Voice of Afghanistan

Afghan Government Plans Extravagant Wedding Ban!

2011-01-07T11:42:00.000+11:00

Since U.S.-backed Afghan forces ousted the strict Islamist Taliban in 2001, Afghans have revived the tradition of holding big weddings, costing thousands of dollars, in a country where the average annual income is less than $400.Afghan weddings are celebrated by hundreds of guests in luxurious wedding halls with the groom and his family expected to foot the bill and agree to every request of the bride and her family.
"Wedding ceremonies among people are like a competition, no one wants to come last, people like to show off their wealth by feeding hundreds of guests in costly wedding halls," said Justice Minister Habibullah Ghaleb. "Families are the victim of such a wrong tradition and have to accept these heavy burdens," he said.
Details of the planned ban on expensive weddings were still being worked out, said Justice Ministry spokesman Farid Ahmad Najibi, and he acknowledged it could be difficult to enforce because lavish weddings were so ingrained in Afghan culture.
State institutions were shattered during decades of conflict, with regional, ethnic and tribal differences also making it difficult to enforce laws. Violence is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted, making security a priority even while authorities try to rebuild the aid-reliant economy.
Rafi Kazimi, 24, and his family spent about $10,000 when he married Farima, 20, in October. The couple had 600 guests at their wedding in Kabul. Taxi driver Kazimi and his family are now repaying at least $6,000 in bank loans.
But Kazimi recently lost his job and his family -- his wife, mother, father, grandmother, two sisters, three brothers and one of their wives -- are surviving on his older brother's salary of $410 a month, $300 of which is used to repay the loans. "It was too much," Kazimi said of the money spent on his marriage to his first cousin. "I was so worried about how to find this money. Her parents didn't care if I had the money or not, they just said we must have a big wedding."
While Kazimi thought a ban on expensive weddings was a good idea, he doubted if it would be accepted. Along with the wedding celebrations, a groom and his family are also expected to pay for ornate outfits for the bride and groom. "A HUGE BURDEN"
The government's bid to regulate weddings follows similar moves by some tribal elders and provincial officials.
Late last month, elders from several villages in northern Jawzjan province banned expensive weddings and dowries in a bid to encourage young people to marry instead of postponing their nuptials because they could not afford it. Under the rules, the cost of a wedding must be in line with the economic status of the groom, and if someone violates the ban then they will not be invited to any other weddings in the village.
"Marriage is everyone's right and it must not be presented as a huge burden for the bride and groom," said Azaad Khwa, an elder from Jawzjan. "Making the groom's family pay for everything and feed hundreds is a big sin." Many elaborate wedding halls have sprung up around Kabul over the past nine years, compared with just a few that operated while the Taliban were in power from 1996 to 2001.
Guests attending weddings at City Star Hall in Kabul's Wazir Abad neighborhood drive through a lit-up moon to the entrance and a large silver star adorns the roof. It opened three months ago at a cost of $5 million, said manager Zabi Mujeeb. It has four wedding halls and hosts about 70 weddings a month, with an average of 800 to 1,000 guests, Mujeeb said. Prices per guest range from $12 to $23 for the food. Music, a cake, decorations and a photographer are all extra."The people living in the city, they don't like to have a lot of guests," said Mujeeb. "But the people living in provinces, they like to have a lot of guests."
In the largest of City Star Hall's venues, staff were putting the finishing touches on decorations for the wedding of a couple from nearby Parwan province. There will be 1,600 guests at a cost of $16,000.
The opulence makes one's head spin. The bride and groom were to walk over a bridge above a fountain in front of mountain landscape mural. They descend onto an illuminated walkway under arches of fake flowers to a stage where they will be seated on silver-colored thrones.
"The grooms find the money," said Mujeeb.
By Michelle Nichols and Hamid Shalizi

War was our national identity, and as a citizen of the country, we are product of war

2010-12-04T16:27:00.001+11:00

“What the fuck are you doing here?” the American solider said as a smile of disbelief spread across his weary face.

It was the summer of 2007, just before I began my first year at Columbia. We were in the Kapisa province of Afghanistan, about 100 miles north of Kabul.

I was traveling to a family wedding. The groom and three of his friends were in our car while our mothers and siblings trailed behind us in a second car. When we arrived at Tagab Valley, we realized that the road was blocked by American soldiers. In some village in the valley, insurgents had opened fire on a passing convoy, then disappeared deep into the village, or up into the mountains. The Americans were out to get them. To avoid the possible flow of other insurgents into the valley, the troops had blocked the road that passed it.

For the first hour, we sat in the car, listening to music, teasing the groom. As the traffic in front of us remained immobile, the groom became increasingly nervous. He was to exchange vows in less than two hours. ”What if I miss my ceremony?” the groom joked, but the look on his face was one of worry.

I walked out of the car to approach the American convoy. I was the natural choice, for I was the only one in the party who spoke English. Dressed no differently from the locals, I realized I could be perceived as a threat. So I returned to our second car and asked to carry my six-month old cousin with me. This way, I would not come across as dangerous.

As I approached the first armored vehicle, baby in arm, the sniper turned his attention toward me. I got closer, passed through the Afghan forces that were accompanying the soldiers, and stood right next to the first American vehicle.

“Is there someone I could speak to, please?” I asked. The soldier looked at me, befuddled. Amidst the dust, amidst the chaos, he heard someone ask a question in English. Without much of an accent. He simply pointed me to his commanding officer.

“Sir, I am traveling with a wedding party,” I said. “ I would like to know when the road—”

“Whoa, whoa” the officer interrupted me, “before you go on: how the fuck do you speak English like that?”

As I explained to him that I was a student in the United States, I forgot about where I was for a moment. I had recently graduated from Deerfield Academy, in western Massachusetts, and I was to begin my first year at Columbia College in the fall. The officer turned out to be from Worcester, Massachusetts. He had traveled down to Deerfield several times.

With the number of “fucks” and “mans” and “likes” exchanged, for a moment it seemed like I was back at boarding school. We were having a conversation I had had several times towards the end of my days at Deerfield: about leaving the valley behind, about moving to the crazy city. But his helmet, his uniform, the dust around us, and his question reminded me that we were far from there:

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He asked with a kind smile. A smile that I could swear I had seen in Western Massachusetts, a voice that I could swear I had heard before.

“I am here for a wedding,” I said. “The groom is nervous that he will be late for his bride!” read more
By Mujid Mashal

Addicted Children in Afghanistan!

2010-11-22T23:17:00.000+11:00

What can be worse than this?

World Food Programme

2010-08-08T16:29:00.001+10:00

Tahera Nassrat --

Here in Pakistan, heavy rains have washed away homes, shops, and bridges. Large parts of the northwest remain submerged, and many people are stranded with no access to food.

Yesterday we started delivering emergency food supplies to families in the hardest-hit areas. Over the next three months, in support of national efforts, we aim to help up to 150,000 families.

These floods are reportedly the worst in living memory, killing at least 1,100 people and leaving 1.5 million people in desperate need of help.

Even before the rains hit, we’ve been providing emergency rations to one million people affected by intense fighting in northwest Pakistan, while supporting an additional 2.7 million crisis-affected people.

The best way to help right now is to support our emergency response efforts.

The floods have also caused extensive damage to World Food Programme warehouses where we’re storing significant food stocks for Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan. We’re going to need all the help we can get to continue our lifesaving operations, while ensuring we can meet the needs of victims in an emergency.

As you probably know, we rely entirely on voluntary contributions. On behalf of the flood victims and my colleagues here in Pakistan, thank you so much for your support of WFP.

Thanks,

Dom

Dominique Frankefort
Deputy Country Director, Pakistan
World Food Programme

Afghanistan Education System!

2010-07-19T15:06:00.001+10:00

Afghanistan has two education systems; the religious and the government. The religious system is taught by Mulas (religious leaders) at masques that includes teaching Quran and provide religious advices. The government system is implemented at schools which is free of charge and is consist of different subjects including religious.

Afghanistan does not only have different system of education, but also has different culture and principle of teaching. In all primary schools, beside the normal teaching material, teachers hold stick to control and behave students. Mostly, students are not allowed to leave the class with out teachers’ permission. If they feel thirsty or feel going to toilet, they have to be seated till the permission is granted or wait for class to over.

Every school gets 15-minutes break to drink, eat, stretch legs and go to the toilet and no one is allowed to leave the school during this time.

Punishment at schools became part of government education system. Students get punished for different reasons. For example, boys are not allowed to leave their hairs grow and if so, then their hairs get cutoff in the class in front of all classmates in an insulting way by the teacher or principle of the school. Not only that, girls are also not allowed to color or perm their hair; wear colorful hair clips, use lipstick and makeup.

Everyday before school starts, three teachers attend school gate and check the bags of all students on arrival. It is to make sure there is no makeup, knife, nail polish, brush, celebrities’ postcards and other stuff which are not study related.

In the class, if students miss the homework or unable to answer questions asked by teachers, the students will be either punished by stick, or asked to stand in front of the class till the teaching session is over. No respect to what so ever is given to students.

Surprisingly, the corruption is not only within government, but is also mixed with education system at schools. Teachers do not mark students based on their talent and papers’ outcome. Instead they consider, if students’ mothers or fathers are their co worker, or if there is a family connection, or if students can provide bribe in form of gift to the teachers . There is no real value for real talent at schools.

Teachers at government schools are mostly 12 grades graduates. Teaching is not their professions, but they are teaching for living. Currently, the low money earners in Afghanistan are the teachers and majority of them are female. Government is trying to upgrade the system of education and the changes are underway with university system. People are in hope to have a proper, efficient and effective system at schools to educate the new generation of Afghanistan.

Let’s hope for the best and hope instead of beating students, teacher can talk to them and instead of cutting students hair which damage their personality in front of their classmate, they can change the rule to give a bit of respect and freedom to students.

Afghanistan- Press and Media

2010-07-12T13:39:00.001+10:00

Like other countries, Afghanistan also celebrates 5th of May “The International World Press Freedom Day”. It is a day to remind the government the duty to respect and uphold the rights to the freedom of press. It’s a day that the country should stand up and say we are democratic and freedom of speech is our priority. But unfortunately, the duty of respect barely is met by Afghanistan government and its people.
Afghanistan media refers to print and broadcast. The media was tightly controlled during Taliban regime. However, after overthrow of Taliban in 2001, the media seems to relax and relatively free. But still, press freedom is threatened by war in Afghanistan with kidnapping and killing of journalists. According to Sediqullah, the head of press and media, last year 73 correspondents were registered for domestic violence; 4 killed, 4 wounded, 33 under investigation, 18 tortured and 14 received dead intimidation. Majority of this violence were undertaken by government bodies and minority by powerful non government groups.
Afghanistan claims to be a democratic country and respects freedom of speech. But unfortunately, this is not the reality in practice. If you publish and say the truth; either you are kidnapped or killed. Security for local correspondents is not guaranteed in both, Kabul and other provinces. To complete the formality, Afghanistan government agreed with NATO to make a committee to meet once in a month to secure the life and position of journalists around the country. But this seems insufficient. In the last couple of years Afghanistan lost its skillful and talented journalists. Students from universities were kidnapped because they exercised publication of truth. Girls journalists were killed because they were women and had dark makeup and free language at media and TV.
So who should say the truth and when this should be said? Would you rather say the truth or die?

Men that live inside women¹s bodies

2010-07-01T13:40:00.003+10:00

Sometimes I want to leave this place and go away. I want to restart my life somewhere else. I want to be in a place where I will not get caught by frustration this often, where happiness and tranquility will replace the sadness that presses my heart. I want to be in a place where I will feel freedom and liberty in the air. There are people here that tell me Afghanistan is not where I should have been born in. They tell me to go far away from here because this country cannot tolerate a liberated woman. But I know freeing me from this country does not mean freeing my soul and heart from it. By leaving this country I will leave myself and letting a big part of struggle forever or die. I remind myself that this is a struggle zone. I remind myself that if I stay here and fight this war of being a woman and remaining a woman the generation after me will not have to go through what I am going through.

Today I am fighting for my femininity so that tomorrow my daughter will not have to live through discrimination and suppression. This country makes me have a love-hate relationship with it. It forces me feel weak and frustrated at times. But this is my home. It is my duty to fight. It is my generation¹s duty to struggle and pave the way for the next generation. I must remember that this country also gives me pride, it gives me challenges and achievements, it gives me victory at end.

I have gone a long way to find myself and appreciate myself as a woman in this male dominant society. I have managed to give a feminine definition for myself, in a society where everything is defined by men. The change I see in myself makes believe in change in others. But the change must happen in the minds of every Afghan woman.

Sometimes as I talk to Afghan women, I feel that I am talking to men inside women¹s bodies. This makes me angry. A woman who is ashamed of talking about her monthly period is not a woman. A woman¹s monthly period is the one of the most feminine experiences she goes through. But even that has a male dominant definition. A woman while having her monthly period finds herself dirty and ugly. She feels unaccepted and outcast. She is abandoned from talking about what she goes through. Women here must redefine this experience which they go through. They must be respected for going through this experience and understood they should not be ashamed of it.

I face and deal with men in women¹s bodies on daily basis. Men that think they are women and suppress womanhood. Here I confront ³women² who are ashamed of their bodies, ³women² that hate their bodies, ³women² that think their body makes them vulnerable, ³women² that burn up their own bodies in flames of fire and curse themselves for being born a woman. Even they themselves cannot appreciate their own femininity, because their sexuality is defined by men. There is nothing feminine in the way they are defined by men. These ³women² believe their bodies are to please men. These women believe in sexual relationships only men have the right to be satisfied.

These ³women² believe that their bodies are tools for men¹s pleasure and they are to be passive and tools. No one asks them if they enjoy sexual intercourse or not. No one asks them what position they like better. No one asks them what they want during sexual intercourse. In this sexual game the goal to be achieved is to please men. And afterwards the woman¹s task is to grow the product of that in her womb, give birth to it and raise it all unwillingly.

What makes these men in women¹s bodies trustworthy and respectable is their hymens. These ³women² have the ³sacred² duty of taking care of their hymen from childhood till the night they are raped by a man who has no respect for their own self but rather trusts them for their hymen. These ³women² believe by taking care of their hymen they are taking care of their pride, their self respect, their chastity and proving their faithfulness to their husbands. There is no one to ask why only women must prove their virginity?

What is chastity? What is pride? What is self respect? How do you prove a man¹s pride, self respect and faithfulness? Why do we bring up our daughters teaching them that their bodies are to be kept and protected because they belong to men? Women here must grow up thinking of their bodies as their own properties. How women treat their body relates to them only. Every woman must explore every part of her body because her body belongs to her and only her.

Every woman must love and her appreciate her own body. Thinking of our bodies as properties of men turns us in to material and is one of the most major manners through which we are suppressed. Freedom means liberation from the limitations we as women have accepted to live with. We must free our own bodies and reclaim them from men.

I must remain here and fight these male dominant views and thoughts that suppress women here. I must not allow these male dominant views define the identity of a woman and womanhood. This society is in need of women who liberate their minds, souls and bodies. This society is in need of women who alter this male dominant society to a society where everyone is respected and appreciated. I must remain here to re-establish the thoughts and languages that entitle a liberated woman a Fahesha (prostitute) or Ghar numai (a whore, a slut), or at least to attempt to create the male equivalent of these thoughts and words. I will stay here to at least confront people with this question: How do you measure a man¹s virginity?

Voice: Zubaida Akbar

This is Afghanistan, NOT America

2010-06-17T11:36:00.005+10:00

Rukhma, who does not know her age but looks younger than 20; was trafficked across the border from

Pakistan

Afghanistan

with her three-year-old son. In

Pakistan

, Rukhma was married to an abusive man who fathered her son, Bilal. Rukhma divorced her husband and married another Pakistani man by whom she became pregnant last year. Then she was kidnapped by a neighbor and taken to

Afghanistan

where she was raped by an Afghan man for three months. One day she overheard the Afghan finalizing a deal to sell Rukhma to another man who wanted her but not her son. Scared of losing her son, Rukhma ran away one day from the house. Unfortunately, Rukhma was soon discovered by the Afghan, who not only mercilessly beat her but also murdered her son in front of her eyes. When the Afghan police arrived, they arrested the Afghan murderer and rapist as well as Rukhma. Although her tormentor received a 20-years jail term, Rukhma was also imprisoned on charges of adultery for four years.
Blaming the victim common
Yet except for a small urban elite, a woman fleeing domestic violence or accusing a man of rape herself often ends up the guilty party in the eyes of judges and prosecutors."Why am I here? I'm innocent," Rukhma said, crying in a musty jail cell and cradling a baby daughter by her previous marriage whom she bore in prison. "It is cruel to have your son killed before your eyes and then to be imprisoned."
In parts of Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, where stern social codes prevail, a woman who runs away from home is typically suspected of having taken a lover and can be prosecuted for adultery. Simply leaving her house without her family's permission may be deemed an offense — as in Rukhma's case — although it is not classified as such under

Afghanistan

's penal code.
The chief prosecutor of eastern Nangarhar province who oversaw Rukhma's case suggested she got off lightly.
"If my wife goes to the bazaar without my permission, I will kill her. This is our culture," Abdul Qayum shouted scornfully during an interview in his office in the city of Jalalabad.
His colleagues laughed approvingly. "This is Afghanistan, not America," Qayum said.
Rukhma’s case is not a stray incidence but the social condition of the women in

Afghanistan

, which has not changed even after the

led NATO invaded the country overthrowing the Taliban regime. Under the new Afghan constitution, women have the right to education, can get a job and are to be always protected by the law, but in reality, women especially in rural

Afghanistan

are as vulnerable as before. Violence against women has in fact risen in the last one year. According to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, there were 2,374 reported cases of violence against women in 2007 while the figure in 2006 was 1,651. In 70 to 80 percent of these cases often the woman is charged of criminal activities for running away from the home and committing adultery. In incidences of rape, where it is very difficult to prove the allegations, the victim is accused of adultery and thrown into the jail.

Reference: msnbc

Discovery of Budda in Kabul

2010-06-15T15:37:00.018+10:00

This is the incompleted sculpture of Budda which was discovered in south of Kabul in Shada-i- Salihin hill by Ministry of information and culture. This is the famous hill where five years ago a budda temple with twenty eight historical pieces of Buda belonging were found.
They are 15century old and one meter high.

'I don't want to go home'

2010-06-03T11:25:00.009+10:00

The Qambar Square camp in Kabul’s west is now home to more than 1,200 families from across Afghanistan. Bibi Hawa lost her husband, daughter and son to war. She now lives with her three grandchildren in a tent at a refugee camp in Kabul.
The old woman cries as she says, “I fled from Marjah in Helmand province because of the fighting. I don’t want to go home any more. I lost my family there and I don’t believe the war will end in our province.”
She is dressed in old clothes and wrapped in an old blanket. As we talk she frequently asks for money.
“My son and my husband fed us before they were killed,” she says. “Now I ask people to give me some bread just to survive”.

Wakil Ahmad Tawoos lives at the camp and is a tribal elder. “The camp was established more than year ago,” he says. “There are more than 800 families here who fled Helmand province.”
As you walk through the camp, you are quickly surrounded by people begging for help. They are refugees in their own country. Some have lost limbs. Some have lost family members.

The children are hungry, but some of them study. There is a school here. It is a tent with no tables or chairs. It is hot in summer and muddy in winter. When class ends the students have to carry water to their homes from a nearby pump.
“Young boys can’t get jobs and are spending long days and nights under tents,” says Tawoos. “They have to wait for rich people to bring them food or money.
“We were all farmers who made money growing opium. Now there are no more jobs for us in Helmand because the government has banned poppy farming.”
The Afghan government says it “encourages” the refugees to return to their homes. It is planning to provide transportation in the future.
Reference: CNN News

NATO- The Second Enemy After Taliban!

2010-04-18T10:14:00.012+10:00

Afghanistan is becoming a grave yard. Innocent people including women and children are losing their lives in every corner of the country. Sometimes they are shield to Taliban to fight with NATO and sometimes they are killed by NATO, mistaken for Taliban.

People lost hope. They do not trust foreign troops any more. In every afghan network and communication centers, people are rolling the same questions over and over. Why are NATO killing innocent people including women and children? Why do they use the cover of “Mistake”? Why are people always having to be fooled with the same reply “the case is under investigation”?

However, if a(n) American, British, Australian soldier is injured or kidnapped, the whole world shakes and people spend thousands of dollars on investigating the case, but when it comes to Afghanistan, the truth is hidden. Why?

After first denying involvement, US forces admit killing two pregnant afghan women, one mother of ten; another mother of six and a teenager on February 12th. Afghan investigators told The Times of London that US soldiers tried to cover up the killings and reportedly dug the bullets out of victims’ bodies, then washed the wounds with alcohol. However, NATO officials claimed that women had already been killed hours before the raid. The area of incident was sealed off from 4:00 a.m., when they first arrived, until 11:00 a.m. that morning. That’s more than seven hours. So it’s not exactly clear, still not clear, why the US Special Forces would have stayed on location for such a long time.

NATO also admitted killing five Afghans civilians, including three women on a home in Gardez. The joint American and Afghan assault team shot five Afghans - all family members - from the roofs of buildings in a large residential compound near Gardez, in southeastern Afghanistan.

On December 27th another incident took place in eastern kunar, when ten Afghans, eight of them schoolchildren, were killed. According to the Times of London, US-led troops dragged innocent children from their beds and shot them during a nighttime raid. Afghan government investigators said the eight students were aged from eleven to seventeen, all but one of them from the same family.

And the recent incident on Monday 12th April in Kandahar, when US attacked on passenger bus. Five Afghan civilians have been killed and another eighteen wounded. The bus driver and a passenger told The New York Times a US convoy opened fire just as the bus began pulling over to the side of the road to allow another military convoy to pass. The bus was full of civilian passengers when US troops opened fire. All of the windows on one side of the bus were shot out. Some of the wounded were left in critical condition, and the death toll could rise.

These are the tragic incidents which NATO in some cases denied and in some others admitted responsibilities. People are demanding answers, but not even a single hearing happened so far.

Let’s see what people have to say about NATO!

I'll vote for a real Afghan!

2010-04-12T15:58:00.009+10:00

Noor Akor supports his family of seven on $3 a day; he lives on a mountain with no electricity or running water and it takes him an hour to walk to his work as a hairdresser. “I’ll vote for a real Afghan, someone who cares for the people, who can bring security, harmony and prosperity. President Karzai has two passports and 200 bodyguards every time he travels; he is not a real Afghan.” he said.
''I want my country to be controlled by some one who can take time to visit people who are living in caves and listen to their voices'' he said!

Life in Caves of Bamyan!

2010-03-31T11:01:00.028+11:00

Bamyan province is one of the largest provinces in Hazarajat region of

Afghanistan

. It is located in centre of the country and majority of people are Hazaras. According to government officials, throughout the country, twenty million people are living under poverty line, from which 40% make a home in Bamyan. Poverty is increasing in this province. People are simply in shortage of food, shelter and warm clothes. In the 3,000 caves at side of Buddha statue, about 300 families are still living with out water, electricity and medication. Seeing these caves, one may hardly think living of any human there, but families are still surviving there. Bamyan province has no infrastructure of electricity, gas and water supplies. Like other provinces, life depends on agriculture, animals and children’s income. Children, like in other parts of the country, are the money makers in Bamyan. Boys collect grass to feed livestock and girls do washing, ironing and cleaning to boost incomes. The need to support widows and orphan children remains as the province still lacks significant investment on roads, water and schooling. According to Mohamad Reza, chief of education in Bamyan, from 303 schools in Bamyan only 81 of them have walls, and classrooms to simply run a class. Students are attending classes with out required stationery. They sell the nutrition biscuits distributed by WFP at schools to buy pen and notebooks. Most talented students leave schools and join agriculture, casual work, and even gang of smugglers. The human rights office is concern about future of these children, especially those who join gangs and become victims of sexual abuse. Overall, people are not happy about government. They believe due to their ethnicity, not much attention is given to Bamyan province. They simply believe that trading millions between government and NATO has no positive impact on their lives. They were/are suffering from poverty and simply can't feed their children.

However, Dr Habiba Sarabi, the Bamyan Governor, stated that its not the issue of ethnicity, but it is the geographical location, cold weather and roadblock in Bamyan that impact on Bamyan's economy.

Marzia is one of Bamyan's residents. She has seven children and her husband is mentally sick. Marzia is renting her cousin’s house for 500Afghani ($10), but she has not paid the rent for the last 6 years. Marzia’s monthly income is 1500Afghani ($30) through her husband’s pension, but she says, ' it is not enough to run a family of nine and treat my husband too'. Marzia’s intension was to marry her younger daughter in exchange for 12000 Afghanis ($240) but her older son did not allow her. Instead, he stopped going to school and is now working in a TV workshop and earns $4 a week. During Mujahidin regime, Marzia’s house was attacked by Mujahidin and one of her sons was killed and her three fingers were cut off. Marzia thinks her life is better in comparison to other families; at least she has bread and sometimes potato to feed the children. However, it is always hard to even find those in winter. This is life far away from Kabul, the capital which seems to have all attention and life entertainments. People are still living in poverty even worse than what has been explained. Government officials are working with United Nation on programs to eliminate poverty, but people in Bamyan beleives they are behind walls and stones in caves and its hard to be seen and heard! Read it on 'FPB' too.

Forced Marriages in Afghanistan

2010-03-16T14:25:00.033+11:00

Throughout the world, there are 49 countries that have forced marriage or child bride problems. Forced marriage is simply breach of basic human rights. It is a form of domestic violence and child abuse that contributes to a society’s problems.

Afghanistan is one of the Islamic countries where people hold strongly tight to customs and traditions. Breaking the tradition of marrying young children, both boys and girls, is not only difficult, but near impossible in most urban districts.

In the rural areas of Afghanistan, girls are mostly married between ages of 7 to 11. It is really rare that a girl reaches the age of 16 and is not married. The customs, traditions and community they live in make it impossible for girls to break free from forced marriages. They do not get ask to speak for self desire. The fathers in the families mostly decide, as the mothers do not get involved in the decisions, because they are women.

By marrying children in early ages, families are putting them in situations of isolation, health problems, abuse, suicide and lack of education. They believe, they are doing best for their children and without their consents, they bond them into marriage contracts.

However, they don’t consider that forced marriage affect women and young children adversely. It involves negative situations like threatening behavior, emotional blackmail, physical violence, rape, sexual abuse, suicide and even murder and young children are obviously not in the capacity to handle such pressure.

According to a United Nations’ report, between 60 to 80 percent of marriages in Afghanistan are forced marriages. The report states that the reason why girls are dragged into forced marriages are; repayment of debts; to solve a dispute and to pay family expenses. Moreover, It is obvious among Pashtons, that their widow will never marry someone out of their family, as they always marry the brother of their deceased husband. However in a non-Pashton family, the girl is asked to marry her brother-in-law to get support for the children of her sister. Even worse, some sisters are married to pay for the crime of their brothers by marrying the victims.

So, people in Afghanistan believe it is part of culture to marry a girl before age of 18th and not let her have a say, but they should consider that forcing a girl to marry cannot be regarded as cultural practice in any society. It is a violation of basic human rights. Therefore, women as part of society should be able to freely express their choices about their lifestyle desires.

The video bellow is history of a 12 year girl who was forced into marriage. She ran away to break free from her in-laws, but unfortunately was arrested and in form of punishment by her husband (a Talib) she lost her nose and ear Read more!.

Click play to view her video

Life after Taliban Regime

2010-02-27T16:37:00.036+11:00

Government

After collapse of Taliban regime,

Afghanistan

first democratic presidential election took place in October 2004. Hamid Karzai has been elected as president of Afghanistan. Ten million Afghans, more than a third of the country, registered to vote, including more than 40% of eligible women. Karzai was declared the winner in November, taking 55% of the vote, and was inaugurated in December. Second presidential elections were held on August 20, 2009. More than 30 candidates challenged incumbent Karzai, with Abdullah Abdullah as the most formidable contender. Karzai was declared the winner on Nov. 5 and began his second five-year term as president

Back to School
Afghanistan

has the highest primary school enrollment in its history. Since January 2003, almost 4 million children are back to school. The number is increasing. People are knocking education centers in every corner. Only in two districts of Afghanistan more than 1500 women and 1325 men participated in literacy courses. After Taliban regime, not only children but also adults returned to schools and education centers. People are welcoming “Back to school” programs because it not only educate people, but also provides an opportunity for adults to share their own solutions to the problems they face in the community.

Women in the Society
During Taliban regime, women had the worse time in Afghanistan history. They were forbidden to work and leave the house with out escort. Seeking medical treatment from a male doctor was out of question. They had to be covered from head to toe including eyes. The women who were doctors, teachers, and engineers were prison at their own houses; they either end up being beggars or prostituters to feed their families. But since fall of Taliban, the women situation has been improved considerably.

Women are now given equal rights as men in the country. They are no longer prison at their own houses. They are back to society and work. Government also does not force them to cover, or wear burqa. Most of women returned to government jobs like ministries and parliament. It looks like collapse of Taliban has given life to million dead bodies of afghan women. They are as busy as men on development side of the country. Today you can find women in every corner of the country engage with an activity. Some are back to universities, some are to militaries, some to parliament, some to airlines as stewards, and some are attending available courses to accelerate their language and driving skills.

Sports
Life and entertainment has returned to

Afghanistan

after Taliban regime. Population in the country is increasing. Most of young and energetic boys and girls are joining the world of sports. They are working hard to participate in Olympic Games through which they can battle for the country's honor and flog out as winners. It is a pleasure to be witness that

Afghanistan

hit the world of championship for cricket today and the credit defiantly should be given to all these energetic young generation.

Since aliban’s elimination; Afghanistan has tasted the joy of freedom and prosperity. It is functioning smoothly and people are excited with the alterations. Today Afghanistan again has a film and television industry. The museum is open and the old center is being rebuilt. Economic is boosting, money is changed, and freedom of media came back to life. Developments and infrastructures are underway and population is increasing with returnees. Despite all these changes many challenges still remain. The recent suicide attacks in the country took the color of joys and happiness from people’s faces. People are trying to avoid crowded places and stay indoors as much as possible. But they believe the government and foreign troops are there to help and can’t wait to have a peaceful country soon back.

Three Categories of people in Afghanistan!

2010-02-12T17:35:00.024+11:00

Higher Category: People of this category are the richest among all. They are holder of different positions in government or out of the country. Sky is the limit for them. They are self-center, focus and don't think out of their lives' circles. They are thirsty for success, earnings and self-benefits. Never satisfy with less. Always want to be the winners and have the highest positions and the buildings in the society. They personally do not care about government, environment and people's benefit and requirements. They have no time for others, except their families.

Middle Category: People of this category are the middle earners. They are focus, doer and hungry for achievements. They are either engage with private businesses (shops, restaurants, hotels) or UNs and NGOs or government lower positions. They live with the ideology that European or Western countries are heaven on the earth. It is clean, beautiful, loyal and easy. Government pays you, houses, electricity and water are free and buying a car is a matter of click. They do whatever it takes to leave the county to make a living in one of these countries. They believe these countries are an automatic world like a PC with out any virus/error....

Lower Category: People of this category are the beggars. They beg on street for living. Do not have food, clean water, clothes and shelters. They always focus on how to find food to pass a day. Their lives are full of tensions. A tension for the morning to find breakfast, a tension for noon to find lunch and a tension for night to find a place to sleep, food to eat and clothes to cover- not to die. All they need is help, support and attention, but unfortunately, they don't get this.

In summary, If higher class people think of their pockets, middle class people think of leaving the country and lower class people think of their empty stomachs…then

Who is really thinking about Afghanistan? Who is really thinking about its future, infrastructure and development? Who is the next generation of this country and who will make this country a better world for upcoming generation?

Please state if you h ave the answers!

David Miliband's Answer to Tahera Nassrat's Question!

2010-02-07T14:47:00.031+11:00

David Miliband: Do you think President Hamid Karzi will be able to provide a stable situation in Afghanistan with his new cabinet? Mr President H.Karzi has possessed presidential chair through corruption; do you think he will be able to eliminate corruption from the country itself? Do you think Mr Karzi has education, health, women equal rights and Poverty on his top agenda and how serious he is on these issues?

Asked by Tahera N. on Jan 19 2010 6:35:56 PM and supported by 10 members!

Answer by David Miliband:

Click 'play' to view.

Parliament anger over Karzai Cabinet choices

2010-01-23T15:22:00.008+11:00

January 19th, 2010

Afghan parliament members reacted angrily Tuesday after President Hamid Karzai gave Cabinet posts to ministers they had rejected days earlier.

Parliament approved seven of Karzai's 17 Cabinet nominees Saturday, leaving 10 posts vacant. On Tuesday, Karzai made some of the 10 rejected nominees acting ministers or assistant ministers in the Cabinet.

It provoked strong reaction from government officials. "That decision of the president is disrespect for the people of Afghanistan and for the representative of the people [parliament]," Mirwise Yasini, first secretary to the parliament, told Azadi Radio.

Yasini said the decision also disrespected both Afghan laws and parliament members, who had rejected most of those nominated Tuesday.

"It would be better if the president would select some eligible people from the ministries as acting ministers," Yasini said.

The nominees' rejection did not bode well for Karzai, under both international and domestic pressure to stamp out widespread corruption and establish legitimacy for his administration, tainted by allegations of vote fraud last August.

Parliament members have complained that Karzai's nominees are either corrupt or linked to warlords.

"Without any doubt, it is a crash between the government and [parliament], and [I] hope it won't go deep," political analyst Nassrullah Stanakzai said of Tuesday's developments.

The next vote on Cabinet nominees is scheduled for next month, when Parliament members return from vaccation.

Reference: Afghanistan Crossroads CNN.

what is Hijab?

2010-01-22T19:10:00.004+11:00

Hijab is the Arabic word for “Curtain, or Cover” it is taken from Hajb meaning to cover, to veil, to shelter. There are different concepts about wearing Hijab. Some wears to delight their God, some to please their families and some to obey the law. but according to holy Quran, the reason Muslim women were asked to wear an outer garment when going out was to differentiate them from non-Muslims and recognize them as “believing” women in the society. The purpose of this verse was to protect women from streetwalkers for whom sexual harassment was/is an occupation. Holy Quran does not say that women should be veiled and kept at home away from mix society, conversely, it insisted in full participation of women in the society and religious practices. Unfortunately, the concept of Hijab in Quran has strongly been misinterpreted by powerful islamic groups.

They establish rules against women desires to remain home and avoid mix society. No legal rights and freedom have been recognized to them and if they go against their brothers or husbands, they should be punished. I believe, It is part of growing feeling in Muslim men that they no longer wish their wives and sisters to be independent and uncover, however the Muslim men meet and make relation with non-Muslim women who are not veiled and treat them respectfully, but not the same respectful treatment to Muslim women. Moreover, if they see Muslim women on street, regardless of any family connection, they feel responsible of their security and quickly acquire guardianship and if need be, they beat them like Taliban.

Women in Muslim countries like Afghanistan are compelling from very beginning. When a girl is born, different treatment is arranged to the girl. They are told to avoid men room, talking among elders, walking with out veil, joking with boys and even the mother is criticized of delivering a baby girl not a boy.whereas a different treatment is delivered to the boys of the same family. Girls are always shown and proven a weak human being and boys are strong. If a boy cries, the parent says, “are you a girl to cry?, or a boy never cries’. The boys get the sense of being a strong being, whereas if a girl cries they say “let her cry girls are weak and cry”. The girls get the sense of being soft, weak and men followers. Motivation, support and equality never delivers to the girls in the families, rather discrimination is growing inside till it spread out to the society that women find it hard to stand up and speak for their rights. Obligatory cases for wearing hijab are increasing. Most women are living against their desire in advance society like Australia. They are fully covered by black outer garments and tight veils; however their husbands or brothers walking by their sides are in European outfits. Question rises, why such discrimination in the same family from parents to their children? Why women should wear and behave against their wishes and oppositely not the same for men of the same family? Not only that, some other Muslim families believe by wearing Hijab, their personality will be protected and they will earn more respect in society. But does it mean non-Muslim women do not have personality because they are not covered, or no one will respect them in the society? This is such an incorrect concept. Personality rises from a person’s knowledge, thoughts and the way (s)he grows up in the family and respect in the society again will be earned by your behavior and knowledge. It has no connection with clothes, hijab and appearance. I think reconciliation of these incorrect concepts is necessary. Families should educate themselves and deliver equal treatments to their children. They need to understand that personality, Islam and region is not on appearance. It is in you and they way you behave and treat others. people should increase their level of awareness and avoid religious practices like force marriages, hiding women in door and spending thousands to visit Macca asking for forgiveness. They should instead sponsor a poor family, provide shelter, food, clothes and medication for those who are suffering. I am one of the Afghan Muslim girls who do not cover, because I believe my region and my God is in my heart not in my appearance. If I want to please my God, I am going to please him by doing the right thing and helping people who are dying every day from hunger and medication luck.

So, let’s live practically and avoid religious exercises and make life easy. Avoid old concepts of keeping your wives and sisters indoor and forcing them to cover. Instead, ask them for help, make them work by your sides and speed your lives. Aware yourselves about life around the world, respect other regions, wear what you find it comfortable, prevent human abuse and stop limiting your options in life. Now here are some questions for you to answer,

What do you think as a Muslim or Non-Muslim individual about Hijab?
Does Hijab affect your personality?
Is God going to be pleased if you cover, but not honest?
Is God going to forgive you if you only visit Macca?

Love to hear your voices!

Come Home!

2010-01-22T16:11:00.005+11:00

I feel so guilty for what I have left behind. I feel so unfaithful for what I have left behind. At night I can’t go to sleep, because I hear the voice, “Come home, come home”. I wake-up frightened, thinking it was just a dream. But when I settle, again I hear, “Come home, come home”. I start shivering, start crying, close my ears,and try to go to sleep again, but the words “Come home, come home”, repeat in my mind over and over again. Once I fall asleep I go into a deep dream, where I am playing, having fun, laughing, my clothes dirty and ripped and then someone very familiar tells me to “Come back”. Then I tell them I will come back, I will come home, I will come to find my peace again, But only with a new dream, new hope,new passion, and a new world
Written by:

Yousuf Faroqi in the memory of his home & dreams

Ahmad Zahir by word of his own son Rishad Zahir

2010-01-21T21:19:00.002+11:00

A celebrity of enduring popularity almost three decades after his death, Ahmad Zahir is considered as a legend and an icon of Afghan music. Born on June 14, 1946, he was the son of late Dr. Abdul Zahir (born 1910, in Laghman), who was an influential Afghan politician and a one time Afghan Prime Minister (1971-1972) during the reign of King Zahir Shah.

Ahmad Zahir attended Habibia High School in the early 1960s and his interest in music developed during this period where he often sang in his school concerts, accompanied by his band that was made up of mainly his friends and classmates: Nabil Miskinyar on drums, Omar Sultan on guitar, Farid Zaland on congas and Kabir Howaida on piano, as well as other talented musicians who would accompany him from time to time. He himself would mainly play the accordion as he sang. In one particular concert, during his school days, he sang so beautifully that his schoolmates declared him “Bulbul-e Habibia”. The band, which later became known as the Amateur Band of Habibia High School, gained popularity with their performances in local concerts during celebratory occasions such as Nouroz, Eid, and Afghan Independence Day. After his graduation from high school he attended and graduated from Darul Malimeen (Teachers’ College) in Kabul. He continued his higher education for two more years in India to get his degree as an English instructor. But his true calling, of course, was to sing. With the approval and encouragement of his family he was able to pursue his true love of music. Rising from the acclaim of the band, Ahmad Zahir branched onto his solo career. Carrying his musical instincts to new heights, he began composing songs based on well-recognized Dari poems. The meaning and depth of his songs quickly garnered him national attention as did the tenor voice that was complementary to a wide range of musical notes. His first recorded song, gar kuni yak nizara, was also his own composition, sung in the pilo raga, which he had not been taught by anyone at that time. With this song he proved his God-given talent and true genius, at an early age, which the Almighty blessed him with. He continued composing and recording his future songs such as azeezam ba yaadat, ahista-ahista, akhir ay darya, hama yaranam, agar sabza boodam, guftam ke mekhwaham tura, shabe ze shabha, parween-e man and many more. After a couple of years Ahmad Zahir married and his first and only son, Rishad was born. By this time he had already decided that he was simply not made for teaching, but that

music was his true destiny.Besides teaching and his musical interests, at that time, he also held a job at Kabul Times as a journalist. But by this time his popularity had reached such a height that it was pretty clear to him and his family that he was born to sing. Unfortunately, as his popularity grew, his marriage was starting to fail and it resulted in a divorce. Later on, he married his second wife, from whom he was expecting his second child. He had chosen the name Shabnam should it be a girl. By this stage in his life he was on top of the world. He had already been chosen singer of the year several times and he had recorded over 19 albums, each containing 12-16 new songs. Aside from his albums, he also had many hits on the national radio, not to mention a vast collection of his wonderful majlisi recordings. But his voice recordings were not the only means through which his vast pool of fans was able to listen to his enchanting voice. He also organized huge concerts in Kabul and other major cities of Afghanistan, leaving the most memorable impressions in the hearts of his fans. Throughout this adventurous journey of his life, he was able to make many friends and countless fans because of his great charisma, charm, and friendly personality. With the changes in the political landscape of Afghanistan, Ahmad Zahir became conscious of the socio-political transformation of his homeland.He adjusted his tone and the contents of his music to reflect his feelings through his songs, such as zindagi akhir sar Ayed, bigzarad bigzarard, and safar bee roshenAyee. Such songs, which carried revolutionary lyrics and reflected the feelings of a patriotic artist, stirred enough controversy in the political realms, which would later cost him his life.

On his 33h birthday (June 14, 1979) he was assassinated by the order of a communist general named Daud Taroon who used one of Ahmad Zahir’s best friends as an accomplice to carry out his orders. Taroon was not only an envious and jealous enemy of Ahmad Zahir, but also because Ahmad Zahir’s political stance was at odds with the communist government of the time. Sadly, his precious Shabnam, whom he was eagerly looking forward to, would come into the world on the same day of his passing. More than a quarter of a century after his death, his popularity remains strong among his fans. Many Afghans truly love him from the heart, whether it is the younger generation, born outside of Afghanistan, who can barely understand the lyrics of his music; or those who grew up during the heydays of Ahmad Zahir; or those who saw him live in-concert and in person; or whether it is the much older generation who are now more understanding and appreciative of his legendary work. Ahmad Zahir will continue to live in the hearts of his fans. In the past 28 years, many talented artists and musicians have come and gone, but Ahmad Zahir’s voice, talent, fame, and charisma, has remained unrivaled. He remains a source of inspiration for new and aspiring artists and has rightfully earned the title of Afghanistan’s Nightingale. His legacy as the most celebrated musical phenomenon in Afghanistan and the embodiment of modern Afghan music goes on.

May Allah bless his martyred soul!

Reference: www.ahmadzahir.com

Tell me Why?

2010-01-21T10:17:00.003+11:00

"Tel me why" is not only the voice of a child, but all those children who lost lives, families, desires, ambitions, destines, and finally compassion. This song is dedicated to the world with a transparent message to stop war and children abuse .

Children deserve to hold a pen not a gun.......Check it out!

Voice of an Old Man!

2010-01-03T12:21:00.001+11:00

برای گفتن من، شعر هم به گل مانده

نمانده عمری و صدها سخن به دل مانده

صدا که مرهم فریاد بود زخمی مرا

به پیش درد عظیمی دلم خجل مانده

از دست عزیزان چه بگویم، گله نیست

گر هم گله هست دگر حوصله نيست

سرگرم به خود زخم زدن درهمه عمرم

هرلحظه جز اين دست مرا مشغله نيست
Listen

Afghan Women Achivements in USA

2009-12-31T10:37:00.002+11:00

War destroyed the country, but fortunately could not expunge Afghan women's talent and ambition. The talent is rising every day from different parts of the world and achieves a great honor for the country.

I was reading ACCC website and realized graduation of afghan women in such a tight place like Kandahar. I think we as an Afghan should thank ACCC for providing such an incredible opportunity for women, and deliver huge credit and support for women in Kandahar to keep up doing what they are doing. They should admit that Afghans around the world are aware of their amazing work and are really proud.
Moreover; afghan women are not limited inside Afghanistan, they are spread around the world and working hard to achieve and honor women and the country.
To verify this fact, I was going through different universities' website and realized most of achievements had been handed in to Afghan women. It is not because universities are playing politics or trying to motive afghan women to stand up, but because afghans are talented, intelligent, energetic and have the obsession to learn and achieve. They want to prove to the world that Afghan women can do and have the ability to accomplish.

We have a couple of hardworking Afghan women like Sonia Eqbal, Palwasha Mirbacha, Nadima Sahar and Adela Raz in Simmons College and Richmond University. They are doing an outstanding job and received a number of different awards which not only me, but all of afghans around the world should be proud of.

Afghanistan

is in deep need of these young, talented, intelligent, energetic afghan women. They are working firmly towards their responsibilities and can't wait to return to serve that broken land.
Some of them are already in

Afghanistan

and some are studying their Masters. They know their mother land is waiting for them to return and hand in to what they were sent of.

So, let's look at their great achievements

Nadima Sahar
Read More-> Click Previous Newsletters

Sonia Eqbal
Read More-> Click Previous Newsletters

Palwasha Mirchacha and Adela Raz
Read More-> Click Previous Newsletters

Afghan Women Achievements in Kandahar

2009-12-29T22:10:00.002+11:00

The graduating class of SAIT students at the ACCC

Jess Dutton presents ACCC students with certificates signed by the Prime Minister of Canada

An ACCC student delivers a graduation speech

Why do you think this child is crying?

2009-12-28T12:28:00.002+11:00

Do you think she is crying, because

- She lost her family,

      - She is hungry,
      - She is beaten,
      - She is victimized,
      - She is kidnapped,
      - She is sold,
      - She is lost,
      - She is exchanged for food, or
      - She is scared of explosion ,
There are thousand reasons to why children are crying in Afghanistan. I only named some of them, but i would like you to look at the photo again, think a bit deeper and then write; why do you think this child is crying?

God Bless Afghanistan!

What is War From an Afghan Child's Prespective?

2009-12-27T10:32:00.002+11:00

War is a scary event which happens to destroy cities, lives and take everything a person would have in life. It is always difficult for children to understand what war is and why it happens. If children get affected by a frightening event like war, that affection would remain with them for the rest of their lives. It might cause them aggression, depression, disability and stress. Children who are affected by war mostly live with an inside anger that may finally drag them into smuggling, murder and drug trafficking. These will contribute enormous problems for society which is hard to control and eliminate.

I have interviewed a number of children and some other locals in Afghanistan about war. I still remember the innocent faces of those three kids who were following me in kabul at Chicken Street. They were begging for 10 or 20 Afghani which is around 50 cent of a dollar. I took them down the road and sat for a while and asked them.

Why you kids are on street and running behind people for money?
The obvious answers were, ‘we need money to eat!’
I asked, are you the only money makers in the family?
Two of them said yes. One of them said no, my mother also works. She cooks bread for our neighbor once in a week and they pay her. She also begs on street like me, but not Chicken Street. She is on main road.
I asked, why do not your fathers or your older brothers work?
The painful answers were; ‘they are all dead in war.’
I asked, what does war mean to you all and why war happens? I got three different answers.
a) war is the rocket which comes from sky and kills people like my father, b) war is a bomb and blow up people and c) war is Taliban.

However the concept of war was different in case of an old woman who knocked on my door for money and food. She hardly was walking and came all the way up to 5th floor to have a piece of bread, or money or clothes for winter.

I asked her, mother Jan (dear), you are not in age of begging, what your story is and why you are begging?
The old woman said. I lost my son in war, he was dead in a rocket and I have his children to support.
I asked, what about your daughter in- law, is not she working?
She said, she was working during Taliban, but she was caught and beaten badly by a Talib on street. Although, she mentioned that her husband is dead and she has to support her family, but was not reasonable for Taliban. She was in pain for a week and then died.
I asked, mother Jan how would you describe war?
She said, war means lost with no return. It took everything i had in life and made me to beg for family support.
I asked, then why war happens, do you know?
She said, strangers want to take the piece of land we are living in that is why war happens.

Well! This was the definition of war from an old woman perspective. However, this was again different in the case of a taxi driver. When i asked him, what is war and why it happens? He said, war happens because politicians work for self-interest rather than country and children and poor people are then victimized of their actions. It looks like Afghanistan is suffering from civil war for many years and poor people have been shouldering the burden of war. But the fact is transparent that children are mostly the victims. They are suffering with every breath they take. They experience awful days like, heavy labor, playing with guns, watching people dying in front of their eyes, making money and not having enough to eat and wear (see children of conflict). So, who is responsible for this? Who takes accountability of these victimized children? Do you think government will be able to help these children return to school? Do you think we will have a stable country to return and help people? Do you think we will have Afghanistan back?

An Afghan Girl Ambition to Work for UN/NGO

2009-12-25T12:15:00.005+11:00

When I was a little girl, I used to wake up every morning to watch my father getting ready for his work. He was an English translator in Red Cross and mostly was on travel. I loved the fact that he was so neat, organize and professional. He loved to be always in black suit, white shirt and a beautiful black tie. He was picked up by a white land cruiser with a Red Cross sign and a nice flog right in front of it. My father used to drop me to school every day and I loved the fact to use and get a ride on his car, not that I was interested at school. There was a morning when I waked up and realized, my father was already gone. I was extremely disappointed and continuously crying. I said to mom, 'why dad went with out seeing and dropping me to school'. Mom with a beautiful smile said, 'he had a meeting to attend and went to be there to prepare for his presentation'. I still remember, like last night dream to what I said to mom, I said, 'dad seems to be really proud of his car, tell him that one day I will grow up and will have such a car coming to pick me up and that day I would not give him a left'. Mom laughed and said, ok do so, but now stop crying and go to school. Years, months, weeks and days passed by, and I happened to be in grade 12. Our house was close to UNHCR and MSF office, and every morning when I was going to school, I used to see MSF and UNHCR land cruisers with the white and red flogs hanging. Glance of those cars was just a meal of mind and motivation engine to me. That was making me to work hard and get close to my destination. Grade 12 was a busy year, because I had to prepare for my entrance exam for university. I used to wake up at 6am and leave home at 6.30. I started my day with private Mathematic class, then school, after school, directly to English language course for 2 hours, and then to computer class for another 2 hours. I totally had no break, and by the time I went home, I totally was exhausted and had my breakfast, lunch and dinner all together. Every evening I was studying till late to review the day lessons. I was totally full and had a lot of energy to spend. Sometimes when I look back, I really feel proud of myself, I was so strong and energetic covering all at one day with out any break.We had MSF office in our neighborhood. People working there seem to know my father. One day they asked my father to find a Dari teacher for one of MSF expatriate. I still remember the day when my father came with the proposal of Dari Teacher. He said Tahera would you like to be a teacher, I said, “dad you know what I want to be, then why you are asking this, beside I am extremely busy with my finals, I don’t want to be a teacher”. My father said, OK decision is yours, but there is a guy I know and he is looking for someone to teach a French girl in MSF, Dari, its only one hour every day at her lunch time. I said what? NGO! Of course I am going to go and do it. I accepted the offer because I knew it would be a good opportunity to know the NGO’s culture and environment and then I can make my way to where I want to be. I was happy teaching Katherine (French girl) Dari and we had nice one hour every day. One day Katherine asked me if I am interested to be her assistant as full time employee. I said I would love to be so and accepted the job offer with all my heart. This was where my career with NGO/UN started.

I believe every child has the right to dream and make an ambition. Unfortunately, the situation in

Afghanistan

took this right from our children. Probably I was one of the

luckiest

children in Afghanistan, who had family support and motivation to achieve what I wanted to achieve. But unluckily, today in

Afghanistan

, most of our children are the family earners, or they are with their widow mothers on street and begging for money. The other side of awful fact is that children on street are victimized by drugs, criticism, child obvious, murder, or poverty forces them into smuggling ( please see further down the video about children into smuggling). They don’t get a chance to dream, or go to school, or to be what they want to be. If you walk down on street and stop a child to ask, "what do you want to be in the future?" they all would say, a doctor, engineer, teacher, minister, but non of them would say murderer, killer, drug trafficker, not because they don’t know what they are, but because they don’t want to be so, but they are drawn there and they get into a point where coming back for there is so damn hard. To look deeper into Afghan children life please click the link Children life in Afghanistan!

Communication and Cultural Stereotypes

2009-12-23T12:02:00.004+11:00

Communication in the context of international business is really important. This impacts on relationship between different countries with various customs and social mores. Each country stereotype other countries with outdated information which mostly end up in conflict. I have been studying Mr Edward Hall and Geert Hofstede researches on cross culture communication and prepared an article as below. Hope this may be effective for your need.

Communication and Cultural Stereotypes

Communications are generally influenced by culture. Culture mainly shares beliefs, ethics, mores and similar behaviors of individuals or groups in a society. These cultural values decoded into stereotypes, which are not always accurate and inmost circumstances lead to misunderstanding. Cultural stereotypes are vital and will impact cross cultural communication, but not necessary effective in all circumstances. Cultural stereotypes are generalizations of a culture that categories the characteristics of a culture and transmit a broad message.It is not always precise because not every one in a group or culture lives with the same perceptions. Cultural stereotypes could be positive and negative, depending on the purpose of usage. However, further down, the connection between culture and communication, efficiency of cultural stereotypes in communication; approaching of communication with cultural stereotypes have been discussed in both, positive and negative aspects. Hofstede and Hall, the two famous writers also elaborated the elements of culture and communication with their cultural dimensions.

There is a relationship between culture and communication and each culture has characteristics which categorize into cultural stereotypes . These stereotypes provide insight information about different countries' groups or cultures; For example, Americans admire achievements, practicality and freedom, whereas Saudi Arabians, admire honor, patience, and group harmony, or, in some Arab countries equal opportunity for women is a negative valence; however it is positive valence in United States. An important issue to consider in the mechanism of cultural stereotypes are developed by Hofstede and Hall. Hall believes culture is communication and communication is culture. Eunson (2008, pp67-468) discusses Hall’s framework through two dimensions, low-context cultures and high- context cultures.

For example, Arab, Japanese and Chinese cultures are high-context cultures, and American and Swiss cultures are low-context cultures. Hall’s model has some strengths and weaknesses. It allows people to identify the differences in communication which cause difficulty in communicating. It provides suggestion to why communication works or does not work when people meet from different cultures. However Hall’s approach in terms of research is relatively undeveloped and has exceptions to the rule; For example, in Arab countries, touching behaviour is oriented high culture context, but it is not so in other countries like Japan, or Taiwan. Japan relies more on non-verbal communication and US and Germany rely more on verbal communication. Whereas, Hofstede defines culture as collective programming of mind, which differentiate people of one group from another. Hofstede argues that each culture has similarities and differences to identify and those can be identified through cultural dimensions. For example, individuals take priority over groups in collectivistic cultures; groups take precedence over individuals, so there are systematic differences which can be explained by Hofstede cultural dimensions. Hofstede five cultural dimensions are powerful and provide extensive possibility in understanding an individual’s culture. However, it is imitated to IBM survey and narrowed in one organisation in 72 countries. The IBM survey may not be relevant today, because culture is not static and a lot has changed since 1973. Hence, to compare those two models, Hall research seems effective to approach communication, because it provides differences between cultures clearly. Whereas, Hofstede’s model is based on IBM survey, and is not accurate overall, because IBM survey was done between 1960 to 1970 and a lot has changed since then. On the other hand, cultural stereotypes can lead to in-effective cross-cultural communication. It is a perception about a different culture which is not accurate in most circumstances. In Cultural stereotypes mistakes could occur in interpretation of others’ behaviours, because people base their judgements about a culture on stereotypical information. Generally when stereotypes are given about a culture, it is a serious statement about all people who belong to that group, which is not always exact. For example, as a result of failing a test, cultural stereotypes may give a wrong perception to observers that such a failure is subject to laziness, if the failure is Asian, but if it is low ability, the failure is black. Thus, cultural stereotypes can not be precise always; it could give a false statement about a group of individuals. Like the incorrect statement just given; not all Asians are lazy or not every black individual is unable to perform a task. If people take these incorrect perceptions, they will treat all Asians or blacks with pre-existing view of stereotypes unfairly and communication will end to misunderstanding. Cultural stereotypes are an in-effective way to approach communication. They lead people to base their reactions, and convey their messages on false assumptions. For example, Indians stereotype Americans as always in a continuous hurry and they never treasure life’s enjoyments. Japanese stereotype Americans as never silent and always having something to say, and whatever they say is not always correct and stupid. So these perceptions are not always accurate because cultural stereotypes refers to a group from a culture which not everyone in a culture is with the same beliefs, and this can not be exact. Despite those misperceptions, cultural stereotypes can be helpful and influence the way people process the information. It is vital to consider that all cultures stereotype people from other cultures. It sometimes assists to get overall information about a new culture. For example, Germans often see Americans as friendly, open and resourceful, and Americans find Germans, well-organised, careful, and efficient. So cultural stereotypes can be helpful and provide people with background information about a culture, or community. This could be handy for businesses, and travellers to maintain relationship with new culture. It could be a guide with basic information about cultures’ values and mores. Cultural stereotype can not be static; because culture is changing with development of globalisation. People are in constant travel from one country into another and it is changing by generation. Culture adoption will impact on both, initiating new relationship and maintaining existing relationship. For example; Germans can not approach Indian with outdated cultural stereotypes to initiate or maintain business relationship; because Indian culture has changed and this will have a negative impact on business relationship. So cultural stereotype is not static and is changing by generation. It strongly impact’s on maintaining or initiating new relationship. In conclusion, cultural stereotypes are a generalisation about a culture. It is a source of information about individuals in a group as well as what characteristics individuals possess in a group. Cultural stereotypes can be effective and in-effective depending on circumstances. However studies demonstrate that cultural stereotypes do not always provide accurate perceptions about a culture, because culture and most of its elements are changing, and using outdated resources could lead misunderstanding. Hofstede and Hall also drew their researches on culture and communication. Hall’s model seems more effective because it categorised the differences of individual cultures clearly, whereas Hofstede’s model seems to be of one organisation and the IBM survey based an employees’ knowledge. In short, cultural stereotypes are an in-effective way to approach communication and may lead to in-effective cross cultural communication. It is an incorrect perception about a culture and mostly leads communication to misunderstanding, because not every one in a culture thinks and lives the same way and shares the same value

Afghanistan History

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Darius I and Alexander the Great were the first to use Afghanistan as the gateway to India. Islamic conquerors arrived in the 7th century, and Genghis Khan and Tamerlane followed in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the 19th century, Afghanistan became a battleground in the rivalry between imperial Britain and czarist Russia for control of Central Asia. Three Anglo-Afghan wars (1839–1842, 1878–1880, and 1919) ended inconclusively. In 1893 Britain established an unofficial border, the Durand Line, separating Afghanistan from British India, and London granted full independence in 1919. Emir Amanullah founded an Afghan monarchy in 1926. During the cold war, King Mohammed Zahir Shah developed close ties with the Soviet Union, accepting extensive economic assistance from Moscow. He was deposed in 1973 by his cousin Mohammed Daoud, who proclaimed a republic. Daoud was killed in a 1978 coup, and Noor Taraki took power, setting up a Marxist regime. He, in turn, was executed in Sept. 1979, and Hafizullah Amin became president. Amin was killed in Dec. 1979, as the Soviets launched a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan and installed Babrak Karmal as president.

The Soviets, and the Soviet-backed Afghan government, were met with fierce popular resistance. Guerrilla forces, calling themselves mujahideen, pledged a jihad, or holy war, to expel the invaders. Initially armed with outdated weapons, the mujahideen became a focus of U.S. cold war strategy against the Soviet Union, and with Pakistan's help, Washington began funneling sophisticated arms to the resistance. Moscow's troops were soon bogged down in a no-win conflict with determined Afghan fighters. In 1986 Karmal resigned, and was replaced by Mohammad Najibullah. In April 1988 the USSR, U.S., Afghanistan, and Pakistan signed accords calling for an end to outside aid to the warring factions. In return, a Soviet withdrawal took place in Feb. 1989, but the pro-Soviet government of President Najibullah was left in the capital, Kabul.

By mid-April 1992 Najibullah was ousted as Islamic rebels advanced on the capital. Almost immediately, the various rebel groups began fighting one another for control. Amid the chaos of competing factions, a group calling itself the Taliban—consisting of Islamic students—seized control of Kabul in Sept. 1996. It imposed harsh fundamentalist laws, including stoning for adultery and severing hands for theft. Women were prohibited from work and school, and they were required to cover themselves from head to foot in public. By fall 1998 the Taliban controlled about 90% of the country and, with its scorched-earth tactics and human rights abuses, had turned itself into an international pariah. Only three countries—Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAR—recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate government.

On Aug. 20, 1998, U.S. cruise missiles struck a terrorist training complex in Afghanistan believed to have been financed by Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Islamic radical sheltered by the Taliban. The U.S. asked for the deportation of Bin Laden, whom it believed was involved in the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on Aug. 7, 1998. The UN also demanded the Taliban hand over Bin Laden for trial.

In Sept. 2001, legendary guerrilla leader Ahmed Shah Masoud was killed by suicide bombers, a seeming death knell for the anti-Taliban forces, a loosely connected group referred to as the Northern Alliance. Days later, terrorists attacked New York's World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, and Bin Laden emerged as the primary suspect in the tragedy.

On Oct. 7, after the Taliban repeatedly and defiantly refused to turn over Bin Laden, the U.S. and its allies began daily air strikes against Afghan military installations and terrorist training camps. Five weeks later, with the help of U.S. air support, the Northern Alliance managed with breathtaking speed to take the key cities of Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul, the capital. On Dec. 7, the Taliban regime collapsed entirely when its troops fled their last stronghold, Kandahar. However, al-Qaeda members and other mujahideen from various parts of the Islamic world who had earlier fought alongside the Taliban persisted in pockets of fierce resistance, forcing U.S. and allied troops to maintain a presence in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar remained at large.

In Dec. 2001, Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun (the dominant ethnic group in the country) and the leader of the powerful 500,000-strong Populzai clan, was named head of Afghanistan's interim government; in June 2002, he formally became president. The U.S. maintained about 12,000 troops to combat the remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and about 31 nations also contributed NATO-led peacekeeping forces. In 2003, after the United States shifted its military efforts to fighting the war in Iraq, attacks on American-led forces intensified as the Taliban and al-Qaeda began to regroup.

President Hamid Karzai's hold on power remained tenuous, as entrenched warlords continued to exert regional control. Remarkably, however, Afghanistan's first democratic presidential elections in Oct. 2004 were a success. Ten million Afghans, more than a third of the country, registered to vote, including more than 40% of eligible women. Karzai was declared the winner in November, taking 55% of the vote, and was inaugurated in December.

In September 2005, Afghanistan held its first democratic parliamentary elections in more than 25 years. The Taliban continued to attack U.S. troops throughout 2005 and 2006—the latter becoming the deadliest year for U.S. troops since the war ended in 2001. In 2004 and 2005, American troop levels in Afghanistan gradually increased to nearly 18,000 from a low of 10,000. and the fight in Afghanistan between US and Taliban is still continues as most of you are witness.

Reference: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107264.html?pageno=6

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