RSS
Home
Afghanistan: the friendliest country: Afghan election, women’s rights, and more
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
Insert
Afghan Orphan Girls at School. Eager to learn. LeBow photo.
(This piece is part of a series Diane LeBow will be posting on Afghanistan--which was once a tourist mecca—and can be again.)
Indeed that’s what the cover on an Afghan tourism brochure from the 1970’s that I found in a bookstore in Kabul states: “Afghanistan, The Friendliest Country.” Believe it or not, that’s what I’ve found during my visits to this war weary land over the past nine years and with the continuing friendships I have with Afghan people. Afghanistan once had spas, ski resorts, luxury hotels and restaurants, and was served by most of the major international airlines.
The current election turnout of probably more than 50% with people in many cases risking even death is a testament to the Afghan’s resilience and belief in democracy. Consider that our U.S. poll turnouts are sometimes under 36% at midterm elections. Some outside voices tweeted admiration that the vote happened at all. "Amazed at determination to vote despite rockets, attacks, poll site burnings. An inspiration to the world," New York-based Veterans for Afghanistan sent on its Twitter feed.
During one of my visits to Afghanistan over the past nine years, I had the privilege of participating in a conference in central Kabul where Afghan women debated what statements they wanted written into the new Afghan Constitution. This was truly democracy in action.
.jpg)
Afghan Women vote "yes" for democratic rights in their new Constitution. LeBow photo.
When I entered the unheated old cinema building in central Kabul, where the Taliban had banned all films, the electricity went out for several minutes and I stood in the pitch dark with about one thousand Afghan women. They had traveled from all corners of Afghanistan to be here, on planes, on donkeys, and on foot.
For three days we sat in a packed hall for about 8 hours each day, witnessing what the American Institute for Democracy, which helped fund the conference, described as “true grass roots democracy at work.”
Like a dam had broken, these women demanded every possible right and a perfect society. “We want freedom to wear what we wish. We want to be free to marry whom we wish or not to marry. No more polygamy, no violence, free education, health care. We want the right to ride bicycles.”.jpg)
Optimistic Afghan friend
One of my good friends, Asheef (pictured here), is one of the wittiest, fun loving, and dependable father and husband you can meet anywhere. He’s been at war protecting his country and community for almost 30 years now. When I asked him a few years ago, what made him so cheerful, in spite of the fact that his leg was blown off by a mine and he carries shrapnel wounds all over his body, he replied, “We have peace now and peace is wonderful.”
The majority of Afghan people are gentle, witty, industrious, respectful of each other, and not just the nasty warlords and Taliban we see in the US news. They want just to live normal lives and for their families to be safe. They deserve not to be forgotten. Without real support for reconstruction, jobs, and a restored economy, it will all sink back into a dark hole that foments terrorism. So in a selfish sense, we need to make Afghanistan a success story.
For more information: http://www.womenforwomen.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan
Text and photos by ©Diane LeBow
Related Articles:
Comments
