November 21, 2007

daily struggles in kabul..

actually banal, but no day is like the other

Thursday, Nov 22, 2007

workshops are the most unpredictable thing on this planet..
today i was standing in front of some silent bodies..
too my surprise it was quite hard to convert the theory on peace building in to something lively and concrete.. into their daily life..

i thought that would be a great discussion today.. but instead they all looked at me and had no clue what to do.. M and his girlfriend are new.. ok.. but the rest seems to just be physically sitting in front of me and left their brains outside..
i was also not really myself.. so it could be both.. the doctor helped a lot to rescue the day.. and i found out that he actually learned already a lot in this past weeks.. today my special honor goes to the doctor..

Sunday, Nov 25, 2007
i get up in the morning, i still feel like shit after a weekend in fever.. but i get up and even manage to wash myself a little before leaving the house (the bathroom is now down to 2 C in the mornings).. my driver is telling me that i should not wear my winter jacket, because it is still warm.. one of the german colleagues calls me a rampensau because my picture happens to be in a brochure of a restaurant.. my doctor assistant greats me with the pleasant welcome of smoking in our NON smoking office, because i was not there.. that is enough for this day.. i call all workshop members and excuse myself for being sick as a pig..
i go back home, make myself a soup.. cry crocodile tears into the pot, because i feel so sorry for myself.. than i fall into a long lasting fever nightmare sleep.. i change my shirt every hour and feel better by sunset..

Monday, Nov 26, 2007
i wake up and energy is back into my body.. i am doing morning sport! and washing my entire body (feeling very wealthy).. enough energy to fight with the dragon.. simple stuff, nothing good enough to be mentioned here.. but a long lasting fight, so that the morning driver asked me after arriving in the ded office if i want to go in the future directly with my driver from my house to the other office.. grrreat.. half an hour more sleep.. and no more drives with the dragon..
i have to tell my wonderful girlfriend about my nightmares.. they just won't let go off me.. was easier to get rid of the fever.. but she can talk me out of it..
the workshop goes great.. everybody is there and 7 people and i are having fun.. in the evening i spent 30$ on pizza and go to bed early.. a wonderful day..

Tuesday, Nov 27, 2007

the radio starts at 6.30 and i listen a while to the news that i am usually listen to during the morning sport.. it is not dark anymore when i am finally swinging my legs out of the bed.. with a very silent (not to disturb the dragon with my good mood) whistle on my lips i prepare my coffee.. this is going to be a hair washing morning.. the oven is awaiting me in the room.. the foam is all over me and than it gives a very deep loud sound.. i think either is the generator of the neighbors exploded or the dragon finally imploded from bad mood.. i carry on taking care for my hairs.. while bbc stops broadcasting and i have to switch to the french channel.. just to listen to some voices in the morning..

while i am drying my hairs in my warm room the boss calls.. and gives me the news..


Suicide car bomber kills two civilians, wounds four in Afghanistan.
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
A suicide car bomber ignited a huge blast Tuesday near two armored vehicles used by US-led coalition troops in Kabul, killing at least two civilians and destroying the wall of a nearby house, witnesses and officials said.
A purported spokesman for the Hezb-i-Islami armed group claimed responsibility for the attack.
The armored vehicles were damaged, but no troops were wounded, said Lt. Col. David Johnson, a coalition spokesman. Four other people, including two Pakistani road construction workers were wounded in the blast, said Dr. Mohammad Musa from Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan hospital.



The explosion happened in wazir akbar khan, so i call all my friends living there.. nobody injured all good.. so we can enjoy the "white city".. morning at home..
it doesn't take long to figure out that not many died and the city is cleared again.. well back into the car with the dragon..

after another discussion with my driver what time i want him to pick me up and what time he thinks is the best to pick me up, i arrive in my office for not more than an hour work.. because today i promised a friend of mine to come to their house for lunch and they show me how to make quabuli.. the driver decided he is coming in the time he thought it would be best (i really don't want to complain about afghan man but they just PISS ME OFF sometimes) so we are half an hour late in the place he just could not find.. of courses this was not his fault but the fault of the stupid afghan lady who described the way to him.. honestly.. it wasn't that difficult to find.. if he would have just for one second turn off his all dominating knowing dig and listen with his ears to this afghan woman..

anyway we found it and i learned my cooking lesson.. on the way back i tried to make him understand that i don't want my driver to label my friends as stupid just because he does not know the city.. he probably did not understand because his testosterones were boiling the whole day.. so i just left him alone and sit now back in my chair to finally prepare the workshop tomorrow..

i am looking forward to every discussion, fight, sunshine on my shoulders, talks and nice moments in this place.. but i am mainly looking forward to the moment when the plain takes off and crosses the hindukusch.. farewell kabul.. this is going to be my last visit.. i am almost certain..



efficiency?

AFGHANISTAN: Oxfam calls for aid to be more effective, transparent..


Photo: Abdullah Shaheen/IRIN

KABUL, 20 November 2007 (IRIN) - Over US$15 billion of international aid money spent in Afghanistan in the past six years has not met the urgent humanitarian and development needs of the Afghan people because aid has either been insufficient or delivered ineffectively, a British charity organisation, Oxfam GB, said in a report.

"Too much aid to Afghanistan is provided in ways that are ineffective or inefficient," said the report which was submitted to a committee of the House of Commons, in London, last week and made publicly available on 20 November.

According to Oxfam, a big portion of the overall aid to Afghanistan "is absorbed by profits of companies and subcontractors, by non-Afghan resources and by high expatriate salaries and living costs".


"Each full-time expatriate consultant costs up to half a million dollars a year," the report has found.

The Oxfam report points to poor coordination among donors and a lack of transparency in aid spending which badly affects aid effectiveness. It also mentions weak implementing capacity, corruption and lack of resources in Afghan government institutions, exacerbating aid inefficiencies.

''Too much aid to Afghanistan is provided in ways that are ineffective or inefficient.''
Although agriculture is a major means of income for about 80 percent of Afghans, donors and the government of Afghanistan have only spent $270 million on agricultural projects in the last six years, Oxfam's findings show.

Call for increased use of Afghan resources

Owing to wasteful and ineffective aid totalling over $15 billion, millions of Afghans, particularly in rural areas, still face severe hardship "comparable with sub-Saharan Africa", the report said.

"Millions of highly vulnerable people in Afghanistan still need urgent support and assistance," Matt Waldman, the author of the Oxfam report, told IRIN in Kabul.

The 24-page report calls on donors to increase the amount of aid to the war-ravaged nation, ensure transparency, increase coordination and improve aid effectiveness through increased use of Afghan resources.


Photo: Abdullah Shaheen/IRIN

"The Afghanistan Compact [a strategic framework for the sustainable and balanced development of Afghanistan, agreed between Afghans and donors] sets 77 benchmarks for the Afghan government, but none for donors," said Waldman, adding that donors should take bold measures to change the current direction of aid delivery to Afghanistan.

Among Oxfam's recommendations is the establishment of an independent commission which should monitor aid delivery to, and aid effectiveness in, Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Adrian Edwards, agreed that there was a need for the government of Afghanistan to strengthen its institutional capacity to better manage and absorb international funds.

Donors should also improve aid delivery to, and effectiveness in, Afghanistan, Edwards said.

November 20, 2007

another workshopping day..



now the women are really into it.. the doctor and I got them to understand that it is about teamwork.. and they got it.. wonderful experience..

i only have one more workshop with them.. what a petty!!

the other workshop started as well.. AND I found my young friend M.. he worked with me in the youth theatre project 2 years ago.. of course i immediately invited him to join the participatory theatre workshop.. he brought his girlfriend, who is of course also doing theatre, and she will be part of it too.. so two more young and cool people to train!!

M will be my assistant in the next kindergarden workshop.. the doctor is so busy with getting married, that he has to buy clothing for the new girl and himself.. they are phoning every day a couple of times and they met already once!! he finds her cute and smart.. she is 19.. he is 35.. at least she could choose a little (3 more man were in the raze about her) and she is not getting an asshole as husband.. but the entire thing will cost him more than 15.000 USD.. all the phone calls and little gifts not included.. the man is earning 600 USD now with me.. jeeeeezzz.. he has to borrow the money from friends.. of course once in the car he made a remark about that and i had to say that i am not the right person to ask, since all my money goes directly to the bank account of my girlfriend.. ehem..

i didn't say girlfriend - i said
fiancé
.. (sorry sarah.. i am passing you off as my soon to be husband:) luckily nobody asked for a picture so far.. usually i had a pic of a male german friend (thank you forever soeren) in my wallet.. this time i totally forgot about that.. mhmm.. have still one pic of chris in my computer.. hopefully he doesn't mind if I take him as my soon to be husband picture..

today we went again to the market.. we always need to buy some stuff for the workshops and that gives me a good escape from the beans at lunch in the office.. so we had qabuli.. rise with raisins.. doesn't sound exiting? you should try beans in oil and oil in beans for 4 weeks.. after that everything is exiting..

picture: (afghani hotel.. women section.. doesn't look inviting.. tastes great!)






November 18, 2007

"For us ze war is over by tea time, ja"

From
November 18, 2007


THEY are on the front line of the war on terror, but German pilots facing the Taliban are insisting they stop at tea time every day to comply with health and safety regulations.

The helicopter pilots, who provide medical back-up to Nato ground troops, set off for their base by mid-afternoon so they can be grounded by sundown.

Their refusal to fly in the dark is hampering Operation Desert Eagle, an allied offensive, which involves 500 Nato-led troops plus 1,000 Afghan troops and police.

Although Germany has sent 3,200 troops to Afghanistan, they operate under restrictive rules of engagement.

They spend much of their time in an enormous base, complete with beer halls and nightclubs, in Mazar-e-Sharif, a 90-minute flight from the fighting. They also have a base at Kunduz.

Germany, which has lost 25 soldiers in Afghanistan to suicide attacks and roadside bombs, commands the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the north. But its men are not allowed to travel more than two hours from a “role two medical facility” - a hospital equipped for emergency surgery.

The restrictions have fuelled tensions among allied troops. Norwegian soldiers, who were fighting to stem a growing Taliban insurgency in this remote stretch of Afghanistan’s northwest frontier, were forced to desert their Afghan comrades midway through a firefight when German medical evacuation helicopters withdrew.

The Germans contribute unmanned surveillance planes, an electronic warfare team and a hospital to the operation.

One Norwegian cavalry officer, who was engaged in a day-long fight with more than 40 Taliban near Jari Siya in Badghis, said: “It’s hopeless. We were attacking the bad guys, then [at] three or four o’clock, the helicopters are leaving.

“We had to go back to base. We should have had Norwegian helicopters. At least they can fly at night.”

Abandoned by their western allies, the 600 men from the Afghan army’s 209 Corps were forced to retreat until a convoy of American Humvees arrived the next day to reinforce them.

November 16, 2007

a friday in bed..



ui i feel like new born.. after a very long working day and a very drunk thursday night, i decided to stay in bed and have some fun with agnes and a spiegel to read..
we had a lot of fun and the housemate bitch didn't come out of her room as well.. a very peaceful day!!

now i am out of bed and wait for my lovely lady to call me.. of course i am in l'atmo..

since i am having a lazy day i will write tomorrow more about the live and work in kabul city..

November 15, 2007

workshop day..


after the bachelor party of the my doctor he came to office with red eyes and very tired..

but we had a big day.. our first workshop together..
we are training some kindergarten teachers in theater exercises..

a good exercise for us.. and he is GOOD.. finally I got him interested in the work.. he is reading, no eating everything I give him, and he is asking questions.. ownership!!.. I am involving him in all the preparations and even in the financial control of the other project.. so now he has the feeling he is my assistant and not only my translator..

on the way to the workshop we almost hit a donkey..

and we got in a sandstorm..


but nothing could stop us to go for our first mission..

the women where all giggle and not concentrating at all.. we had a hard time.. but the doctor is very calm, that matches great with my energy.. so we managed to do a quite good workshop..




November 13, 2007

winter is coming

kabul is getting colder,

washing in the morning is getting harder,

electricity is getting rare,

the daily beans are destroying my stomach (can you imagine how that stinks??)

work is great,

i started workshops with kindergarden teachers.. very much fun..

this is/was the spring outfit..

I got a new jacket for 200 AF (4 dollar)!!

the cleaning was 500 AF (10 dollar) and is still in process.. the admin guy who is doing that for me is in holidays.. so i have to freeze a couple of more days..

picture will follow..

November 11, 2007

mobile theatre

tour start
the crew arrived in Kunduz..
the first show is going to take place on wednesday in the new community center of the mediothek..
performances in schools and other NGO's will follow..
so far everything went smooth..


pictures of the dress rehearsal

local market

November 6, 2007

a very sad day..

the number of people killed and wounded is rising since the sun did the same..
eyewitnesses say
more than a hundred children, women and man were killed..


BBC NEWS
Afghan suicide blast 'kills 40'

Politicians and schoolchildren were among at least 40 people killed in a suicide attack in northern Afghanistan, hospital and provincial officials say.

The scene of the attack in the province of Baghlan was left littered with bodies and splattered with blood in one of the worst attacks in recent times.

The attack was condemned by the Afghan president, the White House and the UN.

Analysts say suicide attacks are rare in this area, and the bombing shows the reach of the insurgency is growing.

The Taleban, al-Qaeda and other militant groups are fighting thousands of Afghan and foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Bodies

The bomb exploded at a sugar factory in a town in Baghlan province while a delegation of parliamentarians was visiting - at least six of whom died.

Among the MPs killed was Mustafa Kazimi, a former mujahideen fighter and prominent opposition figure.

Schoolchildren who had gathered to welcome the politicians were also killed.

"I saw bodies lying in the streets and some of the people were stealing the weapons of the dead soldiers," local resident Mohammad Rahim told Reuters news agency.

"Children are screaming for help. It's like a nightmare," said Mr Rahim, who said the blast had killed his two cousins, both schoolgirls.

The deputy mayor of Baghlan province said that two disembodied legs were all that remained of the bomber following the attack. The bomber's identity is unknown.

The head of hospitals in Baghlan, Yousuf Faiz, told AFP news agency 40 dead and 120 wounded had been registered at four hospitals.

Meanwhile provincial security chief Abdurrahman Sayedkhail told Reuters he was aware of 50 dead, though some relatives had taken bodies away themselves.

Taleban denial

President Karzai condemned the "heinous" attack - one of the worst since the ousting of the Taleban in 2001 - "in the strongest possible terms", he said in a statement.


KEY BOMB ATTACKS SINCE 2001
29 Sept 2007
Suicide attack on Kabul bus kills 30
10 Sept 2007
At least 20 dead in two suicide bombs in Gereshk, Helmand province
17 June 2007
At least 35 dead in bomb attack on Afghan police bus in Kabul
3 Aug 2006
Car bomb kills at least 21 in Kandahar province
16 Jan 2006
Suicide bomb kills at least 20 people in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province
1 June 2005
At least 20 people killed in bomb attack on mosque in Kandahar city

"It is the work of the enemies of peace and security in Afghanistan," he said.

The attack was "a despicable act of cowardice and it reminds us who the enemy is", said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed "his continuing anxiety regarding the unstable security situation throughout Afghanistan".

A Taleban spokesman condemned the attack and denied the Taleban were behind it.

However, suicide bombs in Afghanistan have until now been exclusively the work of the Taleban and al-Qaeda, our correspondent says.

In separate developments:

  • Canadian Defence Minister Peter Mackay narrowly avoided being injured by a rocket fired by insurgents at a Canadian military outpost in Kandahar province. Four Canadian soldiers were lightly wounded
  • Taleban militants on motorbikes and in pick-up trucks captured an important district in the province of Day Kundi - the third district captured in a week.

Violence

Until now, most suicide attacks have taken place in the south and east of Afghanistan or, less frequently, in Kabul.

But the UN says the number of suicide attacks is rising sharply. Insurgent attacks have also been on the increase in areas of central and even northern Afghanistan - where violence had tended to take the form of common crime rather than political attacks, says our correspondent.

Fighters loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar - a former mujahideen leader who is battling the Kabul government independently from the Taleban - are known to be active in Baghlan, says BBC analyst Pam O'Toole.

Civilians have often been the victims of the violence in Afghanistan - not only in attacks by insurgents, but also in strikes by the foreign Nato and US forces in the country.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7081012.stm

Published: 2007/11/06 22:01:38 GMT

© BBC MMVII

November 5, 2007

last night..

that is why we had to leave so quickly the office last night..
the printing house is just around the corner from the DED office and they already raided the place..
kabul is calm, no protesters so far..
lets cross fingers that it stays like this..
r



Afghan Koran distributor arrested
By Alix Kroeger
BBC News, Kabul

Various editions of the Koran for sale in the Afghan capital Kabul
Religious scholars are outraged at the new translation of the holy book
The distributor of a new translation of the Koran has been arrested after complaints from religious scholars that the new edition was un-Islamic.

Former journalist Ghows Zalmay is also the spokesman for Afghanistan's attorney general.

He was arrested on the border on Sunday while trying to flee into Pakistan.

Demonstrators protested in two Afghan provinces against the new translation of the Koran into Dari, one of Afghanistan's two official languages.

Religious scholars are outraged at the new edition of the Muslim holy book.

They say that it is un-Islamic, that it misinterprets verses about alcohol, begging, homosexuality and adultery.

They also complain that it does not contain the original version in Arabic as a parallel text for comparison.

Both houses of the Afghan parliament have held emergency debates.

Senators have called for Mr Zalmay and the translator, himself a mullah, to be punished.

One said Mr Zalmay was "worse than Salman Rushdie", whose book, The Satanic Verses, caused widespread outrage in the Islamic world.

Another said Mr Zalmay was under the protection of a foreign security company.

In the northern city of Taloqan 1,500 university students took to the streets in protest, while in the south-east province of Nimruz 1,000 local people, including several mullahs, took part in a demonstration.

The Afghan constitution enshrines freedom of expression, but for many Afghans that freedom has clear limits and they do not include making interpretive translations of the Koran.

November 4, 2007

angie in afghanistan..

she came by surprise and left so quickly that we only heard her helicopters.. but hey she came the day after i felt so lonely and shit.. you think she came to lift my spirit? it worked!!

her helicopter was not very spectacular.. but her outfit.. damn i missed that..




November 2, 2007

weekend in kabul

it is weekend and the sun is shining.. good news in the otherwise way to cold place.. cold also in the sense of people.. i was prepared for a bit of loneliness in the first days.. but this is really a bit too much now.. no one around to hang out with.. people here work until late.. go for a drink, get drunk and talk stupid.. mhmm.. maybe i am too old for this and haven't found an alternative yet.. only one lady, a member of the L-world!, but she is working in the provinces and only some times available for hangouts..
thats the sad song of kabul.. :-)

otherwise work is great and the germans are particular nice and ready to break the rules with me..
the new rules say that you are not supposed to go more than 100 meters on your feed, for every way longer than that you have to call a car, that might arrive an hour later since we do not have the capacity to drive everybody to coffee klatsch.. no more local taxis, no more friends pick ups.. that increases the loneliness.. and it increases the distance to the country.. i find it horrible not to talk to the shop owner around the corner.. not to be able to follow an invitation from a colleague to go their house on a friday afternoon since we are not allowed to be in 'non approved' places - which are only armed protected houses, like a couple of restaurants, our own houses and not even all the work places.. the cultural centre is of course not armed.. so technically i am not allowed to be there.. these are actually the rules of UN staff.. that we adopted.. unfortunately we didn't adopt their salary scale and not their housing equipment.. UN buildings usually have everything in their compound, from happily running warm water, to internet connection and a gym..

one of my rule breaking friend and I went on wednesday to the gym,
where we found not only running hot water (hair washing problem is solved for the winter) but also a wonderful little cafe in the basement, where we can also meet some afghans to chat with 'locals'.. haha..
when I arrived the discussion about the new rules where on a high peak and we tried to oppose.. we couldn't stop it and having now a one month 'test' run.. in which we agreed on heavy use of vehicles to crash the system..
but still the next month will be prison like..
lucky german has the l'atmosphere in front of the door.. i do not count if this is more than 100 meters and i still go to my favorite little shop on the corner.. if I try to send my guard to buy me stuff, he comes back with half of it and tells me that is enough for me.. he must be scotish.. taking care that i am not spending one afghani too much..
so far from the very sunny side of the hindukush..



November 1, 2007

lesbians in afghanistan?

translated with babelfish
(the original is to find in the german magazin lespress: http://www.lespress.de/082002/texte082002/afghanistan.html)



In an interview in December 2001 answered Shahla Asad, woman employee of the woman Mrs. RAWA (the name stands for "Revolutionary Association OF Women in Afghanistan"), in scarce words the question about the situation of lesbians and gay in Afghanistan: "the rights of lesbians and gays are not existent. They are seen as prostitutes." Shahla explains that homosexuals are hated and at all no rights to have. If they became "discovered", them expected the death penalty under the Taliban. But would look in such a way in many Islamic countries. Women in Afghanistan could not express themselves. How are they to then take the liberty to feel their lesbian feelings? "Homosexualitaet is a taboo", terminates Shahla their explanations and adds that RAWA recognized that it needs time, until it is accepted by humans. "RAWA says that they are not a prostitute and that they have the fundamental human rights."

It is substantially simpler to arrive at information about the situation of gays in Afghanistan than at information about lesbians. Allegedly the male Pashtunen, is strongly homosexual oriented conservative Muslims. Even master princes are to have fought with one another for their lovers. "Ashnas" are called these (younger) loving. Their friends are often married and have children. "ashnas" (they are called also "halekon") gifts receive from their friends. After Tim Reid in the "Times" of 12 January 2002 these homosexuals practice as part of the culture Kandahars of the population one accepts. Often however the young people (between 15-16 years) died the connections, because the poverty forced them to it.

With this report on male Homosexualitaet in Afghanistan some questions remain open: Is male Homosexualitaet possible in Afghanistan only in the subordinate position? Is it sexual exploitation of persons under age? Is it Sexarbeit? These questions must remain unsettled here. In each case applied according to Tim Reid the city Kandahar the Taliban era ago as "capital of the gays of south Asia". Pairs of men are to have moved until 1994 openly in the roads. Afterwards the Taliban Mullah Omar, which took over the city, prepared an end. It let some gays execute.

The interim government announced the death penalty right after to its assumption of office in December 2001 against gays was abolished. The punishment consisted of the public execution of homosexuals by the umstuerzen of a wall on it. Most survived this punishment not. On the homepage the international lesbian and gay organization ILGA (www.ilga.org) the names are called by five murdered gays. The age men executed of two is 18 and 22 years. Lou Chibbaro Jr. reports in the newspaper Washington Blade of the international Muslim group of gays "aluminium Fatiha", which observes among other things the improvement of the gay rights in Afghanistan. After information of this group there is no gay organization in Afghanistan. The group deplores that Burhanuddin Rabbani, which is responsible within the north alliance for many violations of human rights will play a far large role in Afghanistan. Rabbani is Islamic fundamentalist. He becomes possibly a boss of the new highest Court of Justice of Afghanistan.

Also the lady journalist Maura Reynolds reports in the Los Angeles Times of 4 April 2002 of the common Homosexualitaet the male population Kandahars, which covers 50% of the male population according to statements of a physician practicing there. Some men explain however, them there gladly a woman would marry, if the bride price were not so high. Therefore they would have to take Vorlieb with young men. It is however no indication of Homosexualitaet, if men embraced themselves, went or kissed hand in hand. Also Kajal around the eyes and henna on the fingernails is not necessarily an indication of Homosexualitaet. Nevertheless Kandahar and the conservative ethnical group of the Pashtunen are admit for male Homosexualitaet say Reynolds. Already in 16. Century described king Baber, founder of the Moguli dynasty, in its memoirs its infinite love for the son of a Bazarhaendlers.

Are there no lesbians in Afghanistan? Or why is it so difficult to experience from them to? Also with AfghanInnen in the German exile the topic is unknown. Is the question about lesbians in Afghanistan a wrong question? Or now is the wrong time to place it? Perhaps the invisibility of lesbians points itself with the unsuccessful search for lesbians to Afghanistan, from which they suffer also in western countries. But in Afghanistan concrete fear of death is added. Because gays for their sexualitaet and women for the smallest offenses were killed still few months ago by the Afghan state.

That is the reason for the fact that the woman Mrs. RAWA in Afghanistan in the underground works. And this hidden work maintains RAWA until today. Because even if women are not any longer executed after the fall of the Taliban, their situation is still dangerous. The north alliance, which is now in power, had terriblly prevailed before the Taliban from 1992 to 1996 in Afghanistan. Murder, rape, physical force, humiliating and plunderings belonged to their everyday business. Were the fundamentalists of the north alliance, which 1992 the veil introduced. The veil became from the Taliban then the complete body veil, which perfects "Burka". Today still very many Afghan Mrs. Burkas carry, since they distrust to the north alliance. RAWA women tried to clear the public up over this bad exchange.

Some women from Afghanistan travel now without Burka, but with other camouflage by western countries. They are spokeswomen of RAWA, carry wrong names and cannot not be filmed or photographed. Their journeys - the route is specified at short notice and is not located not in the InterNet - serves the spreading of information about its country and the situation of the women there. The wrong name serves the protection, because were already murdered some the 2,000 RAWA Aktivistinnen. Among other things the foundress Meena in Pakistan was killed. Their picture is on the professionally arranged homepage from RAWA to to see (www.rawa.org).

Shahla Asad is one the traveler RAWA spokeswomen (their name is thus also another). It is 27 years old, small and narrow. Their clothes are black, western and dezent. If it reports in lectures on the situation in Afghanistan, it shows few emotions. Clearly and scarcely it tells with an easily metallically sounding voice of the work RA which in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Pakistan live about three million refugees from Afghanistan in camps the close border. Shahla has a child and lives, if she is not for RAWA on the way, in Pakistan and informs Afghan girls and boys in the refugee camps. "I would have made gladly teacher training, but more than the education could not make RAWA for me possible." Nevertheless Shahla informs the first two classes in RAWA schools.

Here a few background informations for the work of the woman Mrs. RAWA. So some mark was criticized the word "in a revolutionary manner" in the name by RAWA. Was guessed/advised to the women to omit this Woertchen then they were gotten rather financial support. But the 1977 developed organization keeps its name. The women know that it is actually not very radical, to demand women's rights. "however the existence of an independent woman organization in the man-controlled Afghanistan", so a RAWA Aktivistin, "is already revolutionary to and for itself." Basic idea of this organization is that women must have without reservation entrance to education, work, food and to political posts. Is important to the RAWA women to demonstrate democratic with one another. They come from all ethnical groups of Afghanistan.

"toolism has so many meanings", says Shahla Asad "it gives also Islamic tool NIST inside." RAWA distinguishes itself from these, because the organization pleads for saekulare policy. Nevertheless RAWA is toolistic. "we work politically separately from men," describe Shahla, because want to remain politically independent the organization and by men not dominate. "we strive for a better society. We want that women know that they have rights, because many do not know at all, what their rights are." Also young it would have to only learn that equal to girls are. "the recent generation did not learn in Afghanistan."

In Afghanistan prevails for 23 years war/civil war. The war of the USA against Afghanistan drove the Taliban out and terminated their misogynic rule. But the new ruling powers in Afghanistan are like already mention the men of the north alliance (and other fundamentalist "being lords so mentioned", master princes). They place the majority in the interim government under Minister Karzai. And they determine now the Loya Dschirga, the traditional master meeting, that is to select a democratic government for the first time after 23 years. Also RAWA had hoped for the influence of the former king Zahir Shah in the Loya Dschirga. It seems however that it does not have enough power against the being lords. With the democracy it is in Afghanistan not yet far ago, determined observer inside the Loya of Djirga process. A television report in the "world mirror" showed recently, how a woman was out-pushed in a quarter of Kabul despite her majority of votes toward buying of votes from the Loya Dschirga. Perhaps it had thereby luck in the misfortune, because at least eight of the 1,451 representative of the people inside the large meeting of the council were already murdered. 160 women participate in the large meeting of the council.

Gudrun Fischer

Note: I referred the presseinformationen of amnesty internationally

Interview with Shahla of RAWA by email

In an attempt, further information too gotten sent Gudrun Fischer Shahla Asad of RAWA to email. Here the questions and Shahlas are answers:
Is Homosexualitaet forbidden in Afghanistan? If, which expresses law and you can send the legal text to me?

Homosexualitaet is strictly forbidden. It is considered as somewhat unreligioeses and "immoral". The law concerned of the momentary fundamentalist government did not appear yet.

Do the people or the government make differences between lesbians and gays and if, who?

The difference between lesbians and gays depends on the law and we will see whether they differentiate between the two (lesbians and gays). But are so far humans concerned, seem them not much about Lesbianismus to worry. While and the Taliban rule, have we (RAWA) of no woman heard 1992-96, who was condemned because of Homosexualitaet. Perhaps they want to do in such a way, as if it would not give in Afghanistan, exactly the same as AIDS. Because there are lesbians and many cases of AIDS.

If a woman discovers her lesbian feelings, can she live it? Can it tell of it its family or different one? Can she find a friend, does give it to clubs or meeting places?

Exactly the same as a man, a woman with its lesbian feelings in a difficult and painful situation would be, what the religion, which concerns social and moral values. It can be that it never dares, about their feelings with their family to speak or at all with possibly someone. I think, would want to live no homosexuals without its PartnerIn, but it would be as simple as in the west and in many other countries. No, there was never a group or a club in Afghanistan.

If there are lesbians in RAWA, can they be open? Are there other open lesbians in Afghanistan? Does RAWA make politics for lesbians? What is RA which position to lesbians and gays?

Although RAWA would never take the liberty to intervene in the bedrooms of their members no lesbian may be open with RAWA. At least I do not know an open lesbian. But while the time of Zahir Shah (the former king, who governed until 1973, note G.F.) there was a minister, who admits as a lesbian was.

Were there famous lesbians (or women, who lived with women) or gays in Afghanistan from earlier times?

I do not know a famous lesbian, but we had many politicians and artists and different, who schwul were.

Are there to publications or literature over lesbians or gays in Afghanistan, which could recommend you to me?

I never saw such publications.

How is the situation in Pakistan?

Although also in Pakistan Homosexualitaet is forbidden, they have obviously better conditions as Afghanistan. Sometimes over it references in the press of Pakistan are to be found. Perhaps they have even their groups and clubs, about which I do not know however much.

P.S.: Unfortunately Shahla Asad did not answer to the demands by email yet. There she was asked for a contact to the former lesbian minister mentioned by it. Perhaps is a too dangerous question?

Gudrun Fischer

kite runner.. the movie

Afghan actors evacuated over film role

published Wednesday, October 17, 2007

"The Kite Runner" author Khaled Hosseini is commending the delayed release of the film adaptation of his novel over fears for the actors' safety.

Movie distributor Paramount Vantage delayed the debut for six weeks, until Dec. 14, after three of its adolescent male stars said they could be targeted for their participation in a homosexual rape scene. The studio -- the art-house label of Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures -- is moving the boys and their families from socially conservative Afghanistan, possibly until next spring.

"I applaud the studio for delaying the release of the film even though it goes against whatever commercial wisdom there is," the 43-year-old San Jose resident said Monday at a media event in San Francisco.

"Afghanistan has become a pretty violent place within the last year," said the Kabul native, who immigrated to San Jose in 1980. "If the boys and their families think there is a reasonable risk of threat to them, then you have to take all of the steps that you can to make sure they are OK."

The scene in which the 12-year-old protagonist witnesses the brutalization of his friend -- but does nothing to stop it -- is one minute of a two-hour film and two pages of a 380-page novel. It plays on ethnic tensions that pervade the book, pitting an upper-class Pashtun bully against a lower-class ethnic Hazara boy.

Hosseini defended keeping the scene in the film as a pivotal moment of character development.

"Without that moment, the tower of cards really falls apart," he said. (AP)

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