Civilian Interviewees Disapprove of my boring clothes and lack of makeup

I went to interview one family today who had lost the head of the household in 2001 during an aerial bombardment by the international forces. It was a large house with many different family units living together. It was also strictly segregated between men and women. I first spoke with the men in one room, but was then asked to say hello to the women in the other section of the house. This was not a shy and retiring group of women!! They immediately grabbed me when I walked through the door and sat me down on some cushions. Children became dive-bombing into me (there must have been at least 25 children running around).
I hadn’t been sitting long before my lack of makeup began causing general confusion and dismay. Out came the eyeliners, bright lipsticks and rainbow-bright eyeshadows. Then my hair was scraped back, my nasty boring scarf tossed to one side…. THEN the women had a great idea that they were going to change me entirely and dress me up in their party clothes. So I was forced to change into a sexy 1001-nights outfit, complete with a beaded head-piece. This was causing great amusement and pleasure amongst everyone in the house – especially when I was pushed into the men’s quarters again (I really wasn’t sure about the dynamics here and was not comfortable at all.. but the women were pretty insistent!) Oh…. The things I do for my job!

(the photos show me before.. and then after my makeover! You can see all the children that were throwing themselves at me in the "before" photo!)

Make-Up, Afghan Style…

ACAP likes to help civilians by giving them vocational training. But training women in particular can be difficult because they have fewer options to leave the home. Make-up artist training has proved to be an effective way to help…. Because Afghans certainly love their make-up whenever they attend parties and social events!!
Erica and I decided to allow one of ACAP’s clients to give us a “make-over”…. It was a widow whose husband had been killed by a suicide bomber. She had just opened a beauty parlour so that she could make money to support her children.
I have attended a couple of weddings here, so I knew that the make-up would be colourful and not so natural… and this make-up certainly lived up to expectations!Erica went first… and the beautician started by ‘threading’ her face. “Threading” is common in Egypt (where I live at the moment) and also here – it involves taking two pieces of thread and running them up and down so that they remove all the hair…. But I didn’t realize that the hair on the face was something that had to go!
Then Erica had her eyebrows darkened and made into one sexy unibrow… then thick white foundation; shiny, shiny eyeshadow; fake eyelashes and bright lipstick with heavy lipliner.
I went through a similar process, though I also had my hair done (don’t ask me why!!). My hair was scraped back, gelled into submission and then I had glitter put everywhere… the shinier the better in Afghanistan!
This make-over was not a natural look. To be honest, we looked like drag-queens. We were heading to the Italian PRT straight from the salon and the first thing we did was go to the toilets and attempt to remove as much as we could of the gunge on our face!!

ACAP assistance for cluster munitions victim - and he measures us up!

As this blog makes clear, I have been working closely with the Afghan Civilian Assistance Program (ACAP) – a USAID-funded program that helps civilians who have been injured or who have lost family members in conflict. One of the ways that ACAP helps civilians is by providing them with vocational training. In Herat we met individuals who had, for example, been trained as tailors and as make-up artists.
This tailor had lost a leg when he picked up a cluster munition in a park in Herat. He received help from ACAP so that he could set up a tailor’s shop. He was a lovely man – soft-spoken and easy to smile. Because of his work, he was now able to provide food to his mother and sisters and he was deeply grateful for this improvement in his family’s life.
He insisted on making both Erica and me a shirt… So we had to be measured up and the materials chosen for us… We all broke out in giggles as he measured around our waists and then (horror) the chest area. We must have made his day!

Some more photos of my hike/ rock climb above herat!

Here are some more images from my hike in Herat - there really were some hairy rock-climbing bits (with minimal, minimal protection!)

Hiking in the Mountains Above Herat

Hiking anywhere in Afghanistan probably wouldn’t be on the top of a security officer’s list of things to do… but I couldn’t resist the offer to go hiking and rock climbing with my ACAP translator and some of his friends. I have loved rock climbing in California and across Europe – so I thought this would be a cool way to expand my climbing experiences!
We left at 5.30am. This was a shock to the system because Erica and I had been up until midnight, signing karaoke with the Italian PRT soldiers. Erica was sick so she stayed in bed…. So I was left hiking with a group of six Afghan men.
The first thing I noticed was the large gun that was strapped to one of the men’s backs…. That made me a little more nervous about the risk of a Taliban or bandit attack. But I soon forgot about these concerns. The hike was stunning. And it was tough – these guys are clearly as crazy as I am and were attempting to scale all sorts of vertical cliffs. They made a small effort at safety by having one rope that we wrapped around our waist as we climbed. The guy at the top then held this rope (with his bare hands). Not exactly sure what would have happened if any of us had fallen!
We hiked for 4 hours up to an incredible vista. Then we started shooting the gun. Now that was fun!! I fell on my back from the kick-back from the shot and caused a lot of laughter. Then we ate naan bread, drank tea, talked about Islam and Sufism. We ended our hike at a Sufi shrine at the bottom of the mountains. An incredible morning!

Italian soldiers in Herat - and karaoke!

The Italians in Herat have been extremely hospitable. Afghanistan is roughly divided between different nationalities – the British in the south, the Americans in the east, the Italians in the west… When we first arrived in Herat, we visited the PRT and we were given an incredible lunch of Italian food (proscuttio, good cheese, even white wine with lunch!! – in contrast, the British and Americans seem to eat nasty processed food and not a drop of alcohol is allowed on their bases!). The charming Italian soldiers then asked us back to their karaoke night. So we went and ate pizza, drank beer and sang along with bad Italian pop songs… quite an experience!

Ingenious Sewing Machine

The houses in the refugee camp did not have electricity. But this family had made a very effective sewing machine out of part of a bike and elastic chords. They had cemented the bicycle wheel into the floor and one of the children seemed to have the job of turning the wheel by pushing the pedals. The chords linked into the sewing machine – and presto! The sewing machine was fast and allowed the daughter in the family to embroider large pieces of material. This was one of the main ways the family made money to survive now they have been forced from their war-torn village.

Some Images of the BDP camp in Herat

As mentioned in the blog entry below, we visited a refugee camp in Herat where there were Battle-displaced families living and hiding from the fighting in their villages. Here are some more images of this desolate camp.

Battle Displaced People in Afghanistan (Herat)

“Battle Displaced People” (or BDPs) is a term used to describe individuals who are forced to flee their homes because of fighting. There are a specific subsection of Internally Displaced People (IDPs). There are thousands of BDPs in Afghanistan and the numbers are growing.
Today, we visited a refugee camp on the outskirts of Herat, on the road that heads out to Iran. It is a desolate stretch of road – beautiful in a harsh, dusty, mountainous way. But clearly a tough environment to live amidst.
The camp that we visited was built twenty years ago and has accommodated Afghans as they have fled various different conflicts. The camp is a permanent living-place with small, dark houses made from mud and straw. There are a handful of water pumps where the people can get water. But there is no electricity and no arable land.
We spoke with one family that has lived there for the past 2 years. They fled their village after their uncle was shot in the stomach and killed. He was attempting to help a group of children hide in a mosque during an intense battle between ISAF and the Taliban. After the uncle died, the family immediately left the area. The head of the house told us: “We only grabbed the most important belongings. Many of our things are still up in the village. But we cannot return now. We will die if we visit our home and land again.”
This family is desperate to return to their house in the village. The wife summed up the sense of desperation and the loneliness. She explained: “We have nothing here. Up in our village, we had fruit trees. My husband had a job on the land and he could provide for us. We had relatives and support. I could chat and discuss problems with people. Here, we have nothing. I have all these children and I can’t feed them. It makes me desperate. I make lunch, but then there is nothing left over for dinner. We desperately need help. We desperately need the fighting to end.”

Cluster Munitions Survivor and Campaigner

We talked today with an incredible 18-year old man, Ahmed, who had both his legs blown off when he was 10 years old. He was out at a picnic with his family and his cousin picked up a piece of metal he found on the floor. He realized too late that it was probably dangerous and threw it away – but it exploded and killed the cousin and severely injured Ahmed.
Ahmed told us that he was taken to the hospital and put on the pile of dead people. But his uncle came and saw that he was actually still alive. “But I think the doctor thought it was better to die,” Ahmed explained to us, “there is a view in Afghan culture that it’s better to be dead than to try to survive with no legs.”
Ahmed was in hospital for months. When he finally recovered, he tried to return to school. The teachers at first refused to allow him back in the classroom. “They said that they couldn’t manage with me there – they asked how they would take me to the toilet.” Ahmed, however, insisted and pointed out that Afghanistan had many people with disabilities and that they couldn’t simply be excluded from schools and public places. Ahmed then began to campaign for the rights of people with disability. He has attended conferences in Ireland, Norway and France. He intends to the visit the US later this year. He is campaigning for Afghanistan to sign the anti-landmine treaty and to ban to use of cluster munitions. “I am a clear example of the way cluster munitions destroy the lives of civilians,” he told us. “Innocent people should not have to suffer like this.”

The Women’s Section and Greasy Food in Herat Restaurant

We went for lunch with our translator today. We were ushered into the “women’s section”… a small room behind a beaded curtain. Once we were inside, there were such strange “sexy” photographs on the wall. As women, we’re put in a private place so the men can’t see us (or so we can hide from the men??) BUT the photos on the wall totally sexualized women. So what are we women supposed to be?? Private non-sexual beings or Bollywood temptresses?
We were given traditional Herati food – big bowls of greasy meat, greasy rice and greasy beans…. Eugh. I could barely move afterwards! The Bollywood superstars on the wall certainly aren’t eating this stuff!

Friday Mosque, Herat

The mosque in Herat is called the “Friday mosque.” It’s one of the most famous tiled mosques in the Islamic world and it’s beautiful!! The courtyard inside is cool marble, with men sitting and lying everywhere – chatting, sleeping, reading. The tiled mosaics are stunning. It was a treat to walk around it and relax for a short while!

Herat

Erica and I arrived in Herat today – what a beautiful city!! There are pine trees lining the street and open green spaces. There are football teams playing in wooded areas – such a welcome change from the dust of Kabul and the tension of Kandahar!
We hope to talk to some people who were injured by landmines and cluster munitions – the area around Herat was heavily affected by cluster munitions so there are a significant amount of people missing limbs. We’ve also planned to talk with the Italian PRT (provincial reconstruction team – Italian military working to build projects to help civilians) and with soldiers working to provide humanitarian aid in Royal Command West. We’ll be busy!

Wheelbarrows

The wheelbarrow is a heavily-used item in Afghanistan. When I arrived in the airport in Herat, there were dozens of small boys jostling with their wheelbarrows to carry passengers’ bags. When their work was over, they lay back and relaxed inside the wheelbarrows, arms behind their head…

Hot naan bread

Naan bread is staple of the diet here in Kabul. Every lunch time, women and children have baskets of bread balanced on their head. It's served with every meal. And it's delicious... particularly when it's hot and straight from the oven. There are little 'bread shops' dotted everywhere, with a smokey fire in the back and men pounding out the dough. Up front, is the 'main guy' - usually with a pointed stick (see the photos). He jabs the bread from the back and then throws it to the front by the counter where customers are queuing up to buy the bread. If you don't want to buy the bread itself, you can just buy the dough... and make fresh pizzas at home!! yum! :-)