Afghanistan: In Logar Province |
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November 1st, 2006 - 03:03PM |
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Anne Richard (second from left) meets up with IRC staff members and village leaders in Afghanistan's Logar province. Photo: Peter Biro/The IRC We cross a bumpy patch on the road and I’m told that this is the spot where an IED (improvised explosive device) exploded recently under an ISAF vehicle. The road runs through the centers of towns and villages where the locals are selling firewood in high stacks. Sides of meat are hung from hooks in the open air. Vegetable stands display a colorful riot of fruits and vegetables. We meet up with International Rescue Committee staff members who work in the region, and then travel in a convoy to meet with village leaders in a number of sites. At each site, the IRC has been helping to implement the National Solidarity Program, a program created by the Government of Afghanistan to provide development grants directly to communities. The communities must first select members to serve on a Community Development Council (or local shura) and then the Councils identify, plan, manage and monitor their own development projects. We see a number of projects as we visit different villages. In one, pavement is laid to make a clean path so that the villagers and their children can avoid the mud and filth. In other areas, bridges designed by IRC engineers are now under construction. The bridges will shorten the distances between villages and markets. Another village has elected to build a community center. I also visit classes held to teach women to sew so that they can earn extra income. For the most part, male colleagues and the men and boys of the village accompany me. Many of the men have long beards; the faces of the elders are tan and wrinkled. Almost all of the men wear hats: small white caps, wool pakols or turbans. Women wearing headscarves watch our little parade from nearby doors and windows, or from across a field. In a sewing class, the women seem shy and hide their faces from the men accompanying me. As soon as the men leave, they drop their veils and turn directly to me, peppering me with friendly greetings and questions about where I come from and what I am doing here. In another classroom, my female colleagues are wearing smart modern dress until they step outside the classroom and cover themselves with burkas for the outside world. Some of the most touching visits are to school classrooms where villages try to educate children. At one classroom, a small girl who is teaching the alphabet to the rest of the class impresses me. She speaks up with real confidence. One can easily imagine her growing up to be a teacher, but I also wonder if she will be able to continue her education beyond elementary school. There are few schools in rural areas and a scarcity of female teachers. After nearly every visit I am given a wrapped gift. I try to decline until I realize it would be rude to refuse. (The gifts turn out to be scarves; a male colleague is given a set of turbans.) We are also repeatedly told that our hosts regret they cannot invite us to eat – Afghans are famous for their hospitality but they are fasting because of Ramadan Next: At the Bazaar-e-Zanana, Kabul > IRC vice president Anne Richard was in Afghanistan in late October to visit IRC programs and discuss the situation there with IRC staff in Kabul, Jalalabad, and rural Logar Province. Posted By: Anne Richard | Asia, Diaries & Journals Permalink |
