Kabul Diary

Fourteen year old Nazifa likes to study. She especially likes mathematics; even during her free time she tries to go through some lessons. Free time is of course scarce, because mother needs to be helped taking care of her little sisters and brothers. Nazifa dreams of working as an engineer or a doctor. The young girl believes that her dream can be a reality – for she has seen with her own eyes in the village clinic a female Afghan nurse working there.
Today Nazifa is bowing over the holy book. Over one book a bevy of girls is found, as there are not enough books for all of the students. Unfamiliar with the circumstances you may think that this is a singing class, actually it's a Koran class: the teacher sings the holy text first and the girls repeat together after the teacher.
Afghanistan is an Islamic republic, the religion plays a very important role in this country – and so the children start studying the Holy Koran already from the first class and until the ninth class. To understand the holy book in its original scripture and not as a translation, Arabic must be studied also.
Islam is not only important as book wisdom; it actually determines opportunities and gives behavioral guidelines for everyday life, whether it is marriage, eating or prayer. In Afghanistan it is customary for the women to pray at home. This rule has exceptions. For example, in Mazar-e Sharif, women and children also are allowed to enter the famous Shrine of Hazrat Ali (called Blue Mosque as well). Amazingly peaceful atmosphere of this shrine is the destination of many a family's pilgrimage; here you can meet people from all over Afghanistan. In this beautiful shrine built during Timurid era you can find serious men praying, children wearing their Sunday clothes eagerly feeding holy white doves, or women with their children heading towards the tomb of the saint Hazrat Ali.

Looking at Farida, you're struck by her life experienced glare. It is difficult to believe that she is only a ten year old girl. Feriha is the same age, a gentle Hazara girl. They sit in a classroom full of eager children. This is no ordinary school; this is Ashiana center, a place that offers education to street children. These children have one thing in common; they have all had to earn a living on the streets from a very young age. In Afghanistan it is normal that children start helping support their families at a young age. Sometimes families are so poor they have to send their children to work on the streets.
Look at the picture of a little boy at Hazrat Ali Shrine in Mazar-e Sharif. He presents a good example of your regular child-salesman: he carries around his neck a box where chewing gum, biscuits and crisps are.
Ashiana aims to save children from work slavery through the help of a personal sponsor. To find a sponsor, Ashiana offers the families a contract: the family gets 260 US dollars a year (this is the amount the child could make in a year). After signing the contract the child is free of work and can devote his or her time to studying. Sometimes the family agrees later to transfer their children to regular schools, to continue their education. These children are very good students: usually after a year at Ashiana they go straight to state school to the second or third class. Today Ashiana has helped 2000 children become literate.
Sometimes you are left with the impression that the family is against educating their children, but the truth is in most cases the reason is poverty caused by extraordinary situations. Farida and Feriha talk about their life in the outskirts of Kabul, where the whole family is squeezed into a small rented room. Even a small room costs 2000 Afghanis (40 US dollars) a month. Both have six brothers and sisters who also work: some wash cars, others sell chewing gum.
Farida is a half time student to begin with: during the mornings she goes gathering paper and cardboard in the streets with her brother. For lunch Farida goes to the Ashiana center: the lunch given at the center is usually the only proper meal the street children get during the day. Farida likes to study, she especially likes the Koran lesson, secretly she dreams of becoming a teacher.
Feriha has been free from working the streets for the last year. She used to look for plastic with her brother in piles of garbage, which they sold to merchants, earning about 60 Afghanis (1.2 US dollars) a day.
Now the girl who dreams of becoming a doctor goes to a regular school, she especially likes Mathematics. She is happy that she has made many friends at school as well. Even others know about her past as a street child, no one makes fun of her: in impoverished Afghanistan, gathering garbage is a regular job.

Even though Ghulam Rassul is only in the fifth grade, he has a specific goal: he dreams of becoming a teacher. Today he is the class president and assists the teacher. He studies with great care, especially mathematics and physics. Ghulam Rassul is sure he wants to become a teacher in his village: the teachers of Apkupruk boys’ school in Keshendeh are mostly elderly and lack education.
In his free time Ghulam Rassul like every other school boy dreams of playing football. There is never enough time to play as much as he'd like, because he has to help his parents and brothers. He has seven brothers and they often need help working on the small plots of land around the village. Here they grow crops that don't require much water, like watermelon and melons.
Keshendeh village is 80 kilometers away from the center of the province Mazar-e Sharif, it takes four hours to drive there. A river must be crossed. There is no bridge and when the water is high then it's impossible to reach the village. On the narrow bumpy gravel road you meet a few trucks and village men on horses or camels. Because this year there has been plenty of rain, the hills are green and much grass can be gathered. Only the rain waters the hills. Rain water is gathered to keep in the sides of the mountains in special containers called kandas. Although the inhabitants of Keshendeh work very hard, they still face a poor life style – regardless of all their hard work, they only have one yield a year.
Different color fields form the Keshendeh braes just like a colorful quilt. Cultivating these little fields is very hard work. Usually this is done by hand. Sometimes donkeys can be seen plowing the fields. Stubborn donkeys are not a suitable animal for plowing, which is why usually oxen are used in Afghanistan. But what can you do when you are desperate and unable to buy an ox....

How do you make the people around you understand that a disabled child is just as capable as a child who is not disabled? This is a difficult question for many families. Especially in Afghanistan, where a disabled child is regarded as a source of shame to the family and is kept hidden away at home. With the help of foreign aid programs, some centers have been established in the bigger cities where blind, def and other disabled children are taught and given activities. Specialized and trained social workers go from home to home and to the surrounding areas to give consultations and explanations. Often the parents are amazed at how the child they thought to be stupid carefully memorizes a passage for school. Some good students go on to find a suitable job, such as a tailor or a mechanic.
Afghanistan's students appreciate the fact that they are able to go to school, especially those children who according to local tradition are regarded as hopeless member of the society. Shengan center for disabled children is a place where everyone is able to learn according to his or her ability: in one class a regular lesson is being given according to the governmental curriculum, and in another class students are being taught day to day skills – it is important to explain to people that one may be def, but still clever and able to work. In the third classroom puzzles are being put together and in the fourth classroom how to use a computer is being taught. The students dream of having the Internet and being able to communicate with children in far off schools. Unfortunately in Afghanistan this is only possible through a satellite connection, which is why it is extremely expensive.
It is rare to encounter such pure joy as the kind encountered in the Shengan center. It is wonderful to see how well the teachers and the children get along: whether in the classroom or in the playground. The 65 students here are special because they have to overcome obstacles day in and day out, obstacles regular people don't face. So how does a def person cross the road in a country where there are no pedestrian cross roads or traffic lights? The six people working at the center are also special, because it takes allot of patience to deal with disabled children. But patience is one thing the Afghans have...

Foreign guests are squatting with fifty girls in the shade of the mountain, a hundred meters from the school house. The morning – girls shift – is over and now it's the boys shift. Usually boys and girls have separate schools in Afghanistan; in Keshendeh the girls don't have their own school.
Although The Prophet Mohamed, Peace Be upon him, said: “seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim, male or female”, in Afghanistan men's education is considered more important than that of a woman's. This is why the boy schools tend to be built before the girls’ schools are. Sometimes a school is not yet built for the girls and so the girls have to use the boys’ school. This is what happened in Keshendeh: the little old school high at the shore of the river has to accommodate three shifts. The classes are full. There are not enough stools and desks – the clever boys take plastic chairs with them from home. As the new boys school is being built the building of the girls school has been delayed due to arguments over land.
The direction of the Aqkupruk School is not happy with the fact that the foreign visitors want to talk with the girls. Finally they agree to the visitors talking to the girls, but pictures are not allowed to be taken. The foreign visitors’ explanations do not help - the wall of mistrust remains up. This can happen because the Afghans have different experiences with the outside world. What influences the foreigners bring with them? It is unknown so it's best to keep away from them...
How do you interview three classes of school girls at once? Especially when the on listening male teachers try to answer for the shy young girls? Some female teachers are also squatting here. But they are apathetic and don't answer any questions. It seems unbelievable that just forty kilometers away you can find Sholgara village girls school, where every female teacher seems to be bursting with good intentions and energy.
And then a miracle happens. One young girl stands up and asks the visitors for help. You foreigners have to help our village women, she says bravely. We need our school house. We need educated teachers. We need a laboratory to study biology. We need computers to get present day knowledge. And we need the Internet and English teachers to communicate with the outside world.

Childhood in Afghanistan is short, because children start helping their parents at a very young age: they bring water, take care of their younger siblings, and wash the dishes. As the Afghan children have many work responsibilities and few toys, they are very good at utilizing every free moment. One little street girl who sells chewing gum says:” I don't have toys, but sometimes a like jumping around!” And so you find kites flying in the sky made of old plastic bags, little girls chase each other in hidden street corners and in every little open area there are boys kicking a ball around. Not every family can afford to buy a ball but when there is a group of children, one is sure to be found.
Keshendeh village is far and poor; here all the members in a family have to work hard. If in the evenings after work there is time, then school work is allowed. Helping the family is the main priority! The school boys do find time to run around between lessons. They play football and a unique jumping game: they jump on one leg trying to push the others down. The winner is the last one standing.
Although boys and men playing football is a usual site in Afghanistan, girls playing sport is not the case. Only few schools and centers facilitate sports for girls. It is hard to play sports when you are complying with all the regulations: away from sight and completely covered. But the girls enjoy running around just like the boys do. Behind the high walls of Shengan Center for disabled children def girls and boys play against each other in a match of volleyball. Actually the girls have a few male teachers on their side. The girls' shrieks of joy as they try to hit the ball with their henna decorated hands put everyone in a good mood: the children watching bashfully from the side lines or the classroom windows.

Habibullah is curiously listening at the door – he also wants to take part in his mother’s conversation with their guests. The mother says that the oldest son is working in Iran, and the daughter’s family just returned from The United Arab Emirates. To a stranger this household looks like a little peaceful oasis: there are roses and lovely mulberry trees, inviting carpets put out on the veranda. Why do the local inhabitants need to leave this place – it is a peaceful and bountiful place?
A big Balkh river goes through Sholgara village, and there is more than one yield a year. Now in May the crops are being picked. As another crop profitable rice is grown. There is even a forest in the region, which is a rare and beautiful thing in Afghanistan. When the previous years have been dry and rain has been little, then spring 2009 has been very rainy. This year in Afghanistan all the farmers are looking forward to a fine crop. But a lot of rain does not always bring good news. The rains have also caused floods and destroyed homes and fields. At one point it was impossible to get to the village, because the high waters destroyed the bridge.
The floods are not the main cause behind many looking for work in other places than their village. The cause behind this evil is in land ownership – only a fifth of the families here own the land. There is not enough daily work to be found at the land owners. If the family has nothing to sell at the market, or does not teach at the schools, then there is very little chance to find work: try to find road work or try to find work even further, abroad.

Young teachers gather curiously in the teachers’ room around the visitor from far away. The Slovakian Olympia shows pictures of twin schools from other countries and of Afghanistan children. The teacher’s room is comfortable: in the corner there is a coat hanger with burqas on it. There is a cabinet for the documents, a rug on the floor and hot milk in the thermos.
One of the teachers is Najiba, an 18-year old young lady with a delicate smile. In Bibi Khadija School for girls it is often difficult to tell the difference between the students and the teachers, because the teachers are so young. Najiba teaches Pushtu language, she also likes history and biology. She loves to read – mostly in the evening when the family and her little child are sleeping. Najiba has been married for three years already, proudly she shows off her young husband and child's pictures on her mobile phone.
Najiba's 22-year old college Koubra has been married for five years now. Koubra's husband is studying far away in Shebergan. He is studying science, with the aim of becoming a biology teacher. The married couple has two children who the mother helps to take care of. In Afghanistan it is usual to live in an extended family. Many different generations live together. That makes it easy to always depend on one another.
Both Koubra and Najiba studied to become teachers in Kjuja Sikander high school for boys in the same village. They started studying to become teachers while they were still students in high school themselves. In Afghanistan there is a shortage in female teachers. And girls must have a female teacher at the age of puberty or they are not aloud to attend school. This is why female teachers are very important. Koubra tells us about her routine back then, she would wake very early in the morning, first of all she would go to her school and then she would go to the teachers’ course. She would get home late at night; she would walk many hours everyday.
Bibi Khadija School for girls is the only school for girls in this region. The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan helped open this school here back in the 1990's, but back then due to security problems the school had to be closed. In 2002 the school was opened again. The conditions to begin with were bad. Six years later though, with the help of the Swedish Committee the school was ready. “It is so wonderful that we have a school house and no longer have to study in tents,” say the teachers.

When you ask the girls at Bibi Khadija school for girls which water you can drink, they all answer: only from a pump water well. And if there is no pump water to be found then we take the water from the river and we boil it before drinking. It is great that these girls have basic hygienic knowledge. It is also great that their home village has clean drinking water, because in the last few years the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan has built 20 drill wells in Sholgara – one of which is found in the girl school's yard. They have also built some public toilets; toilets are a luxury that only a tenth of Afghan families have.
Only a sixth of the population has access to clean drinking water. Pump water wells are very expensive to build and very few have their own well. This is why usually natural water sources are used for drinking water. If basic hygiene is not practiced like boiling the water before drinking it or washing hands then disease is very easily spread. Half of the causes of death of children under the age of five is diarrhea. The building of pump water wells, the informing of the importance of washing hands on popular radio shows and the teaching of hygiene to children in schools certainly helps the reduction of the spread of disease.
The new shinny pump water wells are striking from a far in Sholgara village. Fetching water is usually the youngsters’ job in Afghanistan, which is why you usually meet large numbers of children around the wells. Everyone carries the water in their own manner, whether by donkey, by canister, by cart or by jug. And a little fun can always be had – whether it be chatting or running around.

On this Midday there is a certain excitement in the air. The young ladies arrive with homemade pies bulanis or pots of rice carried on their heads. One girl has some bread naan in a plastic bag; another girl is gently carrying another festivity dish mantus, raviolis. Many of them have brought plastic flowers, a popular decoration used at parties in Afghanistan.
At the gates of Bibi Khadija School for girls arrivals are received by some of the organizing committee members. At the same time the rest are hastily making last minute preparations: carrying stools from the classrooms to a narrow corridor, washing fruits and setting the table for the guests in the teachers building. Today is a celebration. Today is teachers’ day.
The party starts later than scheduled. This is usual in Afghanistan: a few of the male teachers and guests help put up the shiny decorations and posters, the amplifier refuses to function and finally they give up on it and start making speeches, reciting poems and singing with their natural voice. This makes it very hard to hear - all of the school girls don't fit into the building one way or another, the girls squatting tightly next to each other, or shoving each other behind the open doors trying to see over one another.
The speeches are grand though - each speaker stressing the importance of teachers in their own way. The speeches continue when the head of the shura (council of elders) and the guests are seated at the table to eat all the good food. At the end of the meal desert with the words “welcome” written on it is served. In Afghanistan there is a good habit of giving gifts to teachers, and of course on this important day, every family tries to send the teacher the best gift they can.

Two little giggling girls stand under the shade of a tree, waiting for the group of passing school girls. You can recognize the school girls from a distance because they wear dark clothing and a light head scarf. Usually they wear cheap plastic slippers. In the larger cities the streets are filled with a fluttering flow of a mixture of black and white after school. In the country all the children come from different areas so the groups are smaller. Women and girls in Afghanistan try to move in groups because it is safer that way.
When the girls are at an age where they are considered adults, they have to wear a chador or a burqa, which covers the whole body. Girls are considered adults at a very young age – two thirds of the girls are married before the age of sixteen. How much you need to cover depends on the region, the ethnicity, and the traditions. In the country it is more common to completely cover than it is in the capital Kabul.
Working in the fields women don't cover, when there is an approaching car or man then the burqa is pulled over the head. It is important to always behave decently. In Afghanistan this means that a woman should cover her self from the sight of strange men. This is why schools and homes are always behind high walls. Whether they are family or school girls their honor must always be protected.
Most of the students don't live near their schools, to get to school students usually have to walk many kilometers. Young girls are not driven to school; this is a privilege only married older women enjoy. The school girls do not complain, on the contrary. When I asked the girls when they miss a day of school, they are quiet, finally they answer:”only when we are sick”.

I am back from the trip to Balkh region. My job there is to compile eight photo reportages of schools. Those reportages will be shared between four countries: Estonia, Slovakia, Britain and Sweden. It was quite tricky to give agree because it is impossible to know if there is a possibility to take photos and what kind of stories one will find.
For example on one day we had to travel for four hours (and four hours back) to a remote village called Keshendi. There was no warm welcome – we were met by really mistrusting male teachers. There is a mixed school there, just the first shift is for girls. No pictures of female students or even of our village, the teachers stated. All female students were sent out of the school, under the shadow of the nearby foothill. One can imagine how it is to interview one hundred ladies when six male teachers are around, trying to answer all the questions themselves? At least I was able to talk to one boy and I took some photos of boys in classes…
This trip has been most exhausting I have ever experienced in Afghanistan - up to eight hours of driving per day on bumpy roads. But there were beautiful landscapes around: lush green areas on the bank of Balkh river and (every kind of green) hills near Keshendi. There has been a lot of rain this year, so the poppies and other small flowers color grasslands. For the first time here I saw a fox and I also got a glimpse of my favorite bird in Afghanistan - bright blue beauty named kabutar in Dari.
I was lucky to be accompanied to these villages by experts from Swedish Committee for Afghanistan. The committee has an excellent reputation among Afghans because of the splendid work they have done for education and health during the last 30 years. No doubt, their reputation is deserved.
After every workday, back in Mazar-e Sharif, I walked to Hazrat Ali shrine. I think that is the most peaceful place in this country: I have not seen any other place where the men pray in front of the medrese, females enjoying a gossip while sitting together and children running around at the same time. And everybody likes beautiful white doves at the courtyard of the shrine (have a look at my Kabul Diary archive from December 2006)

I like the story of Shah Massoud as told by captain Attayee. They were friends, both from Pansjir Valley (I have seen photos of them together that were taken in our garden). Our landlord complained: “He visited me, accompanied by an army of men. Our neighbors didn’t like it, neither did my family. How can you be relaxed, surrounded by so many soldiers? I asked one of our friends (please note this small detail: it is not polite to ask directly) to beg Shah Massoud to leave his army behind. Next time he came together with couple of guys. But when I looked outside – there were 15 armed soldiers behind the gate...”
Every day I visit the nearby guesthouse in order to check my emails. The boring guards always ask me to open my bag in order to check the content. Da baks computar dorum, inja internet kar dorum - tufang nadorum, khatarnak nes - khoredja astum. I have a computer in my bag, I need to use internet here, I do not have a gun, I am not dangerous – I am a foreigner, I repeat my mantra every time until the day I refused to open my bag. What the hell – has anybody heard of a foreigner lady, who is walking around, bombs in her hand bag?
After my refusal the guards start to treat me with some respect. They just answer my greetings and open the huge metal doors without asking anything. Sometimes I see there guests, women wrapped in shawls and men wearing pullet-proof vests. They climb quickly into their huge white jeeps bearing UN signs. They look towards me in confusion while I walk away.
We have discussed the security issues with our friends. We came to a conclusion that to a large extent the security rules do not make sense. It is just a big business. Security companies have to pay an annual tax of 5000 dollars to get registered. Every guard with Kalashnikov is paid about 250 dollars per month - and one guy is never enough, but at least four are needed. We were told that the American University is spending 46% of their budget on security measures. Does it make sense?
I call briefly my mother to tell her that next week I am planning to travel to north of Afghanistan. Unexpectedly for me she responds: please do not go because the situation in Afghanistan is so bad! I and my husband, we look at each other in confusion. I try to explain that our understanding is different: for a quite a long time the situation in Kabul has been rather peaceful. My mother’s „objective” understanding of the situation is based on the news broadcasted in Estonia. How can I explain that if something is happening far away from Kabul then it does not affect us?
Every day I receive security messages. Many people seem to emphasize the number of incidents instead of trying to look deeper. It is quite obvious, that some parts of Afghanistan should be avoided. And there are some places (for example – governmental buildings) and people (important politicians, international soldiers) that should be avoided in Kabul as well. Otherwise it is quite safe.
Anyway, the security companies have promoted the situation in which major parts of international civilian community stay inside barb-wired compounds under the watchful eyes. I visit a house, which is rent by my husband’s colleagues. It is a nice well-kept house in the middle of a rose garden. But the walls are edged by shining barb-wires – it is a costly advice of a security company. Before the house looked like any other on that street, but now there is a clear message: attention please, this house is rent by foreigners! It cost more than 2000 dollars to install the barb-wire, but the price of wire cutters is probably 10 dollars...
In this blog entry you can see the photos that were taken at a market place behind the mosque named Pul-i Khesti. I invited along Inger, my former employer, to join me for a walk. She can afford to behave rebelliously as she is about to leave the country. Otherwise she risks being sent home for breaking the security rules.
Inger and I, we enjoyed the visit: the market is a place where Afghans among other things trade, drink tea, read books, play games, share gossip, eat kebab and even sleep. Cheap manufactured goods from China, Pakistan and Russia are on sale, also the huge piles of local rice, raisins, nuts and beans. We followed the flow of the crowd through the narrow labyrinths. After two-hours-long-crushing we head back to our car, full of emotions. It is not possible to visit the authentic place like Kabul old city bazaar by a car.