Last week I went to one of the outskirts in Kabul where returning refugees from Pakistan move to. The living circumstances of these internally displaced persons (IDPs) are absolutely appalling and disgraceful. Nevertheless I was welcomed in their tents with hospitality and kindness. Their tents are not much more than pieces of old cloth and fabric with the occasional bit of animal skin. They sleep on dirt floors and have no electricity or water and not even a sewer system. Their children also go to school in tents, run by an NGO, and luckily also receive a small meal of soup and nan (Afghan bread). Some IDPs live, if they are lucky enough, in small huts with clay walls and a roof of reed and straw.
Their children are extremely curious, especially about a foreign woman who comes to ask a lot of questions. Some questions about possible political participation I was not allowed to ask, because their situation is even more strict, meaning with more restrictions, than the situation of any woman I have met these past few weeks.
One bright spot in Pul-e-Charkhi is the ORA clinic. Women receive classes on pregnancies and birth skills and they can take agriculture classes. The goal of the agriculture classes is to teach women how to grow herbs and vegetables in order for them to diversify their food so they can eat other things than bread and rice. Most women are so excited about what they learn, that they go home and teach their sisters and daughters what they were taught.
I was told not to take pictures because of the men. Well, I did take some, but I had to do it very carefully. I realize my pictures don’t have caps yet, but hopefully I will find time to do it soon!
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