Monday, December 31, 2007
Note to self - eating street food may lead to extreme sickness. Funny how hindsight is often where we learn our lessons.
There is an increased sense of vigilance on the streets these days with the death of Bhutto. Instability breeds instability, and there are many people waiting to use any sign of instability for their own purpose. Right before the Eid festivities last week, there were four suicide attacks in Kabul, an attempt to destabilize the smooth runnings within the city.
Sickness has prevented me from being the most "adventurous" the past few days, but I have commenced taking interview with various people in Kabul to get their opinions on the status of Afghanistan, the Taliban, and people's personal situation. I must make a disclaimer that most of my interviews will be from the more educated cohort of the population (i.e. who speak english) and will be slanted away from support of the Taliban (since its supporters are in the South of Afghanistan). A quick few facts about Afghanistan, there are huge rivalries on sectarian grounds. There are a number of ethnic groups in the country - Pashtun, Hazara, Turkomen, Uzbek, Tajik, and Aimaq. And within each of these groups, there are Sunni and Shia denominations. The Taliban are mostly constituted by the Pashtuns, but since the Taliban build on an ideological (versus purely ethnic) base, there are Taliban from within the other groups.
I was reading the Globe & Mail a couple of days ago, and I came across Prime Minister Harper's comments on how important it is to remain in Afghanistan. His vision of defeating the Taliban and setting up a stable governmental structure are simplistic and wholly misguided at best. The Taliban may be a problem but by no means are they the problem. Before the Taliban, the Mujahideen has power in Afghanistan and conditions were not better all. The Taliban only yield the power they have today because of their previous support by the Americas, the very group that is now their worst enemy. But the fight against the Taliban has done little for the majority of people of Afghanistan, who suffer increa
sing poverty, human rights abuses, and no clear indication of better days to come (I have yet to come across a garbage dump that hasn't had children roaming through the items). The so called government here is simply a means of giving legitimacy to warlords who can usurp the country's funds. In considering the plights of Afghanistan, two often overlooked points must be stressed. First, the increase in security needs by international projects in Afghanistan has caused a huge rise in "civilian contractors", which are basically hired militiamen. These militiamen drain a huge amount of the country's resources and funnels them to warlords. Second, the extreme poverty and lack of education of the people here are by far a bigger problem than any threat posed by a sectarian group. The work I do with WCLRF does not target any specific group because all groups suffer massive illiteracy in their populations. The conditions for women and children are like pre-Islamic Arabia, where tribal rules were dominant force. And in this patriarchal tribal structure, women and children are afforded very few rights, regardless of which tribe they belong to.
I did not take as many pictures as I has hoped to because I realized that the reason internationals face so few problems is because there are no civilian internationals in sight! All of them are heavily guarded in their entourage of military personal (even my hotel, a luxury since it has electricity most hours of the day is guarded around the clock). Thus, the climate makes it difficult place for the average tourist, and one doesn't really do a benefit by attracting attention to oneself (luckily, it seems that I look Afghani to most people!).
P.S. Videos will be up in the next 24 hours.
There is an increased sense of vigilance on the streets these days with the death of Bhutto. Instability breeds instability, and there are many people waiting to use any sign of instability for their own purpose. Right before the Eid festivities last week, there were four suicide attacks in Kabul, an attempt to destabilize the smooth runnings within the city.
Sickness has prevented me from being the most "adventurous" the past few days, but I have commenced taking interview with various people in Kabul to get their opinions on the status of Afghanistan, the Taliban, and people's personal situation. I must make a disclaimer that most of my interviews will be from the more educated cohort of the population (i.e. who speak english) and will be slanted away from support of the Taliban (since its supporters are in the South of Afghanistan). A quick few facts about Afghanistan, there are huge rivalries on sectarian grounds. There are a number of ethnic groups in the country - Pashtun, Hazara, Turkomen, Uzbek, Tajik, and Aimaq. And within each of these groups, there are Sunni and Shia denominations. The Taliban are mostly constituted by the Pashtuns, but since the Taliban build on an ideological (versus purely ethnic) base, there are Taliban from within the other groups.
I was reading the Globe & Mail a couple of days ago, and I came across Prime Minister Harper's comments on how important it is to remain in Afghanistan. His vision of defeating the Taliban and setting up a stable governmental structure are simplistic and wholly misguided at best. The Taliban may be a problem but by no means are they the problem. Before the Taliban, the Mujahideen has power in Afghanistan and conditions were not better all. The Taliban only yield the power they have today because of their previous support by the Americas, the very group that is now their worst enemy. But the fight against the Taliban has done little for the majority of people of Afghanistan, who suffer increa
sing poverty, human rights abuses, and no clear indication of better days to come (I have yet to come across a garbage dump that hasn't had children roaming through the items). The so called government here is simply a means of giving legitimacy to warlords who can usurp the country's funds. In considering the plights of Afghanistan, two often overlooked points must be stressed. First, the increase in security needs by international projects in Afghanistan has caused a huge rise in "civilian contractors", which are basically hired militiamen. These militiamen drain a huge amount of the country's resources and funnels them to warlords. Second, the extreme poverty and lack of education of the people here are by far a bigger problem than any threat posed by a sectarian group. The work I do with WCLRF does not target any specific group because all groups suffer massive illiteracy in their populations. The conditions for women and children are like pre-Islamic Arabia, where tribal rules were dominant force. And in this patriarchal tribal structure, women and children are afforded very few rights, regardless of which tribe they belong to.
I did not take as many pictures as I has hoped to because I realized that the reason internationals face so few problems is because there are no civilian internationals in sight! All of them are heavily guarded in their entourage of military personal (even my hotel, a luxury since it has electricity most hours of the day is guarded around the clock). Thus, the climate makes it difficult place for the average tourist, and one doesn't really do a benefit by attracting attention to oneself (luckily, it seems that I look Afghani to most people!).
P.S. Videos will be up in the next 24 hours.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
First Impressions
So I finally had time to meet everyone at work and have an initial tour of 
Kabul.
To being with work, it is quite interesting as it deals with injustices faced by women and children, and there are no shortage of them here. The organization is very research oriented, trying to document and present problems in a systematic and complete way. Some examples of the research projects that have been commissioned in the past are Polygamy in Afghanistan, A Glance on Cases of Running Away From Home in Afghanistan, and Women Economic Independence in Afghanistan. Very quickly, certain things become apparent when going through the materials. First, tribal
practices are very strongly rooted in the areas outside of the city centers. The law here is a combination of civil law deriving from the French, Islamic law and tribal law. Though both Civil law and Islamic law try to put safe guards against many form of abuses, the tribal traditions are very often too strongly rooted thus undermining any authority to the former. Second, exorbitantly high illiteracy only exacerbates the problem. Illiterate women are far more likely to not know the rights afforded to them by they law (or rather "law"), and thus they will very quickly face abuse. Literacy and economic empowerment does help reverse this
problem. Third, the government is not fully effective in implementing justice. Government laws, even if they attempt to protect women and children, are ineffective if the rural parts of the country continue to follow their tribal tradition. Further, rampant corruption in the government often makes justice no more than a battle of vendettas, where one group taking revenge against a rival by making large bribes to officials. I'll write examples of stories later (because stories also have to be understood in a proper context). The two upcoming projects that I will be working on are violence against women and child marriages.
Kabul is a very interesting city bustling with life but also mired in poverty. People conduct their lives regularly (whatever "regularly" means) and the remnants of war are not immediately apparent. The stores are all open and children play near the streets. But poverty is rampant. Men, women, children are begging at every street corner. I caught this one photo of children collecting good from the trash. Police are stationed all over the city, thus making it easier for internationals to commute. In Afghanistan, the problems internationals will face are becoming ponds of tribal warfare through kidnapping or facing allegation of being an American spy. However, these problems occur when one leaves the city. Instability outside the city is probably one reason why some of my co-worker have never traveled to more the two cities in Afghanistan aside from Kabul. (My co-worker, took me to the local chess club. Indeed, he is the chess champion of Afghanistan)
Kabul.To being with work, it is quite interesting as it deals with injustices faced by women and children, and there are no shortage of them here. The organization is very research oriented, trying to document and present problems in a systematic and complete way. Some examples of the research projects that have been commissioned in the past are Polygamy in Afghanistan, A Glance on Cases of Running Away From Home in Afghanistan, and Women Economic Independence in Afghanistan. Very quickly, certain things become apparent when going through the materials. First, tribal
practices are very strongly rooted in the areas outside of the city centers. The law here is a combination of civil law deriving from the French, Islamic law and tribal law. Though both Civil law and Islamic law try to put safe guards against many form of abuses, the tribal traditions are very often too strongly rooted thus undermining any authority to the former. Second, exorbitantly high illiteracy only exacerbates the problem. Illiterate women are far more likely to not know the rights afforded to them by they law (or rather "law"), and thus they will very quickly face abuse. Literacy and economic empowerment does help reverse this
problem. Third, the government is not fully effective in implementing justice. Government laws, even if they attempt to protect women and children, are ineffective if the rural parts of the country continue to follow their tribal tradition. Further, rampant corruption in the government often makes justice no more than a battle of vendettas, where one group taking revenge against a rival by making large bribes to officials. I'll write examples of stories later (because stories also have to be understood in a proper context). The two upcoming projects that I will be working on are violence against women and child marriages.
Kabul is a very interesting city bustling with life but also mired in poverty. People conduct their lives regularly (whatever "regularly" means) and the remnants of war are not immediately apparent. The stores are all open and children play near the streets. But poverty is rampant. Men, women, children are begging at every street corner. I caught this one photo of children collecting good from the trash. Police are stationed all over the city, thus making it easier for internationals to commute. In Afghanistan, the problems internationals will face are becoming ponds of tribal warfare through kidnapping or facing allegation of being an American spy. However, these problems occur when one leaves the city. Instability outside the city is probably one reason why some of my co-worker have never traveled to more the two cities in Afghanistan aside from Kabul. (My co-worker, took me to the local chess club. Indeed, he is the chess champion of Afghanistan)
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Commencing the Journey
Close your eyes and begin to walk for a while. At one point, whether it is after 10, 50, or 100 steps, you will realize that you will just not be able to walk any further, not knowing what the world in front of you holds.
I have had some time to reflect on the commencement of my trip to Afghanistan, and it was in Dubai airport while waiting for my Kabul flight that I really began appreciate what lied ahead. As I waited in the departure gate, native Afghanis started trickling in until the gate was packed. We all like to consider ourselves open minded (at least I do), but I succinctly remember my feeling of discomfort amongst the 50-100 Afghans all dressed in traditional clothing with their turbans and long beards, none of them speaking english. Indoctrination clearly had taken its toll on me. And it is this struggle against this indoctrination, passivity, and the status quo that is worth fighting, as the false perception do begin to shatter, first with a smile, then with the waving hand signals of communication, and finally with the exchange of one work phrases like: "Canada", "Hajj" (i.e. some of them had come back from hajj).
A number of times on my way to Kabul I asked myself "Why am I even here?" It was my exchange with the Afghan man in Dubai that made me recall. The Afghan people are by and large good people with incredible resilience. By following their footsteps and learning their traditions, one can venture out of path of the closed eyed traveler.
In my time in Afghanistan, I'll mostly be working with the Women and Children's Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF). Their work will become more clear in the coming weeks, so I won't talk on it now. My plan is not to jump into the middle of the raging battles in the east and south. Unlike my trip to Palestine where resistance to occupation has develop over the some 50 years, hear the fighting is largely sectarian, tribal and amongst warlords. For now, I'm stationed in Kabul.
I have had some time to reflect on the commencement of my trip to Afghanistan, and it was in Dubai airport while waiting for my Kabul flight that I really began appreciate what lied ahead. As I waited in the departure gate, native Afghanis started trickling in until the gate was packed. We all like to consider ourselves open minded (at least I do), but I succinctly remember my feeling of discomfort amongst the 50-100 Afghans all dressed in traditional clothing with their turbans and long beards, none of them speaking english. Indoctrination clearly had taken its toll on me. And it is this struggle against this indoctrination, passivity, and the status quo that is worth fighting, as the false perception do begin to shatter, first with a smile, then with the waving hand signals of communication, and finally with the exchange of one work phrases like: "Canada", "Hajj" (i.e. some of them had come back from hajj).
A number of times on my way to Kabul I asked myself "Why am I even here?" It was my exchange with the Afghan man in Dubai that made me recall. The Afghan people are by and large good people with incredible resilience. By following their footsteps and learning their traditions, one can venture out of path of the closed eyed traveler.
In my time in Afghanistan, I'll mostly be working with the Women and Children's Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF). Their work will become more clear in the coming weeks, so I won't talk on it now. My plan is not to jump into the middle of the raging battles in the east and south. Unlike my trip to Palestine where resistance to occupation has develop over the some 50 years, hear the fighting is largely sectarian, tribal and amongst warlords. For now, I'm stationed in Kabul.
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