Depression
August 22nd, 2010
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Commentary on the Aisha NY Times Article
August 8th, 2010
Often glossed over in the story of Aisha, the beautiful 18-year-old woman who was disfigured as retribution for running away from her inhuman marriage, was that although it was a Taliban commander who ordered her horrific punishment, it was her husband (also a Taliban commander) who held her down.
This sort of human rights abuse has been going on since pre-history in the form of “blood debt”, a sacrificial attempt at holding the fabric of society together. To redress an offense, the family of the perpetrator gives a child in marriage to the wronged family. In Aisha’s case, she was married off to atone for her uncle having killed of one of her husband’s relatives. These unfortunate women are generally treated as slaves and subject to all kinds of abuse from their husbands, mothers-in-law and other family members.
The perpetrators of this crime against human rights were Taliban, but it didn’t happen because they were Taliban. As with honor killings, the custom of murdering women for destroying the perceived honor of their family, whether proven or only suspected, the blood debt is a means of restoring honor to the family and stability to the society at large. The father and/or brothers who carry it out are following the age-old customs of their culture. Even completely eradicating the Taliban wouldn’t put an end to the brutality of these practices.
Rather, the way to improve human rights in the long run is through rural education in areas such as the village Aisha came from. It’s great that a large number of foreign NGOs are currently working in Afghanistan, some even in remote provinces, to promote education and build schools. As crucial as it is to educate girls, transforming society through human rights education is also important for boys who will grow up to be the ones in control.
However, the best, most sustainable way for this to happen is via Afghan NGOs. Not only are they mostly more cost effective, but they are more likely to be accepted by local people and to weather the changes coming forth in the next few years. We can participate in this by supporting such organizations as The Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), an NGO founded by Sakina Yacoobi steming from her work in the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. AIL’s curriculum, based on the Koran, teaches about women’s and human rights in addition to academics. They spread their work exponentially by training teachers in modern teaching methods and by focusing on opening schools in the rural areas where they are invited. (They have more requests than they can handle and more contributions can help them reach farther.) You can contribute to their work via their American partner, Creating Hope International.
Posted in AWP 2010, Afghan Women's Project, Aisha, Taliban, education, political, women | No Comments »
Bamiyan Province, Part 3
July 17th, 2010
About 15km east of Bamiyan along the Silk Road lie the ruins of the ancient city of Zohak. Made entirely of red-mud bricks, it is also known as The Red City. Sitting atop a 350′ cliff of of red rocks overlooking the confluence of the Bamiyan and Kalu rivers, it guards the Eastern entrance of the long narrow Bamiyan Valley.
One would think that just being up so high would be defense enough, but in addition along the steep path were various guard towers and finally a tunnel one must pass through to reach the top.
Although the present remains were built in the 12th century by the Shansabani Kings, there is also evidence that during the time of the Hephthalite Huns in the 6th century, there was already a massive complex here. In fact, I saw pottery shards from the Kushan Dynasty period, which was dominant in this area during the 1st-4th centuries. In modern times, it became a Mujahidin stronghold during the war against the Soviets. At its peak, 3000 people resided here.
The story of how the city got its name was best told by Nancy Hatch Dupree:
“Zohak first appears in the Shahnama as a noble prince of Arabia, a devoted son well-beloved by his people. He became, however, possessed of the Devil who induced him to usurp his father’s throne whereupon the Devil appeared disguised as a loyal subject who asked to kiss the new king on the shoulders in token of his complete submission. No sooner had he done so, and vanished, than two black serpents thrust their heads out from where the kisses had been placed. Attempts to cut them off only resulted in their immediate return and their increased demand for human brains, the only food they would accept.
At the same time that Zohak was being seduced by the Devil, civil war broke out in Iran and Zohak marched in as the champion of one faction and was enthroned as the emperor of Iran. For a thousand years his rule brought terror and chaos to the land, but then the hero Fraidun was born. After many escapades, Fraidun finally succeeded in taking Zohak prisoner whereupon he took the dragon-king to a far off mountain peak and left him there to die. The Shahnama ends the tale here but, typically, Afghan legend goes on to elaborate by saying that, deprived of their daily meal of brains, the serpents turned on Zohak, bit into his scalp and fed upon his brains until he died.”
My guide told me that people believe that this city with its fertile valleys was the royal abode of Zohak.
I’ve read that in 1222, Genghis Khan sent his favorite grandson to deal with the Shansabani kings who responded by slaying the young general. As revenge, Genghis sent his warriors to storm the citadels. Every living thing in the valley was slaughtered. My guide told me that this actually happened in Gogola, The City of Screams which overlooks the Buddha site in Bamiyan.
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Comments on the Peace Jerga
June 10th, 2010
(This commentary was written by Mahbouba Seraj, Women’s Programming Manager. Peggy’s commentary is at the end.)
Afghanistan’s Peace Jirga is all over (at least for now) the world’s news. Media is full of commentaries and criticism about the jirga, women’s participation, what should have happened and what should not have happened. I know for some it was very disappointing and very negative. But to me, as a 62-year old Afghan woman, it was a very different perspective. I have seen and been a part of women’s struggle in this country from the day when women were told not to wear their chadaris until the moment when women were selected as Cabinet members; from when women were enrolling in universities to when women were becoming doctors, engineers, etc.
This jirga was not a failure. It was not a complete success but it was definitely not a failure. I would hate to believe (or if the world believes, I would like to correct) that the Afghan women who are a part of the Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) [AWN held a “pre-jerga” for women which I attended, to talk about women’s participation] had nothing to do with the number of women participants in the jirga and that if it wasn’t for Secretary of State Mrs. Clinton, women’s participation would not have happened. I am not saying that Mrs. Clinton’s suggestion didn’t have any effect because I am sure it did and on behalf of all of us, I thank her. However all of us in this city worked too hard to be disregarded like this!
Comments suggesting that women’s participation was primarily the result of Mrs. Clinton, do not help the Afghan women, or their unity, or their cause….. Don’t forget that this is Afghanistan. We are the same sisters, mothers, wives and daughters who were looked upon in the first jirga as lepers. Then, we were not acknowledged, looked at, listened to, let alone talked to. Let’s not compare Afghanistan with the rest of the world but rather to Afghanistan of 10 years, 8 years or 7 years ago.
Our battles and struggles are still ahead of all of us; we need to do a lot of work; unifying our sisters should be our number one priority. I saw things from our so-called sisters who were against each other that were unbelievable. We need to learn to support each other first. We have a lot of work ahead of us. This peace jirga was really what the people of Afghanistan want. And they don’t want to fight anymore. They don’t want to die in the hands of the national army, international militaries, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, or each other. They want to live.
Of course there was a lot that was not accomplished…. That is because we women are not united. We all think “I know better; what does she know?; who does she think she is?”. Let’s take it one step at a time .. hopefully forward!
*********************************************************************************************************
Peggy’s commentary:
This last was an ugly phenomenon that I saw and also heard about—how Afghan women are often putting each other down, refusing to participate if “she” was going to be involved, etc. If women could unite their efforts, or at least not denigrate the efforts of others, change for women would happen much more quickly. Like with the ethnic antagonisms, I see hope for change with the young people who identify as Afghans first rather than their ethnic identity and with young women who see the female rivalry as a barrier to the progress for women that they want to see.
The other issue is about the rapidity of the changes we want to see. Of course we want all women worldwide to have the freedom and an economic situation that can help us reach our full potential as human beings. But I have seen in Afghanistan and other places, how well thought out, carefully strategized, person to person, comprehensively based efforts (which of course all take time) toward this goal can have a deeper and longer lasting effect as it engages the wider society. One needs to look at Afghanistan with a long term view.
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Bamiyan Part 2
June 4th, 2010
[Sorry to take so long to get this post up. Now I’m back in Austin and beginning to go through my interviews and photos. It’s a mountainous task! I will continue to write as I go through this process.]
Bamiyan means “shining place”. It’s holy for Zorastrians as well as Buddhists.
The Buddha cliff
The cliff with the “Buddha caves” dominates the landscape of Bamiyan City. It runs along the ancient Silk Road between the the Hindu Kush and the “Baba Mountains”.
Abbas, a well-versed guide from the Agha Khan Foundation cultural Center, showed me around.
Abbas
Bamiyan was chosen by the Hephthalites as the place to settle because of the mountain barriers and strategic defense points overlooking the valley, it’s location along the Silk Road and the conglomerate cliffs that could be easily carved into housing.
The worst war (of the Soviet, civil and Taliban) was the one with the Taliban. There wasn’t so much fighting during the “Russian times”. The Soviet army perched on the few high places and easily controlled the area but mostly, people were allowed to live their lives. The Taliban period was quite bloody, however, as here the conflict included racial animosity (Hazara vs. Pashtun) as well as a fight between the Sunni Taliban and the (to them) heretical Shia. Hazara fighters holed up in the caves, which had inner passages from one to the other. 
In some areas, water was also channeled inside. During and after the wars, 3000 or so families were living in the caves which kept them cool in the summer and relatively warm in the 6 months of harsh winter.
Cave houses
I was surprised to find that all of the 12,000 caves in the Bamiyan area are man made, the ones along the “Buddha cliff” hand dug at first by the Buddhist monks, and later by regular people to make their houses. Buddhists begain moving into the area in the second century and by the 5th century, 2,000 monks resided there
A Buddha now in the Kabul Museum
It took a full century to carve the Buddhas. The large one was covered with gold and diamonds and both were painted. They found heads of small Buddhas and small stupas below the wall with the Buddhas.
This excavation progresses in June and July when Professor Tarzai is free from his teaching duties. When he’s not there, the site is lined with plastic and filled in with dirt. 
In Greece and Rome they found copies of a map of Bamiyan. It mixes Greek, Indian, Byzantine, Iranian Sasanid and Chinese architecture. It was made at the same time, using the different styles.
Interior carvings
Locked cave paintings
In this place with doors locked by UNESCO, the paintings are even better. The blue color was made of ground up lapis lazuli stones. The green was colored by a tree, yellow from herbs, and poppies made the red. These colors were mixed with either walnut or poppy seed oil. These date from the 5th to the 9th centuries, before oil painting was done in Europe.
Buddha feet
Most of the Buddhas statues were just carved out of the soft stone cliff, but parts of them were modeled using a plaster of mud mixed with straw. The arms, which were also added, were secured in place with these
pock marks” which allowed the mud-glue and wooden pegs to adhere to the sides of the grotto.
The Taliban had a hard time destroying the Buddhas. First they shot at it, and when that didn’t work, they used dynamite. They blew charges three times a day. It took 1 week to destroy the small Buddha which was made of softer material and it took a month to destroy the large one.
Once the Buddhas had been blown up, a lot of the rubble has now returned to dirt.
The dirt below the Buddha remains from the statue
Buddha pieces
The plans are to do a partly fragmented reconstruction.
Here they are stabilizing the rocks. In this phase of the reconstruction, they are painting the rocks with chemicals to help solidify them.
In addition to destroying the Buddhas, the Mujahadin and Taliban also added their graffiti to the paintings
Graffiti on Plaster oil paintings
and had fun in the kitchen putting footprints on the ceiling.
footprints
As we were walking through the caves, Abbas found this crumpled handwritten piece of the Koran stuffed in a crack in the wall. We stopped at the tourism dept. on the way out to turn it in. They don’t know the exact date yet, but it may be several hundred years old.
Posted in Afghan Women's Project, Other, archeology, environment, tourism | No Comments »
Places
May 14th, 2010
My breakfast table,
Facing a bed of deep-red, pink-magenta
And pale-tinged roses,
The peaceful breeze caressing my back
Birds calling out
A plate of two sunny eggs,
Flatbread and green tea before me.
Who would think I’m in Afghanistan?
****
All alone, carefully hidden in my tiny cave
While thunderous explosions
And flashes of light
crash around me.
Their deafening roar brings excitement
As I gaze across the impossibly deep-blue lake
Through the curtain of riotous rain.
When the deluge subsides
And I finally crawl out of my rocky shelter,
I’m met with a fully arched
Double rainbow.
Double blessings.
Double happiness.
And to think that I considered
Turning back at the first sight of clouds.
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Bamiyan Province, part 1
May 13th, 2010
Hazarajat, the central highlands of Afghanistan
Baba mountains
is home mostly to the Hazara people, those who are descendants from Central Asia, including Genghis Khan’s destructive hordes. For the past two weeks I’ve been visiting a few of their communities in the province of Bamiyan. I’d been invited by LEPCO to visit their Leprosy and TB clinics in Yakolang (and Panjao, (meaning Five Rivers) but the roads were flooded with the spring snow melt and rain.) As all villages and towns in the area, it is long and narrow, following the course of the river. 
LEPCO has a different policy from other TB NGOs in that instead of just handing out the TB medicine, they collect the patients from their homes and bring them to the clinic so that they don’t spread the disease further while being cured. They feed and house the men and women for two months until the bacillus is no longer visible in their solar-powered microscope. I talked with a few of the women.
Two women with TB
Two more women with TB
Many are from impoverished remote areas and they brought very little with them. They sat around all day waiting for their food and another day to pass. They asked me for help to improve their lives. TB spreads so quickly among these poor people because their diets are so deficient. The questions I came away with are how to help Jawad, the LEPCO director in his personal quest to aid these women. (and men. Although I didn’t talk with any of them, their problems are similar—lack of income in these areas where farming is so marginal.) One thing I’m looking for now is an organization who is willing to piggy-back on LEPCO’s infrastructure to provide a teacher (someone from among the educated in Yakolang for the Yakolang clinic, etc.) who can help the women utilize their time with some sort of an educational program. The other thing I’m working on is some sort of income producing activity that can bring in some badly needed cash. Right now, it’s looking like a carpet weaving project might be the most effective. We’re scratching our heads for other ideas.
Satelite TV dishes
Band i Haybat
From there I spent four glorious days in Band i Amir National Park. (Band means lake) The hotel wasn’t open for the season yet, so I stayed with Bulaghi and his family. Since there is no phone service, I just showed up—carefully stepping on the single stones that formed a pathway up the squishy wet hill that oozed with water leaking from the canal above. They opened their living room to me and I made myself at home.
living room
The following day, Bulaghi, who speaks some English, informed me that he was leaving for Bamiyan that afternoon and that I was welcome to stay if language wouldn’t be too much of a problem. I settled into a routine, hiking in the morning, coming back for lunch and a rest, hiking again in the afternoon, returning for supper and electricity to process the day’s pictures. It was amazing how my pictures broke the ice, and Sabina and her kids looked forward to my return so they could see how I saw this area they’d grown up in all their lives.
Pictures opened doors that first afternoon as well when I was invited to attend the first birthday celebration of the village midwife’s first child.
cake cutting
I was welcomed into a room filled with about 20 women and a few children. The midwife spoke some English, so we could get the basics out of the way—I’m from America, married, 58 years old, and my daughters are 26 and 24. I asked if I could take pictures and they excitedly agreed. I’d take a few and then they would crowd around me to see the results.
party attendees
Sheep soup and bread. Delicious
It was great fun. I loved that on this trip, in this small village, I could collect the images of them on a flash drive and transfer them to the midwife’s computer.
School serving 3 villages
On my second day I visited a school. In all of the schools I’d encountered the school day lasted a half day or less. In this school, there were two morning shifts. I talked with some of the teachers and it seems that nearly all of the children from the three nearby villages attend school. They study science, history, math, Islam, Dari and English. There are about 70 students from three villages and 15 teachers, most educated in Iran during their exile there. Many of the villagers I met enjoyed living in Bamiyan (or never thought about not living there) but some of the teachers felt stifled out there in the hinterlands and longed for a more stimulating life.
The school from the far side of the lake
The hiking was great. After two months in Kabul with it’s horrific air pollution, ubiquitous soldiers and guns, an inability to walk anywhere and a struggle to remain fit by running up and down the stairs of the SOLA house, this opportunity to be out in gorgeous nature and walking for hours (one day 8 hours) alone was just what I needed.
The weather was chilly but would warm up by late afternoon. By mid afternoon, roiling thunderstorms would saunter in bringing brief showers and then move on. One day when they started to come, instead of turning back, I decided to do what an Afghan would do—find an outcropping to wait it out. When the first heavy drops began to fall, I found a small shelter with a good view of the lake. When I finally crawled out, before me, on the opposite side of the lake was a wall of black clouds from the storm that had just passed and a fully arched rainbow, with a bit of a second one as well.
double rainbow
On my way back, I used the plastic bag I’d brought with me to start picking up trash. I quickly filled that and half of a giant bag that I’d also found among the weeds. Since I’m always on the lookout for
Several among hundreds
flowers, the sight of trash was especially noxious. As I arrived at the row of stalls, one of the shopkeepers called me over and I showed him what I’d been doing. A park ranger was also there and began saying how bad Afghans are for trashing their park, but I explained that they aren’t bad, just unaware, (There are trashcans about, and the tourists are pretty good about using them, I think; it’s mainly the locals who have no sensibility about it.) and that since they had grown up with trash strewn about, it was like the myriad rocks and went unnoticed. I told them that Band I Amir is a world-class park, if only the trash were removed, both from the park and the village (where the visitors stay). He offered to accompany me the following day and we both set out on a fun adventure, collecting 4 bags on the way. Because he was guiding me, we crossed the Band i Panir (Panir means cheese) Calcium deposits,
In between lakes
waded through the flowing streams, and climbed up the other side.
That night, exhausted, just as I was ready to get into bed, a group of 5 women came and insisted that I join them at a party for their recently married friend who leaving the next day to join her husband. When they told me I should take pictures, I jumped up.
Drummer
This party was the worst of the old and new. When we arrived, everyone’s eyes were glued to the TV set which had some American adventure program dubbed in Dari. When that finished, they tried to get the DVD player to function and a young boy spent a half an hour working on that while the women just sat around and dealt with the babies. Another woman was trying, without success, to get a tape player going. Meanwhile, one woman started beating a rhythm on a tea tray and several got up and danced,
Dancing
(myself included, of course), but after a short while they gave up to wait for the technology. After close to an hour, the DVD player sprang to life and a few more women danced, one at a time, to a Bollywood version of MTV. By that time, it was late and we headed back home. Had there been no technology, there would have been dancing the whole time, likely with an instrument or two.
As for the bride, she sat there glum-faced the entire time.
Bride in white and her friends
The following day, a group of Belgians from the NGO, Mothers for Peace which has some excellent projects in Istalif, a picturesque village outside of Kabul, came to visit the lakes and bring me back to Bamiyan. I’m so glad I had changed my original plans and chosen to make a longer trip because they had a picnic on one side of the lake, drove around to the opposite side with the shrine and swan boats,
Paddle boats
had a ride in them and we left.
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The Peace Jirga
April 23rd, 2010
The London Conference, which took place in January of this year to chart a new course for the future of Afghanistan, established a Council Circle (jirga) about Peace, scheduled to take place in early May. (It’s since been postponed to the end of the month.) Fifteen hundred of Afghanistan’s tribal elders and other community leaders are to be brought together (paid for by the UN) to create a formula upon which peace can be built. In order to establish meaningful peace, all parties would need to be involved, including militants of different varieties.
The reaction of the Afghan Women’s Network was to host an Afghan Women’s Forum on April 3rd where influential women from all over the country came together to discuss the participation of women in the Peace Jirga. There were lots of nice speeches but in the Q&A afterwards, when asked how women should be included, one male panel member suggested that women select one representative to be present at the Peace Jirga to let the participants know what women think. This, of course was shot down by the audience, and in the end, he agreed that 30% of the attendees to the jirga should be women. What else could he say? He was only a representative for the minister who hadn’t attended. If he truly supports significant female involvement, he will have to push for it. Otherwise, he could let it sit on the back burner and nothing would come of it while he could still claim to be “supportive”. The position of the Forum was that women should also be substantially involved in each of the “clusters” (of ministries) which would lay the groundwork for the jirga.
Vic Getz,(1) who has been involved in Afghanistan for five years and living here for three has this to say about the Peace Jirga:
“If these media photo ops are happening at taxpayer (I mean around the world) expense, then we must create mechanisms to invest in parallel conferences that provide alternative points of view. …to be constrained by the powers that invest (??) in Afghanistan is unacceptable. Fund the Parallel Peace Jirga….start it now. Where is the money for these kinds of initiatives? Where is the support? – Because I KNOW, that the people, ideas, intelligence, understanding (far more nuanced than you could ever believe), networks and energy are here. Now. Today.
If I had the money, I would fund it myself – just to show the world the Afghanistan that I know exists here. Now that’s a photo op I could believe in.”
I’ve been asking my interviewees their opinion of “negotiating with the Taliban”. The responses seem to be divided into two classes. The “normal people” (both those who left and those who suffered under the Taliban) have mostly said that you can’t trust them, that they are all against education for girls and that if they are allowed into the government, the situation will return to what it was before. The women who are members of Parliament or leaders of some women’s groups say that if Talib individuals are to become part of the government, then they must abide by the rules of the constitution in which women’s rights are clearly stipulated. And so they think that it’s not a bad idea and that it might have a chance of bringing peace.
One mistake that I see in this discussion is the assumption that all Talibs are the same and that they are unchangeable. Even under their previous rule, there were different strains of them under different leaders. Some were more ideologically motivated, others were members because they needed the pay, others because they were supported by Pakistan. Now there is also talk of them having changed their tune a bit. Mullah Omar released a statement last fall saying that “the Taliban do not oppose women’s rights and favor education for all”.
Tajwar Kakar told me this story when I interviewed her in 2003 talking about the time when she was headmistress of a school for boys in 2000 under the Taliban.
“The next day the religious police came to my office and I asked them what they want. They said that they heard that I have one room where you put pictures. I opened the door and showed them the two walls of pictures, one group of pictures of the city before the war and the other of the destroyed city. Look, I said, who destroyed our country? Who made you poor? Who made you uneducated? Before the war, you had a good life and there were nice buildings. Now it is not your responsibility to take your stick and punish the woman. Now you should build up your country. I put these pictures to put in their minds who destroyed their country and what it is their responsibility to do.… What are you doing now? Have you come to punish me? He said ‘you did nothing wrong’. How old are you ? ‘We’re 18, 19 and 20.’ How will you rebuild Afghanistan? With this stick you have? Islam doesn’t teach you to punish the women. Then one asked: ‘Is it possible for us to come every day for a half hour and you will teach us?’ They had come to punish me. But that was my work.”
Hanifa Safia, the women’s-affairs representative for the province of Laghman, says that she thinks “a settlement is the only way to peace. The Taliban fighters who throw acid on schoolgirls’ faces or threaten professional women do so just to antagonize the government. I have talked to so many Taliban. They are not against women,” Safia said. “Once they have been given positions in government, they will definitely change.” (2)
On the other hand, Hekmatyar’s organization, Hezb-e-Islami, the second largest insurgent group, is calling for the replacement of the current Afghan parliament with an interim government which would, after new elections, rewrite the constitution. Scary.
As far as women being forced to stay home and being denied education and human rights, the biggest factor is the families. Now, at a time when the government gives women all of these things, many fathers, husbands, brothers and even sons deny them to their women. It is important to have the legal rights and educational opportunities, but the real work of social change must happen on an individual level and must be seen from a generational perspective.
One powerful force (especially in Afghanistan) in this endeavor is Islam. The rights for all of these are given in the Koran. Already much progress is being made through education, basing the good treatment, respect, education and involvement of women in society on Islamic scriptures.
1 Vic Getz,PhD, is an Environmental Sociologist/Gender and Development Specialist and founder of the Afghan Gender Cafe (UPGRADE coming soon)
To join the AWRL (Afghan Women’s Rights List) network, email Vic at vgetz@moscow.com
2 By Karin Brulliard The Washington Post
Posted in AWP 2010, Afghan Women's Project, Other, education, political | No Comments »
Afghan Women Writers
April 16th, 2010
The Afghan Women’s Writing Project offers a way to support Afghan women emerging writers in a delightful, eye-opening and very meaningful way.
Novelist Masha Hamilton began this project to give voice to Afghan women. The deteriorating opportunities for women from her first visit in 2004 until her return in 2008, inspired her to create a project where women could share their thoughts from the safety of their own homes, unfiltered by family members or the media.
Women who join the project are mentored, via back and forth emails, as they polish the writing of their experiences. Many of them participate in secret. Their mentors, female authors and teachers, volunteer on a rotating basis. Writing workshops are taught in online classrooms.
I have met and interviewed several women in this project and will be sharing some of their life stories in my presentations upon my return. Some of the most promising of these writers have told me that they came to believe in their writing abilities due to the supportive comments left by readers on the pages of the website. These poems, short stories and essays provide a window into the lives of Afghan women that we would not have otherwise.
For example, one woman writes:
Let the world know
I am a poem.
My soul is crazy.
no matter what happens next,
no matter if no one reads the verse of my mad thoughts,
no matter if dust covers my poetry papers,
I am a poem.
I write about the waves of my soul’s water.
My poem tastes like a glass of black tea
when you are tired.
It is the spice of my lunch every day.
My poem sounds like the sky singing in summer,
like rain in the spring.
My poem sounds like
parrots talking, sparrows chatting
in a lonely tree in the valley.
I bloom, bloom, bloom.
When I write about mirrors
pain, life, tea, sparrows, eyes,
I write, write, write.
No matter that, in her hands, Nature
has a hammer, leveled
at my head, poised to kill my poem.
I don’t give up.
I am a poem.
By Roya
And another:
While the schools Burn
“I am burning,”
says the school.
“Who will save me?”
cries the school.
“Where are my students,
the teachers, our friends?”
“Why do the Taliban burn me?”
They are not literate.
Students fear.
Teachers receive threats,
get kidnapped, beheaded.
Friends, families fear.
Unread books are sad.
They too, burned
by guns that write with fire.
Knowledge, understanding
grieve.
Is there anyone
any organization
any country
any international society
who will help us overcome our loss,
this war,
our Afghanistan?
We wait, hope, want.
Please, help us
invite the return of knowledge.
By Freshta
Below is an excerpt from an essay written by a woman returning to her home in Mazar Sharif:
Who Will Stop The Crimes?
…After leaving Fatema’s house, I saw a small girl trying to clean a car. People on the street were laughing at her. I thought: Why is she on the street? Why isn’t she studying instead? How can I take them out of the darkness? I know I alone can’t do anything, but we as a people must start anew. We should never let any girl be a victim of her family. We must give women the courage to let their voices be loud and to know their value. We must not ignore women when they talk about their rights.
Who will stop these crimes against women? Who will hear our voices? Who will hold our hands and take us out of the darkness? Who can hear the meaning of our tears? Who will bring peace to those who are begging on the streets?
For all the questions, I have one answer—unity. Our country is one of the poorest in the world because women live like slaves and do not participate in society. We as a people have forgotten to value each other as human beings. We are all equal. It is our combined hands that can destroy or build our country. If we do not try, nobody will help us.
By Shogofa
And another excerpt from
The Blaming Game
…Now my heart wants to shout directly into the ears of my people: “For Allah’s sake, stop blaming others for our miseries and problems.” I want to reach out to millions of Afghans, President Karzai included, and tell them: “We have had enough of the blaming game. Let’s not play it anymore. Let’s take responsibility for our own actions and our own faith, for our people cannot take any more pain of dirty politics and lies.
By Meena
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Posted in AWP 2010, Afghan Women's Project, Other, education, writers | No Comments »
How can this unassuming little bird help preserve local culture and keep the peace in a remote corner of Afghanistan?
April 10th, 2010
the Large Billed Reed Warbler,
The Global Exchange group and I met with Dr. David Lawson of the World Conservation Society (WCS) in their small office here in Kabul. I was surprised to learn that conservation here in Afghanistan has wide ranging effects beyond just saving wildlife. It’s not a matter of choosing to help cute fuzzy critters over people. Quite the opposite, in fact.
In the early 1500’s, during the time of the emperor Barbur, Afghanistan was a garden country. Since then, population increases and recently, 30 years of war have devastated the environment. In 1977, 40% of the land was covered with trees. By 2002, that percentage had decreased to 10%. The Soviets destroyed a large number of trees, but additionally, the needs of households for fuel and the high value of some of the timber combined to decimate the tree cover.
Eighty percent of Afghans rely directly on their natural resources for survival, so as these resources are depleted and the effects of the depletion cause even further destruction, society is heading towards social instability and even resource conflicts as people do whatever they need to in order to feed their families.
Even so, Afghanistan retains an amazing biodiversity. The same number of species found in the entirety of sub Saharan Africa is found in the Wakhan Corridor, the panhandle that extends eastward and borders Tajikistan, China and Pakistan. Endangered species include the Marco Polo Sheep, the Siberian Ibex, and the Snow Leopard. (There are approximately 120 snow leopards left in the world) not to mention the Large Billed Reed Warbler. Afghanistan has the largest number of natural varieties of grapes of anywhere in the world. This biodiversity indicates that the environment in these unique landscapes is still healthy.
When the environment is healthy, the cultures that live in them can be preserved and with well thought out assistance, the warbler can help.
WCS’s Afghan 70 staff have already been working in the Wakhan, doing community trainings resulting in 1200 out of 1600 households joining the Pamir Association. Along with so many members comes political clout and a realistic possibility of passing laws to protect their area. Locals are hired as rangers who, without carrying guns, stop people from hunting and set camera traps to monitor the wildlife. Part of the development includes a school program where WCS sponsors 13 schools giving the students an environmental awareness within the curriculum. In the remote High Pamirs, (accessible only by foot and by yak) the schools are in tents and teachers are sent in only for the summer.
All of this leads to developing tourism, which can increase the wealth of the area and preserve the cultures if done right. With the photographs from the camera traps and wide community support, the Pamir Association can encourage the parliament to pass laws giving exclusive tourism rights to the Association, which can manage the professional tourism companies. This way, the tourist money can be used for the good of the communities and to make their projects sustainable. The people seem to understand that the more Marco Polo sheep they have, the more visitors will come and the more money the community will receive.
Band-i-amir Lake, 2003
The lakes of Band-e-Amir comprise the first National park of Afghanistan, established just last year. The park and the nearby area of Bamiyan are host to 126 different species of birds. At present, the park employs 20 trained tourist guides to this beautiful and safe area of the country. My plan is to visit it myself in May.
Posted in AWP 2010, Afghan Women's Project, environment | No Comments »