Revisiting Afghanistan
For one to live abroad for ten years and return back to the homeland
it must be exciting; it was for me, arriving in Kabul airport last December I was both
excited and nervous. I knew that in ten minutes I would get to see my grandparents,
cousins, uncles, aunts after ten years.
My heart was pumping faster and faster as I got closer and closer to the
exit door. And in a blink of an eye
there I saw a group of twenty people looking at me strangely. I had no idea who they were, but they were
smiling and whispering to one another.
As I got closer to them, I recognized two of my cousins, oh what a great
feeling; we were hugging, crying, and hugging again, over and over.
The Changes
Right away I noticed the changes that happened in Kabul over the past ten
years. Just driving from the airport
towards home, there were no longer dirt roads, collapsed buildings, or bullet
holes on the walls of buildings.
Everything was so new to me; I did not recognize anything in the city
except the mountains that remains unchanged.
There was certainly a great deal of traffic, I saw more cars than people
on the streets, and of course there were nearly no traffic lights. When there were traffic lights, no one
bothered to stop at a red light anyway. A
lot of work still needs to be done, and more changes will come with time. One might blame the current government there,
but what I see is the government is trying to help, but there are people in
charge that don’t care. They simply
pocket the money from the projects and no work is being done. The fund money needs more regulation and
there needs to be a greater accountability.
Corruption needs to end and people in charge of public projects needs to
tighten up their belts or should be replaced.
The current situation is good; it is safe for anyone to visit and stay
in cities such as Kabul, Mazari sharif, Herat,
Bamyan or any other city in central and north Afghanistan.
The Lives of Ordinary
People
Middle class is almost nonexistent; there are super rich
people and the rest of the population struggles to make a living. Most of the people are dependent on what they
earn during the day. For the majority of
the population a savings account does not exist, because they earn as much as
they need to spend. Because Kabul is over populated
it is hard to find jobs, and a place to live in. A rentable house is extremely hard to find and
of course very expensive. One is lucky
to have a place of one’s own; however they are better off then the people who
live in rental homes. Streets are full with
vendors, old and young trying to sell goods and earn a small amount so they can
buy food for their families. Putting
food on the table is the main concern, and then people will spend money on
luxurious goods. Electricity is provided
every other day in the areas where the poor live. Some areas don’t have electricity yet;
however in areas where foreigners and the rich Afghans live, there are twenty four
hours of electricity and running water. Education
is something that has really improved; there are a lot of private schools with
great education systems that provide great education for less then fifty
dollars a month. The fifty dollars a month covers the whole school year. Students can obtain a basic education and
learn English. Almost everyone is eager
to learn; the young children are happy going to school and take every possible
opportunity to learn. There is also a great number of children that don’t have
the opportunity to go to school; these children are busy selling cigarettes,
candy, gum and other things on the streets to provide food for their families. Unfortunately, due to high traffic and lack
of proper traffic regulation enforcement, these children are often hit by
vehicles. The children lose their life
and the families lose a food provider. During
my stay in Afghanistan,
I heard of two kids that were hit by a bus; one lost both of his legs and the
other died on the scene.
Hospitality
One will notice the great hospitality that the people
offer. Taxi drivers that make five
dollars day will insist when you arrive at your destination that “no problem if
you don’t have money, you don’t have to pay me”. Going to Restaurants you will hear the same
thing. After a great service and great
meal, when you go to pay your bill they will say to you, “be my guest for today
and don’t worry about your bill it’s on us”.
It is just great to see that even when people are struggling to make a
living there, yet they are so giving and caring that it just astonishes one. I
felt like everyone was my friend there and they knew me.
Meeting with Former Nazareth Students
During my third day in Kabul,
I took a trip to Kabul
University. Kabul
University is big; almost the size of University of Rochester. I was tired just walking from
one side of the campus to the other. A
few days later I met with Jaweed Massoud, Mansoor Faqiri, Farhatullah Feroogh and took a nice walk around the campus as they showed me
around. The former Nazareth
students were glad to see me, and the whole time they were talking about their
experience at Nazareth,
and how much they missed it. They were
very grateful to have such an opportunity and very thankful for the staff at
CIE, their professors and other members of Nazareth College
for offering great hospitality and warm welcomes.
Traditional but
Dangerous Game of Boozkashi
Boozkashi is a
traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback. I am assuming this game was invented before soccer
because the only difference is that instead of a ball, they play with goat or
calf. The game involves skilled riders
who could grab a goat, or calf from the ground while riding a horse at full
speed. The goal of a player is to grab
the carcass of a headless goat or calf and then get it clear of the other players
in order to throw it across a goal line or into a target circle or vat. It’s just like kicking a soccer ball into the
goal. The horses that are used are very
expensive and only the rich people can afford to play this game. I was able to
have a close look at the horses involved in the competition and take some
pictures. These horses are tough and
well trained to fight off other riders.
