Afghanistan: What I Learned |
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November 29th, 2006 - 03:40PM |
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A clothing shop owner and her apprentice in Kabul. Photo: Anne Richard/The IRC During my visit to Kabul, I met with Ministers from the Afghan government (including two who used to work for IRC), officers serving in ISAF (the NATO-led military force), aid workers, diplomats and other IRC staff. Everyone said that Afghanistan’s problems would not be solved anytime soon – Afghans will need help over the long term. The Major General in ISAF was concerned that Afghanistan and Iraq are often lumped together in a single phrase, but he sees the two countries as quite different. In part, the difference lies in Afghanistan’s need for economic development. I met refugees who were trying to resume some semblance of normal life, and IRC Afghan staff members who were working hard to build a better Afghanistan. (IRC has ten expatriate and 700 Afghan staff members.) People were building classrooms for learning and bridges and roads for commerce. They were learning new skills to support themselves and their families. Still, Afghanistan has daunting rates of infant and maternal mortality and an average lifespan of only 46 years. Violence against women and girls is a serious problem. Illiteracy is widespread and while schools are being built, the cultural, social and economic barriers to educating children, especially girls, are significant. From my experience working in Washington DC, I know that Americans sometimes have short attention spans and may lose interest in Afghanistan if they don’t see evidence of change. But I also know that the headlines one reads in the States and other countries – fighting in Kandahar and Helmand, record poppy harvests – fail to tell the whole story of what is happening in Afghanistan. The many brave people I met in Afghanistan all knew that development – and not just military and diplomatic action – is needed if Afghans are ever going to have peace and prosperity. I return to Washington convinced that I have to do more to tell this story. 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, Rebuilding Communities Permalink |
