Blogs from Afghanistan
March - August 2007, with postscripts
Resources
to help Afghans in Afghanistan Keep Their Devices Safe.
Resources for Afghans Teaching
Girls at Home. (additional suggestions welcomed)
For six months in 2007, from March through August 2007, I worked in Kabul, Afghanistan, helping a national government ministry there with various communications functions. My goal was to help build the capacity of the Afghans I worked with to do their jobs, with a particular emphasis on women government workers, and to raise the profile of the work of this government ministry.
I maintained a blog via a private Yahoo Group for friends and family, and I cleaned up those blogs later for public consumption, publishing them here in my web site. I am publishing these here because I want to remember my time there, because I want to have a record online of what life was like there for a foreign aid worker in 2007 (in contrast to now), and because, for many years, I hoped it would be helpful to other female aid and development workers that might be going to Afghanistan or any post-conflict zone (I got emails saying it did - thanks for writing).
This is my experience in Afghanistan. It will not necessarily be yours, or anyone else's. This is a personal blog full of opinions -- it's not a series of newspaper articles. I make no claims to being completely accurate and I make NO claims to being impartial. There are opinions here that you may disagree with, based on your own knowledge and experience, and that's fine. In fact, I don't agree with some of the viewpoints I held then. I hope I come from a place of honesty and sincerity in these accounts, and I hope you will respect that this is merely one foreigner's perspective about what she saw and experienced.
The dates note when things were written/published, NOT necessarily when they happened.
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Kabul Diaries
March 2007Getting to Afghanistan / First Impressions of Kabul, March 2, 2007 Lack of Sleep & Where I Live, March 3, 2007 Bunker Down, March 5, 2007 Medieval Times, March 6, 2007 Lonely Planet and A Night Out, March 8, 2007 Women's Day in Kabul, March 8, 2007 No Bugles... (now with photos!), March 9, 2007 Computer viruses and a Day in My Life, March 12, 2007 About the Afghan Government, March 13, 2007 Yes, I heard the blast, March 14, 2007 Thoughts on the Head Scarf and Feminism, March 17, 2007 Nawrooz - Happy New Year 1386, March 20, 2007 Here a 'stan, there a 'stan, everywhere a 'stan 'stan, March 22, 2007 Three Weeks Here, March 23, 2007 The Only "Fundamental" Thing I believe in: Net Necessity, March 23, 2007 Shop But Don't Drop Me, March 24, 2007 Pashto Porno Party, March 27, 2007 Turn Me Loose!, March 28, 2007 Dogs in Kabul & the Koran, March 29, 2007 April 2007Macs, Africans, movies and food, April 2, 2007 Shake it baby, shake it, April 3, 2007 Fear Me, April 3, 2007 Bomber near Afghan parliament kills six, April 6, 2007 A huge gift -- Tashakur, whomever/whatever, April 8, 2007 Mars needs women. So does Kandahar, April 12, 2007 Reflections on Part 1 of the Adventure, April 17, 2007 What Movies Are Like Kabul?, April 18, 2007 Afghan Women's Walking Dog, April 19, 2007 I'm Ready to Leave NOW, April 20, 2007 May 2007I'm back in Kabul, May 3, 2007 blawgging is back, May 5, 2007 Paris, May 6, 2007 cue the inspirational music, please, May 7, 2007 UN staff member shot dead in Kandahar, May 9, 2007 Derby news, May 9, 2007 Welcome to Kinshasa, May 11, 2007 I start with a laugh, I end with a tear, May 12, 2007 Afghans Got Theater, May 13, 2007 He Destroyed the Buddhas, May 14, 2007 What makes me happy? Not a mahram, May 18, 2007 Trip to Pansjir (with photos!), May 20, 2007 Women Last, May 22, 2007 Weather in Kabul - an entirely non-political post, May 25, 2007 Extra, May 26, 2007 Charrow Ney (Dari for "Why Not?"), May 27, 2007 Today was my favorite day in Afghanistan, May 28, 2007 a game show star, an egg boy, journalists, & parties, May 31, 2007 June 2007I Moved, June 2, 2007 Afghanistan: A Clothing Guide For Broads, June 4, 2007 Khareji Gone Mild!, June 6, 2007 Gender Mainstreaming in the Twilight Zone, June 7, 2007 Second female Afghan journalist killed, June 7, 2007 Moments I Love in Kabul & Missing Austin, June 8, 2007 Malalai Joya: next to be executed?, June 8, 2007 Making It Work Long Distance, June 10, 2007 I hate content filtering, June 13, 2007. Nice Guys, June 17, 2007. What Not to Do in Kabul, June 18, 2007. We're #8! We're #8! We're better than Iraq!!, June 18, 2007. No Delhi Belly - just a big one, June 19, 2007 Mosques, musicals, Parwan & bike baggage, June 21, 2007 Harry Potter!!, June 22, 2007. The smells of Afghanistan & filthy space communists, June 22, 2007. July 2007Back for one more round, July 3, 2007 Kabul Kitty Demands, July 4, 2007 Round Three: Clean Water and Kvetching 'Bout DIA, July 6, 2007 My favorite Afghanistan photo ever, July 6, 2007 My Dream for Afghanistan someday..., July 7, 2007 Tourists then, tourists now, fried chicken & work, July 8, 2007 Dis & Dat, July 8, 2007 Sexual Harrassment of Female Aid Workers, July 11, 2007 Soviet Swimming Pools, July 13, 2007 Superior to Thou, July 14, 2007 Random Thoughts: X-Men & my bathroom strobe light, July 15, 2007 Karzai's a'comin'... not!, July 17, 2007 Keep Your Eyes on the Prize, July 17, 2007 Elvis Peanut Butter Cup w/ banana crème layer, July 20, 2007 Jude Law in Afghanistan, July 20, 2007 I HAVE HARRY POTTER!!!, July 21, 2007 Jayne on the Associated Press NewsWire -- not kidding, July 21, 2007 press coverage making me laugh, July 21, 2007 finished HP, July 23, 2007 28 Days to Go... or less?, July 24, 2007 Please help pressure the Taliban re: the South Koreans, July 25, 2007 Men in burkkas and on roller blades, July 28, 2007 Stories About Afghanistan Sent to Friends in July August 2007Lots of Random Thoughts, August 1, 2007 Bilingual Peanut, August 2, 2007 Watch Your Step, August 4, 2007 I PETTED A DOG!!! (16 days to go), August 5, 2007 Go Fly a Kite, August 6, 2007 Will I Miss It? (12 days to go), August 9, 2007 the dancing rat, August 10, 2007 Have things changed for women in Afghanistan since the Taliban, August 11, 2007 Kitty, carpets, Koreans & Kabul, August 12, 2007 Media, burkas, food & prayers - must be Afghanistan!, August 13, 2007 Suicides Among Afghan Women on the Rise, August 14, 2007 Afghan Girl Sold in Exchange for a Horse, August 14, 2007 Kabul Kitty Too, photos & general Afghan blabble, August 17, 2007 Stories About Afghanistan Sent to Friends in August Kidnapping nearby, August 18, 2007 It's scary here, August 19, 2007 Kittens Against Terrorism, August x, 2007 hostage has been freed, August 20, 2007 Last Post Written in Kabul, Posted From Kabul!, August 20, 2007 Afghanistan Postscript: The Women Say Goodbye, August 22, 2007 2008Afghanistan Postscript Part Deux, January 17, 2008
2019Afghanistan Postscript Trois, December 7, 2019
2021What to say now?, August 2021 |
 If you want to help Afghan refugees in the USA, just go to your favorite search engine and search help Afghan refugees and the name of your city or the nearest metropolitan area. Once they make it to the USA, they are entirely on their own to pay back the loan for their airline tickets, to pay for their rent, clothes, everything else. Nonprofits like Catholic Charities help them learn English, learn to navigate mass transit, learn how our groceries work, learn what free things they can do together as a family (like walking through a farmer's market, walking through a public city or county park, etc.) and where to find jobs. Also, please write your US Congressional representative and your US Senators and tell them that we should fulfill our commitments to the Afghans who risked their lives to assist the USA and get them out, and that we must NOT provide financial assistance to the Taliban - we need to bargain HARD to ensure women's rights. No negotiation. If you want to help regarding the stray dog and cat situation in Afghanistan, please make a donation to the Mayhew Animal Home and Humane Education Centre, and tell them you want your gift to go to their efforts in Afghanistan. They are working to help spay and neuter dogs and cats there, to train Afghans regarding veterinary medicine, and to change Afghans' cultural practices regarding dogs, which have no basis in the Koran. I have spoken numerous times with a representative of this organization; they ARE making a difference, and your support will help them do even more! Yes, I've made donations.
Archived documents & information to show what life was like for international workers in Kabul once upon a time (and to show how we hope it can be again): My Guide to Shopping in Kabul, which is based on 2007 and is WOEFULLY outdated, but I hope it shows just how up-and-coming Afghanistan was in 2007, how full of hope it was... and I hope it will be again.
Also out-of-date is my Suggestions for Women Aid Workers in Afghanistan - but I think it's still helpful.
UNDSS Kabul Cleared/Approved Restaurants, from April 2007. From the UN Department of Safety and Security Central Region, Afghanistan. PDF.
Menu from Korean Restaurant in Kabul (New World Restaurant), from May 2007. I ate here SO many times. PDF. |
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Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited amount of material from my web site without charge if the information is kept intact and is credited to Jayne Cravens.
Please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials (for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you intend to charge).
The personal opinions expressed on this page are solely those of Ms. Cravens, unless otherwise noted.
