Day 2, Kabul

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March 6th 2006

Published: March 21st 2006

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Sharon Jumper

Me, doing the scarf thing

I learned all about getting "scarf hair."

Brrrr....It was cold and rainy last night and I discovered that the guest house lacks central air and heat. Our room was so cold it was unbearable to even be in without being under three mink blankets. I slept with my ipod, digital camera, and laptop under the covers with me because I was afraid that they would be damaged by the cold. It reminded me of having to sleep with my gear and M-16 inside my sleeping bag when I was in the Army in Korea. The "beds" were 1 inch pieces of foam set on a piece of plywood - not good for my 40 year old back and hips!

Waah! Whining done for now. We began the day with a walk across the street to a store shack run by a guy who looked really familiar. It turns out that our "neighbor" was none other than Khwaja Nader, one of the stars of the movie, Osama, which was not about BinLaden, but rather, about life under the Taliban for an Afghan widow and her pre-teen daughter. As you may know, under the Taliban, women and girls were not permitted to leave the walled compounds of their homes

Donkey cart in Kabul

There were lots of these. Given the horrific traffic, they probably would get you from place to place in the same amount of time.

unless they were accompanied by a male relative. The widow and daughter in the movie found it hard to survive, as they had no male relatives, to the mother cut the daughter's hair and dressed her as a boy, so that the daughter could work and serve as the mother's escort for household errands. The "boy" was then found by the mullah and placed in a Madrassa. Eventually, the "boy" was discovered to be a "girl" and arrested, and was to be executed; the mullah came and rescued her, asking the judge to allow her to become his wife. Anyway, good movie, it won lots of awards - here's the official link to Osama - check it out. The neighborhood shopkeeper, Khwaja Nader, played the Mullah in the movie, and visited with us daily, even eating lunch with us and seeing us off to the airport on our final day. He received about $2000 from the Afghan government for his work in the movie, which cost $6,000 total to make and has made almost $2 million in its worldwide release. (See movie figures here.

We then went to PARWAZ, a microfinance agency that funds women's businesses. This NGO is

Dean and Deluca (sorta) of Kabul

When you only have 4 hours of electricity every other day, this is how meat is sold - hanging from hooks along the street. Mmmmmm... The dirt, dust, and car exhaust add a smokey flavor to the meat.

funded by private contributions and trusts, and is a grassroots effort to help women form businesses. PARWAZ forms "collectives" of 12 women, typically within a community or extended family, and has them each design a business plan based on their skills and talents. Often, the businesses contained within a collective are co-dependent, i.e. weavers, tailors, wholesalers, and retailers bond together to make and market clothing. PARWAZ has helped thousands of women begin businesses since 2001, and has had 100% repayment rate on their loans. The loan money is paid out incrementally, and PARWAZ supervisors maintain contact with business owners to provide advice to grow the businesses. I was very impressed with the program, as it not only provides a source of income and investment for the women and their families, but it also empowers the women to become independent, self-sustaining, and it sets a great example for their children. I fear that it will take a generation at least to get Afghanistan back on track, after the 30 years of war it has endured. Estimates are that only 14% of the women in the country are literate.

We also went to the International Red Cross' orthopedic center in Kabul.

Wedding dresses in Kabul

The Center works primarily with mine victims who have lost limbs, but it also attempts to work with other who are disabled, providing rehabilitation, training, loans, therapy, and employment. Artificial limbs, crutches, and wheelchairs are made at the Center, by disabled persons.

Wel also met with a member of the Afghan Women Judges Association, who advised us that while the laws "on paper" provide for the equality of women in Afghanistan, the reality is that there is no enforcement mechanism for these laws. Women by "tradition" must still live with male relatives if they are unmarried, are still forced into marriages against their wills, and cannot work unless they receive the consent of their husband, or if unmarried, their father, brothers, or uncles.

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