Changes in Afghanistan since 2003
During the last year I have seem a number of changes in Afghanistan or I should say Kabul which is not Afghanistan and as with most capitals is more progressive and liberal than elsewhere. A year ago I was surprised to see a woman driving a car. Now it is not exactly the norm but not so strange either. Fewer women where the burqa but still most do even in Kabul. More women are in good jobs. I contract to two NGOs with women directors. Girls can go to school and many do in Kabul. In some conservative areas none do. Still one can see women packed into the boots of cars and are still second class citizens. For many women outside Kabul nothing has changed. Khazai’s wife has said she will get more involved in public life. She has been rarely seen. What is not commonly known is that it is his second wife. His first did not give him a child so in Islam he can take a second wife. He still has not got a child so this could be one Afghan man who is shooting blanks.
Foreign agencies such as the UN, NGOs, private contractors and foreign military always bring two things to a conflict zone. Inflation and whores. Some organizations pay up to $6,000 for a large house and pay their staff over $1,000 a month. As the average salary for public workers is about $30 a month many people get priced out of accommodation. I am not sure what the answer is. A cap on spending for common items between all the foreign agencies would never work. Of course Afghanistan like everywhere has whores but it is very much hidden here. However, the other night I went to a bar I had been to about 7 months ago. Previously it had been quiet but a couple of furtive foreign security company employers chatting to a Chinese girl made me wonder. Now it is a full blown whore bar with lots of Chinese girls and foreign men. While Afghan men used to drink furtively and indulge in vodka from Uzbekistan now beer is sold openly in some shops in Kabul. Cans of Heineken beer stacked in shop windows and crates of beer outside some shops. This would never have been allowed a year ago. Police say that the most common cause of traffic accidents now is alcohol.
As for development DDR (Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration) has had some success but no where near the amount planned. Poppy eradication has not exactly been a great success. Perhaps the west should try and solve it on there door step rather than hurting poor small farmers. The election went peacefully and recently a new cabinet was sworn in. Khazai told them that if they want money they should get out of the government and into private business. Still when I call a deputy minister I am often told he is not coming back after lunch or not coming in if it is the end of the week. The work ethic is not too strong yet. Jawid, one of my staff, when asked what he was doing said. ‘I will write some emails to my friends and then I do not know.’ A number of war lords have been left out of the cabinet but there has been no violent reaction yet. The strong American military presence stationed in the north near Dostum may be keeping him quiet. He knows the states would love to get rid of him and he is not giving them the opportunity and he and the others may be waiting for the parliamentary elections next year.
Afghanistan has been suffering from a drought for 7 years but this winter there has been more snow than normal. If it continues like this the drought may be over. Then there will be water for even more poppies.
During the last year I have seem a number of changes in Afghanistan or I should say Kabul which is not Afghanistan and as with most capitals is more progressive and liberal than elsewhere. A year ago I was surprised to see a woman driving a car. Now it is not exactly the norm but not so strange either. Fewer women where the burqa but still most do even in Kabul. More women are in good jobs. I contract to two NGOs with women directors. Girls can go to school and many do in Kabul. In some conservative areas none do. Still one can see women packed into the boots of cars and are still second class citizens. For many women outside Kabul nothing has changed. Khazai’s wife has said she will get more involved in public life. She has been rarely seen. What is not commonly known is that it is his second wife. His first did not give him a child so in Islam he can take a second wife. He still has not got a child so this could be one Afghan man who is shooting blanks.
Foreign agencies such as the UN, NGOs, private contractors and foreign military always bring two things to a conflict zone. Inflation and whores. Some organizations pay up to $6,000 for a large house and pay their staff over $1,000 a month. As the average salary for public workers is about $30 a month many people get priced out of accommodation. I am not sure what the answer is. A cap on spending for common items between all the foreign agencies would never work. Of course Afghanistan like everywhere has whores but it is very much hidden here. However, the other night I went to a bar I had been to about 7 months ago. Previously it had been quiet but a couple of furtive foreign security company employers chatting to a Chinese girl made me wonder. Now it is a full blown whore bar with lots of Chinese girls and foreign men. While Afghan men used to drink furtively and indulge in vodka from Uzbekistan now beer is sold openly in some shops in Kabul. Cans of Heineken beer stacked in shop windows and crates of beer outside some shops. This would never have been allowed a year ago. Police say that the most common cause of traffic accidents now is alcohol.
As for development DDR (Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration) has had some success but no where near the amount planned. Poppy eradication has not exactly been a great success. Perhaps the west should try and solve it on there door step rather than hurting poor small farmers. The election went peacefully and recently a new cabinet was sworn in. Khazai told them that if they want money they should get out of the government and into private business. Still when I call a deputy minister I am often told he is not coming back after lunch or not coming in if it is the end of the week. The work ethic is not too strong yet. Jawid, one of my staff, when asked what he was doing said. ‘I will write some emails to my friends and then I do not know.’ A number of war lords have been left out of the cabinet but there has been no violent reaction yet. The strong American military presence stationed in the north near Dostum may be keeping him quiet. He knows the states would love to get rid of him and he is not giving them the opportunity and he and the others may be waiting for the parliamentary elections next year.
Afghanistan has been suffering from a drought for 7 years but this winter there has been more snow than normal. If it continues like this the drought may be over. Then there will be water for even more poppies.