One night, had a great dinner with Fitsum, Raphy and Richard, who like me, work here. We dined in a nomad tent outside their guest house. The tent was all fixed up with the traditional Afghan carpets and cushions. And what food!

Photo Credit: Linda Aines

In Kabul, everyone is a Merchant. 

The Wholesale Market in Kabul, where everything is bought and sold.... 

The Kabul streets are full of life. There are cars, horses, mules, people with all types of different dress depending on their origin or their tribe. 

A day in Kabul

I have now been here more than 10 days and life seems to take on different hues and colors. I expected to find more here than expected and have not been disappointed. There are the delightful moments when someone on the street hands you a piece of merchandise to try like a pomegranate or the new almonds from this year’s and tries to get to know you. Every time someone smiles a welcome gesture to you, you realize this isn’t just the armpit of the world. These are people who love their land and their life here. There has been one war or something like it for 20 years and everybody looks forward to some normalcy—that was how they allow the Taliban to take over as they calmed things down and got things under control at first. Then corruption set in and it got bad. What remains here is some typical disputes between tribal leaders. But these tribal leaders or warlords will eventually be part of the ongoing solution here as they are stakeholders..

Our driver took me into the ancient part of Kabul yesterday, where all the wholesaling takes place. This must be a place that hasn’t changed much in a thousand years. Street after street of traders selling flour, nuts, fruits, imported goods. Most of the exhibited stuff is in bulk on the outside walls of the structures – jutting out in the streets and you can wind you way around these very narrow streets --- it goes on and on. Some streets are all the Almond and Postachio dealers, other streets are the flour dealers. And of course the streets are named after the dealers who do business there. Such as Flour Street, Chicken St, etc.. There are streets where meat just hangs on hooks all day with flies, etc.. just buzz about. .It was quite picturesque (and smelly!) and I tried to take as many photos as I could. As I stood out enough , even with my large silk scarf wrapped around my shoulders and head--and walking slightly behind my driver, I still drew attention . But with my camera at my waist, I just snapped away in all directions and got some great pictures anyways. Richard, my Chief of Mission, had requested we not go to this section of town when I first arrived here but by this week, there are no more restrictions on any areas in Kabul. Things are very quiet everywhere. Of course, I purchased a kilo of pistachios and almonds to bring back home with me. But it was fun interacting with the merchants—like the Armenians, they like to have their pictures taken. I also met a little boy , about six years old, who was selling silk shopping bags, his mother makes for him to sell to shoppers for 10 afs (about 20 cents.) I bought one of course for the chance to talk to him a little. And hope to have a chance to go do some more shopping in the coming days .

Today and tomorrow, I am interacting with more women than I have been able to since coming here. I plan to do a focus group with local women tomorrow and have been preparing a questionnaire about how they shop and cook with flour at home. The hotel has arranged for the women to come into the conference room to meet with me. That should be so interesting.... Some women came to the office today. They had been commissioned to make curtains for our office and came in to hang them up. They were very happily chatting about and when they saw me were very anxious to interact. One said in broken English, “we are Pashtoon, and working for Relief International, we are happy to meet you!” They were dressed in long dresses or suits, with beautiful large scarves to match that covered their hair and shoulders. They also wore georgeous gold jewelry that I would like to find the source for. They wear makeup and are very beautiful. I have been amazed at how even the older women are very attractive with clear green or goldish brown eyes. We also have another woman who works at our office. She cleans and she cooks lunch for all of us and the guards. She is 23 and has a child that is about 11 years old. Her husband disappeared a few years ago and may have been taken by the Taliban. His whereabouts are unknown. It is common for women to be married at 12 or 14 years old here. We also have a few very nice young men who work for us as guards and drivers. I questioned them about the custom of marrying young and they don’t think anything of it. It is part of the culture here. Although my driver who just had a 3rd daughter a few weeks ago, says he married his wife when she was 20... also not all that unusual.

Tonight, our crew was invited to the home of an international couple who work here. Raphy is a Swiss business consultant who works for a well known consulting firm in Kabul that has furnished us with a lot of our ag research data and his wife Fitsum works for Unicef and has had a very successful program here with the food nutrition and salt iodization programs here. This successful program has formed the basis for our plan to have a flour fortification mill in Afghanistan. Since only two of us CNFA consultants were Kabul today, we went over and they entertained us in a Nomad tent on the lawn of their guest house. Inside the large woolen tent, were Afghan colorful lights and the floor was filled with carpets and cushions. We were served dinner and drinks out there. This is very much like the way the Nomads live only perhaps not so elegant. We had nice wine, tea, and Macadamia nuts, to go with it.

Wish all my days here would be so pleasant. It was fun.... but have to get some sleep now. Be well, Linda.