Published
internationally in July 2003 as Kabul: The Bradt Mini Guide.
First published in Kabul in September
2002 as a pamphlet.
Print now…
Your personal copy…
The Survival Guide
To Kabul
كابل،
افغانستان
2002 Autumn
THE SURVIVAL GUIDE TO KABUL – ONLINE FOR YOU
TO PRINT
Below is
a direct copy of the A5, 16 pages, booklet version (without the centrespread
map and photos) which was available in Kabul from September 2002. 3000 copies
were given to the streetkids to sell; they kept all the money they made from
sales for themselves.
In June 2003 a new 40,000 word
pocket mini guide was published by Bradt Travel Guides.
The full online
version of The Survival Guide to Kabul is being updated regularly at www.kabulguide.net.
THE SURVIVAL GUIDE TO KABUL
2002 Autumn
So you made it off the UN or Ariana plane. And you’ve arrived in
Kabul for the “Great Game.” Welcome. Salaam
a-laykum! We’ve designed this small guide to update some of the old
information in various books and guides. Also we’ve included some useful
reference material and phone numbers. Kabul is constantly changing. People have
returned with great speed and in huge numbers. Businesses are starting up and
competition, especially in the guesthouse business, is thriving. A few
restaurants have opened, curfew is getting later, and it’s time you began to
see the sights on that Friday off. Of course we’re aware this guide will very
soon be out of date, so please send us any ideas and suggestions. Inshallah, you’ll have a
safe and enjoyable time, but no doubt full on visit. Best wishes,
|
How are you? I am fine Thank you Goodbye My name is What is your name? Left Right Straight Back Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday |
Chi-toor-hasty Khub-os-tom Ta-shar-koor Khuda Hafiz Nam man Nama-shuma cheast Chap Rost Rubaru Posht or akib Dushanbe Seshanbe Charshanbe Panjshanbe Juma Shanbe Yakshanbe |
One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve O’clock I am going I’m sorry Yesterday Today Tomorrow Everyday Crazy Once again |
Yak Du Say Char
Panj Shash Aft Asht Nu Da Yaazdah Duaazdah Baja Man merawam Bubakhshen Diroz Emroz Farda Harroz Dewana Yak dafa digar |
(Taken from Pashtoonistan Square in front of the Khyber
Restaurant)
Latitude North: 34° 31’ 12.01”; Longitude East: 69° 10’ 48.94”;
Altitude: 1777m
Ahmed Rashid is author of the
bestsellers Taliban
and Jihad
and correspondent for The Daily Telegraph
and The Far Eastern Economic
Review
Since
the 1960s no city has witnessed as many dramatic changes and as much
destruction as Kabul. For former King Zahir Shah who returned to his capital
earlier this year after nearly 30 years in exile, the changes were extremely
emotional and apparent. The last time Zahir Shah saw Kabul it was an
international diplomatic backwater, but a thriving, bustling town where the
elite had a hectic social life.
The Cold War was at its height and both
the Soviet Union and the US were mildly courting the Afghan monarch with
economic aid. The Americans built airports and roads in the south of the
country, while the Soviets did the same in the north. Often their contractors
would meet up such as when the Kabul-Kandahar highway was built.
Only after the coup that toppled Zahir
Shah in 1973, did the coup maker - his cousin Mohammed Doud - turn
wholeheartedly to the Soviets for military training for his army and the
disgruntled Americans abandoned Afghanistan. By then Kabul was the centre of
late hippiedom as Westerners travelled to India and stopped off at Kabul for
cheap hashish and the ability to live on next to nothing.
Wine and cognac were cheap, courtesy of
adventurous Italians who set up a wine factory in Kabul based on the grapes
grown in the Shomali plain. The wine was exported to Pakistan, Iran and the
Soviet Union. There was a vibrant teahouse culture where men and women students
from Kabul University would discuss politics and the latest fashions. The most
popular place was the Café in Pushtunistan Square opposite the central Post
Office where the dating game was played furiously after 4 pm and it was all a
matter of seeing and being seen.
Kabul’s elite would then move to the
Kabul Hotel and newly constructed Intercontinental Hotel where foreign bands
offered live dance music. Pasta and saukaraut and sausages were available in
German and Italian restaurants, which were run by hippies who had decided to
stay on. Tourists from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran would flock to Kabul for
weekends in order to shop for duty free foreign goods, see Indian movies, drink
and dance.
The communist revolution in 1978 changed
the city as the two warring factions of Khalq and Parcham battled each other in
the capital and the first wave of exiles – mostly royalists - escaped to
Pakistan and later the West. A year later the Soviet invasion bought in tens of
thousands of young Soviet troops who initially acted in the same manner as
their Western counterparts – smoking cheap dope, shopping for carpets and
Western electronic goods in Chicken Street and hanging out in cafes.
Then the war started in earnest as the
Mujheddin launched guerrilla attacks from Pakistan. The Soviet troops were
restricted to their barracks. Girl students took part in anti-Soviet
demonstrations in the city and were brutally suppressed. At the same time tens
of thousands of Kabulis took part in a massive literacy campaign launched by
the Soviets and many students were shipped off to the Soviet Union to further
their education and to be indoctrinated in communism.
However for many women the war was in a
sense a liberating experience. As Kabul’s male population were forced into the
Afghan army, women took over many jobs. Eventually some 40% of jobs in
government ministries, schools and hospitals were taken up by women – many of
them from poorer classes who were for the first time going to work dressed in
skirts and high heels.
Although living conditions were hard
there was no major fighting around the city until the Mujheddin captured Kabul
in 1992. That led to the start of the brutal civil war which lasted a decade
and destroyed large parts of central Kabul as well as creating wave upon wave
of refugees leaving the city until there were hardly any educated or
technically qualified people left. The fighting around Kabul only came to an
end when the Taliban captured the city in 1996, bringing with them relative
security, but also harsh Islamic measures that destroyed the vitality of the city’s
population.
Kabul quickly became a ghost town; women
became invisible and social life outside the home next to impossible. Cinema
halls were shut down, the radio played only religious speeches and cafes were
shut down. The only place where social interaction took place was the mosque.
The revival of Kabul’s social life after
November 2001 has been dramatic in the extreme. Within days of the retreat of
the Taliban and even though the majority of people were desperately poor, the
bazaars were once again thronged with people, women appeared in the streets for
the first time and music blared in every bazaar. As education and clinics and
hospitals revived with the help of international aid agencies, women were back
at work in large numbers.
The future of the city now depends on
funds being made available for genuine reconstruction work – providing water,
sewerage, electricity and a telephone system and rebuilding the battered roads
of the city. Kabulis expectations from the international community are enormous
and fulfilling them will not be easy and will take time.
__________________________________________
Ahmed
Rashid has established the Open Media Fund for Afghanistan to support
the print press. Donate by contacting JoAnne Sullivan of Internews in
Washington.
Telephone
1-202-833-5740. Fax 1-202-833-5745.
jsullivan@internews.org www.internews.org
Limited but constantly getting better:
*Tuesday nights at the Aina Media and
Cultural Centre: big screen open air cinema on the lawn under the stars at
19:30.
*Tennis and squash courts at
the German Club, UNICA, Intercontinental and British Embassy.
*Fitness centres around town. Turkish
baths for women.
*Swimming pools at UNICA, ICRC, Italian and
French Embassies (invitation only), and Intercontinental Hotel (guests only).
*Macroyan public swimming pool (mmm!).
On 19th August, Independence Day, the place was full of Afghan men,
cost 20,000, and the water was very cold and murky leaving little to the
imagination as to what was at the bottom.
*Football every afternoon in
Shahre Naw Park with the Afghan All Stars (local kids having a kick around,
boisterous but fun).
*Rugby – 7 a side. Tuesdays,
Fridays and Sundays at 17:30 on the ISAF base across from the US Embassy.
*The Hash House Harriers in Kabul started in August. The first
meeting was on a Friday at the Intercontinental and cost $3. Conservative clothing a must for all
runners. Contact “Lonesome Cowboy” for future venues: BrueggemannD@afg.emro.who.int.
Lit: The first
day you meet, you are friends.
The next day you
meet, you are brothers
Friendship grows
into brotherhood
Lit: No rose is
without thorns
No one is
perfect
Har amal axol amalley dorrad
Lit: A tree does not move unless there is wind
Every effect has a cause
Lit: One throw,
two finches
To kill two
birds with one stone
For all
your electrical goods go down “Technology Street.” Turn left outside the Khyber
Restaurant and the world of TVs and videos has come to Kabul in force.
ON THE RADIO IN KABUL: 89.0
FM BBC WORLD SERVICE
There’s a lot to
see, even if most of it is wrecked. Touring Kabul is best done on a Friday when
the city is quieter. A three-hour trip will give you time to see some of the
must-sees such as the spectacular views from TV Tower Hill, the Darulaman
Palace, Kabul Museum and destroyed West Kabul area and King Nadir Shah’s Tomb.
Of course cameras and foreigners attract the baksheesh brigade but everyone is
very friendly. Afghans love posing for photographs and digital cameras mean you
can show the results immediately or print them out and deliver copies later
(photographs as gifts are much appreciated). Remember, Kabul is one of the most
mined cities in the world, so don’t wander off the beaten track.
Fighting from
1992 onwards destroyed the Darulaman Palace. It’s an impressive building and
was used by King Zahir Shah as a palace and later as a museum. The equally
striking former Defence Ministry is on the hills behind. The
Kabul Museum is in front of the Palace.
King Nadir Shah’s
Mausoleum is the resting place for the Royal family. King Zahir Shah’s wife was
buried here in July 2002; she died in Italy waiting to rejoin her husband in
Kabul. Usually there’s a man on duty who will take you into the catacombs. Good
views of the city.
No trip around
Kabul is complete without Nancy Hatch Dupree’s pocket guidebook widely
available at street bookshops or at the Intercontinental Hotel. Originally
published in 1965 the second edition was printed in 1972. Five suggested tours around the city are
laid out in detail with sights to see and maps to guide you. Needless to say
Kabul has changed dramatically in the last 30 years but the book gives an
interesting insight into what the city was like. Eight tours for outside the
city are also suggested. Most notable is a trip to Ghazni to see the minarets,
though these days the 140km drive takes closer to 4 hours in a 4x4. The
shopping section offers an interesting insight, which has perhaps changed
little today: The richness of Kabul’s bazaars is legend: they are as
fascinating today as they have always been. We recommend departing from this
general guideline so that you may experience the pleasure of discovering a
favourite bazaar or an unique “find.”
For traditional
carpets check out the old building next door to the money market. Go across
Kabul River on the Froshga pedestrian bridge.
The Ariana Graveyard, as the
collection of circa 1960-1985 trashed aviation memorabilia is called, will
probably be the first thing you see on arrival in Kabul. The rusting heap of
vintage planes lies to the right of the airport as you head into the city; much of it, the
result of coalition attacks in
2001. But the real damage was done between 1991 and 1996 as rival Mujhadeen factions battled for control of the city.
Gulbaddin Heckmatyer, the leader of Hezbe Islami (Islamic Faction) launched
constant attacks on the airport right up until the Taliban take-over of the
city.
West Kabul
suffered a similar fate to the airport. The only difference being that West
Kabul was a residential area. Thousands of people were forced to flee. Today it
remains a haunting reminder of Kabul’s recent history.
Chicken Street is
the Oxford Street (Rue St Honore, Fifth Avenue or Via Condotti) of Kabul. This
is where you come to shop! Small, single-storey, ramshackle buildings teem with
silk scarves, pakoul hats (the type made famous by the deceased ‘Lion of
Panshir’ General Masoud), carpets, jewellery, glassware, lapis-lazuli
chess-sets and trinklets and baubles of every colour, shape and form
imaginable! Eager shopkeepers will do their best to lure you in with their
winning patter, but it’s all good-natured.
Prices are high
(one carpet-seller we know of came down from US$300 to US$50 for a rug) so
beware of the sharks and be ready to do some haggling. Carry on into Flower
Street. There you can find some pretty good grocery stores selling those home-brand
luxuries like Earl Grey Tea, Nutella, and Kellogg’s Cornflakes. A word of
warning, the concentration of Westerners here has made Chicken Street a
security concern. Do not linger.
KABUL ZOO
Donatella the bear was skulking in her lair when we went, but she may grace you
with her famous grisly stare. Kabul Zoo is not a great place for its
inhabitants, however it is hugely popular with Kabulis. According to the
zookeeper, Aziz Ahmad, up to 2,000 people can visit in a day during the
weekend.
A British animal
protection group ensures there is enough food for the 17 different species
behind bars and Mr Ahmad is hopeful that some new animals, including big cats,
will be sent to the zoo from China in the near future. Currently the zoo boasts
two bears, one deer, four wolves, two monkeys, a couple of foxes, some birds of
prey, budgerigars and hundreds of rabbits. Mr Ahmad is an obliging guide with
gruesome stories about the fate of the zoo’s last elephant and for a small tip
will show you
the final resting place of the zoo’s most famous resident, Marjan, the one-eyed
lion. He died in January, aged 40.
Ironically the lion had survived all the rocket attacks on the zoo as the city
was engulfed by civil war, only to pass away two short months after the fall of
the Taliban. The zoo is open from 06.00 until 18.30 every day and entry costs
2,000 Afs.
Qabeli Pilau (Yellow Rice with Carrot & Raisins)
|
1 lb (2 ½ cups) long grain rice |
4 oz black seedless raisins |
|
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil |
2 tsp char masala or
cumin |
|
2 medium onions, chopped |
¼ tsp saffron |
|
1 ½ - 2 lbs lamb on the bone or 1 chicken |
salt |
|
2 large carrots |
pepper |
Directions:
Rinse the rice and leave to soak for at
least half an hour. Heat 4 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a large pan and
add the chopped onions. Stir and fry them until brown. Add the lamb. Brown well
on all sides in the oil. Add about 1 cup of water, and salt and pepper. Bring
to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover and simmer until the meat is tender.
While the meat is cooking, wash and peel the carrots and cut into pieces the
size of a matchstick. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan and add the
carrots. Cook the carrots gently until they are lightly browned and tender.
Remove the carrots from the oil, add the raisins, and cook these gently until
they begin to swell up. Bring 5 cups of water to a boil and add about 1
teaspoon of salt. Drain the rice and add to the boiling water. Parboil for 2 to
3 minutes before draining the rice in a large sieve. Put the rice in a large
casserole and sprinkle with char masala
and saffron. Then place the cooked meat on one side of the casserole and the
carrots and raisins on the other. Cover with a tightly fitted lid and place in
a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and
serve.
COOK’S RECOMMENDATION
Buy
your meat from Butchery Street near the Mosque in Shahre Naw. Choose the cut
you want from the hanging carcasses in the shop fronts. Not for the
faint-hearted
GENERAL TIPS
·
AWCC local GSM Mobile phones and
top-up cards can be bought at the airport, central post office and
Intercontinental Hotel. Handset and SIM card ready to go costs about $300.
Quickest place to get more minutes on your phone is at the Intercon. It costs
56 cents a minute to call the US and Canada, 58 cents a minute to call Europe
and 64 cents to call Pakistan. Local calls cost 10 cents a minute. A
significant saving on the old Sat phone!
·
Currently citywide government curfew
starts at midnight and lasts until 4am everyday. There’s talk it may be lifted
soon altogether.
·
Learn the language: Dari lessons are
available at the Aina Media and Cultural Centre next to the Ministry of
Planning. Most classes start at 5pm.
· English language newspapers in Kabul are pretty much
restricted to two publications. The Kabul Times and The Kabul Weekly.
Both have interesting insights to Kabuli life and some stimulating gossip as
well. The papers are available from street sellers at traffic lights and cost
10,000 Afs.
POPO’LANO
Italian restaurant at the INSAF Hotel with a good menu, reasonably
priced, with pizzas at $5, takeaway and delivery available. Manager is
Abdullah.
070 27 6843.
DELHI DARBAR
Indian Restaurant (House 91, Street 4), a few streets along from
B’s Place in Qali Fatullah. $6 buffet at lunch and dinner. Good popadums and
great garlic nan. Delivery available. 070 27 7566.
GOLDEN LOTUS
Across from the German Embassy. Chinese, European and Afghan food
(so they say). Cheaper than other places but very rice based.
MARCO POLO, HERAT, KHALID
Three typical Kebab and rice places. Khalid used to be a cinema
destroyed by the Taliban. Marco Polo near to Chicken and Flower streets. Herat
seems to be an attempt at a fast food restaurant with the guys running around
in baseball caps.
B’s PLACE
Qali Fatullah. Run by Australian Matt (070 27 6416). Good food but
pricey. Great Thai Green Curry and shrimps flown in from Dubai (sometimes!).
Pizzas ($12), Greek salad, hummus, steak, chocolate fudge cake. Lovely garden
tables, lanterns and a flower shop. Better to book places and food in advance.
KHYBER
Pashtoonistan Square down from the Hotel Kabul. $6 lunch and
dinner Afghan buffet. Good for large lunch and dinner parties.
KABUL RESTAURANT
Part
of the Hotel Kabul serving a variety of food. Nice garden and terrace area.
ESSENTIAL
READING
Afghanistan – Essential
Field Guides to Humanitarian and Conflict Zones edited
by Edward Girardet and Jonathan Walker. Originally published in 1998 a revised
edition is due out in January 2003. This is a handbook anyone visiting
Afghanistan should not be without.
Other books worth reading include: Afghanistan,
A History of Conflict by John C. Griffiths; An Unexpected
Light, Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot; Soldier Sahibs,
The Men Who Made the North-West Frontier by Charles Allen; The
Fragmentation of Afghanistan by Barnett R. Rubin; A Short
Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby; Afghanistan, A
Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban,
by Stephen Tanner; The Great Game, by Peter Hopkirk; Ahmed
Rashid’s Taliban and Jihad.
INTERCONTINENTAL
Opened in September 1969. 200 rooms, 170 in use at $63-73 a night.
Swimming pool, tennis court, sauna, ping pong, billiards, barber, shops, Ariana
Airlines office and 24 hour Bamiyan Coffee Shop. Ideal for conferences.
Ballroom sits 400 for dinner, or 600 for a conference.
Sat:
+873 761 469690 or 020 2201320.
AWCC
Internet Café in the basement with high speed connection. Open 07:00-22:00
daily. $5 an hour, $3 half hour. $1 to print page. Scanner. www.afghanwireless.com
Run by Wais Faizi. Popular with journalists.
50 rooms at $35-40 a night. Kebab night on Thursdays on the roof terrace.
Pizzas, pool table, darts, DVD room, basketball court. Wais featured in July
2002 Newsweek “The Exiles Return”. (070 27 6021,
mustafa@inmarsat.francetelecom.fr).
Shahre Naw. 43 rooms at $35-50 a night. Home
to the Popo’Lano Italian restaurant.
Pashtoonistan Square next to
Ariana Airlines office. 50 years old, large Soviet style Hotel. 73 rooms. $80
for a two-roomed suite. $40 for single rooms. Nice large garden area. Kabul
Restaurant here as well.
On Shahre Naw Park next to the
old Czechoslovakian Embassy. Manager: Naqib (070 28 0576). 30 rooms from $30-75
a night. All rooms have ensuite shower, fridge, TV and modern fixtures. Large
garden for “live music” and parking area.
UNHAS flights are still the favoured
route for most people flying from Dubai and Islamabad. UN Dubai flights now
cost $400 one way for all agencies and are restricted to UN, international NGOs
and diplomats. Anyone can use and pay for the Islamabad leg.
Ariana
is slowly expanding its schedule after the donation of an Airbus from Air
India. Check at the Ariana office in the Hotel Kabul for the latest details.
Destinations include Dubai, Delhi and Islamabad. PIA flies from Islamabad to
Kabul. Mahan flies to Tehran
IHLAS
News Agency, on WAK main road by the roundabout (+873 762 000250), can deliver
international publications to your door – e.g. subscribe to The
News from Pakistan (daily), Time and The Economist for $45 a
month.
GUESTHOUSES
Wazir Akbar Khan
(WAK) area and elsewhere
Faisal
|
Street 10, No 531 |
Bibi
Haji
|
070 27 4696 |
|
House 492 |
Street 13, 5th Lane |
Jamshid |
070 28 0541 |
|
Shamal |
Street 13, No 452 |
Mirjan |
070 27 8601 |
|
Hendokush |
Street 11, No 520 |
Moieen |
070 27 8074 |
|
Ajmal Wali |
Street 10 |
Ajmal |
070 27 7657 |
|
House 150 |
Street 10 |
Bashir |
070 27 8734 |
|
Marvellous |
Street 10, No 214 |
Ahmad |
070 27 5519 |
|
Sultan |
Street 10 |
Azam |
070 27 7374 |
|
Silk Route |
Street 10, No 138 |
Hamid |
070 27 5800 |
Japan
|
Street 15, No 21 |
Musbar |
070 27 8386 |
|
Everest |
Street 10, No 192 |
Ahmad |
070 28 1277 |
|
Haseeb |
Street 13, No 556 |
Parwaz |
+88 216 511 58710 |
|
Gandamak Lodge |
No 5 Passport Lane |
Peter |
070 27 6937 |
Chez Ana
|
Passport Lane |
Ana |
070 28 2699 |
B’s
Place
|
Qali Fatullah |
Matt |
070 27 6416 |
Most guesthouses in Wazir
Akbar Khan are pretty much the same, though furniture, fixtures and fittings do
vary. Charges range from between $30-60 a night (always negotiate especially
for long stays). Rooms usually have 2-4 beds in them. Dining and lounge
facilities include satellite TV. B’s Place, run by an Australian, is more
expensive at $75, but is more modern than the others. The garden is great here
– you just need the ocean and you could be in the Mediterranean. Renowned
cameraman Peter Jouvenal runs Number 5 Passport Lane. Rooms at Chez Ana for
$30-40 a night.
If you’re staying for a short period of
time and are on a budget then you probably won’t be interested in luxury. But
for long stays try and get your own room, with a bathroom nearby and negotiate
accordingly. It will always work out cheaper than renting a full house in WAK
(prices per month are $3,000-10,000 or more, cash in advance).
Handicap International Belgium (HIB) runs mine awareness courses
for aid-workers and journalists. 3-4 sessions run per week for up to 20
participants (09:00-11:00, 14:00-16:00). Sessions are in English, Dari and
Pashto and are also held in Kandahar, Jalalabad, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif. For
more details contact: mineawareness@handicap.org, 070 27 7314. Or call
in at HIB at Qali Fatullah, House No 104, opposite the Zarghoona High School.
HIB Statistics:
· More than 730 km2 of contaminated land makes Afghanistan
the most heavily mined country in the world.
· There is another 500 km2 of battlefields littered by UXO
and/or landmines.
·
150 to 300 people are injured
or killed by mines or UXO every month.
·
De-mining
has cost 666 million US dollars since the UN Mine Action Program for
Afghanistan was started in 1989.
FATIMA’S STORY
One of the NGOs struggling to put an
end
to the vicious trend of landmine victims
is Caritas local partner
OMAR (Organisation for Mine clearance
and Afghan Rehabilitation)
It takes two men 5 1/2 hours to clear
3m2 of a minefield. There are more than 10 million mines in Afghanistan spread
over 824 km2. More than 100 deaths and injuries are caused every month by the
hidden killers.
19-year-old Fatima Abrahim is one of
those victims. She lost her right arm and left leg after treading on a mine as
she played with other children in a field behind her house when she was 10. Her
brothers and sisters ran screaming back to the house, her friends ran away.
Only Fatima's mother ventured into the minefield to rescue her daughter.
Fatima was taken to the small local
clinic where her severed limbs were dressed with temporary bandages. The next
day, Fatima set out on what she says was the most excruciating journey of her
life. Her village was a 3-hour drive from Herat City and the nearest hospital
facilities.
Fatima's older brother had died from a
landmine explosion while she was still an infant. Now Fatima thought she too
would die. Despite her terrible injuries Fatima survived. But her recovery was
to be a painful ordeal spanning more than fours years.
On arrival at the hospital doctors
amputated her left leg at the knee. Three days later after the first signs of
gangrene began to show they took off four fingers from her right hand. However,
her whole hand became infected and a few days later the surgeons operated
again. This time amputating her hand at the wrist.
The poor health care in Herat hospital
lead to Fatima getting tetanus and the infection again spread up her arm. Six
weeks after her first operation, Fatima's arm was amputated just below the
shoulder.
The operations were costly and Fatima's
parents were forced to sell their land and home to pay for her healthcare. Three months later she was finally able to
return to her village where she started learning to walk again. But for Fatima,
it was clear something was wrong with her amputated leg. As time passed it
became more and more painful. After four years she was taken back to hospital
where the doctors told her they would have to operate again. The bone was still
growing. This time they amputated at the mid-thigh level.
Amazingly Fatima fought back from her
injuries and aged 15 she married. At 16 she became pregnant.
"It was very difficult for me to
carry a child with only one leg. I spent most of my pregnancy sitting
down," she says. I gave birth to a daughter, but after five months she
died of dysentery." Shortly afterwards Fatima's husband repudiated her,
blaming the child’s death on her disability, and they divorced.
Fatima says most of the time she feels
very isolated; she lives alone with her elderly parents whom she supports by
working as a secretary for one of the international NGOs. They have no other
source of income. Fatima cooks and cleans and does the shopping for the
household although, "People stare at me when I go shopping, and sometimes
make rude comments."
Fatima has lived almost half her life as
a landmine victim; she says she has accepted her fate, but every now and then
the anger still surfaces.
Visit the OMAR
Museum in Wazir Akbar Khan
for more details on mines and de-mining.
www.caritas-network-for-afghanistan.org
A word on the organizations the editors of The
Survival Guide To Kabul work for.
Caritas
Internationalis is
a confederation of 154 Catholic relief, development and social service
organizations present in 198 countries and territories. Its mandate is
to answer the needs of poor and vulnerable people wherever they may be
regardless of faith, race or sex. Today there are four national Caritas
organizations working together in Afghanistan. They are Caritas USA, known as
CRS. Caritas Holland, known as Cordaid, Caritas Ireland, known as Trocaire and
Caritas Germany.
Caritas is committed to life-saving activities, (emergency
relief), stabilizing communities (assistance for basic needs, building schools,
homes, clinics, irrigation schemes, digging wells, helping farmers with their
agricultural needs etc) and promoting tolerance and peace. This year, Caritas
has committed US $24 and a half million to more than 30 programmes in 21
provinces in Afghanistan.
www.caritas-network-for-afghanistan.org
Internews supports open media worldwide. In
Afghanistan, the Internews project, funded by USAID, trains journalists and
gives radio stations equipment. So far Internews has trained more than 100 journalists
from all 14 regional radio stations as well as Radio Afghanistan, Bakhtar
Information Agency, Kabul University Journalism Faculty and other media groups.
Internews fosters independent media in emerging democracies, helps
local groups work for the adoption of open broadcasting, telecommunications and
Internet policy, produces innovative television and radio programming as well
as internet content, and uses mass media to help reduce conflict within and
between countries.
There are reports of good medical care from the Emergency Hospital
near UNAMA Compound A (+873 762 651 690).
There’s a German Field Hospital and Czech Hospital at the ISAF
base on the Jalalabad road. Just turn up for emergency treatment and things
seem to move pretty fast.
In an emergency make sure your colleagues know your evacuation
plan and have your health details to hand.
Islamabad.UNHAS@wfp.org,
Kabul.UNHAS@wfp.org
Faxes:
|
+92 51 22 64 054
(Islamabad) |
+873 763 044 986 (Kandahar) |
|
+873 762 904 936 (Kabul) |
+873 761 351 935 (Mazar) |
|
+873 763 089 751 (Herat) |
|
|
Telephones: |
|
|
Kabul: +93 70 28 2559-60 |
020 2100216 Ext 2444/5/6 |
|
Islamabad: +92 51 22 64 077 |
|
AIR SERV Charter flight service. WAK, Street 13, Lane 1. +93 70 27
6660. Islamabad: +92 51 210 5261. pakbooking@airserv.org.
TNT Tel: +93 70 27 6503. Fax: 020 290218
We’ve spoken to a number of security gurus. Five
pointers from “Shaft”:
*ONLY YOU are responsible for
your safety. Your actions will determine your future.
*HEALTH - People working
under pressure must keep themselves in excellent physical condition. You must
allow time for relaxation, even if this means putting off important work. Get
regular periods of leave because the physical affects the mental.
*CONDUCT - Avoid
behaviour likely to arouse suspicion. Cameras, binoculars and tape recorders
should be used with discretion and only after the necessary permission has been
granted.
*OFFICIAL PROPERTY - When faced with an attacker whose main purpose seems to
be looting rather than physical harm, DO NOT PUT THE LIVES of the staff in
jeopardy over protecting organization equipment.
*KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN - If there is danger avoid the instinct to
see what it is going on, do not expose yourself and do not move unless you’re
going from a place of greater danger to a place of less danger.
AIMS (Afghanistan Information Management Service) is a UN
project established to provide information products and services to the
assistance community. As well as carrying
a wide range of map products, they advise on survey work, database design,
analysis, and distribution of data and documents. www.aims.org.pk
info@aims.org.pk
ICRC NGO security briefings on Thursdays
at Shahre Naw, ICRC HQ, 08:30.
UN NGO security briefings on Saturdays
at UNDP compound, 14:00.
ACBAR NGO security briefings on Mondays,
09:00.
UNAMA pressers Thursdays and Sundays at
UNAMA Compound A, 10:00.
ISAF pressers everyday at ISAF HQ,
opposite US Embassy, 09:30.
With thanks to
all those who gave advice and suggestions!