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Car wash in Jalalabad
Generally, there are two types of car washes in Jalalabad: 1. fancy and expensive that commanders, et. al. use and 2. river and stream sides located ones that use a small gennie to pump water and hose down cars. Below is a hand pressure pump that is used to splash oil under the car so that it doesn’t get rusty. Most of the cars that we use in Afghanistan are used cars that get dumped here after they are first used…
A Joyful Weekend at Sweating Man
My brother, Idris, Rahmat and I went to the Jalalagood Sweating Man last weekend. Then we played Khusai, the one footed Afghan game. It was so much fun that I forgot to take any photos. There was a flood a couple of days earlier and the water in Behsood River was all very gray because of the floods, etc. This fisherman was trying to catch fish. He caught a few fish that were literally the size of his middle finger.…
Water Tank
Funny water tank on top of a house. This family lives 20 kilometers south of Jalalabad city and they have enmity with Taliban. Taliban killed a member of this family and then they went and killed several Taliban to take revenge. The family is always vigilant. They guard their house with their AK47s 24/7. It’s funny that they have this flashy red water tank. There is another house in Jalalabad that has a water tower in the shape of an…
A few Moments with Baba Jan
This is Baba Jan in the beautiful district of Kama. I was out with my mapping team when we met him. We were passing by his hut he gave us a shout and offered us watermelon. We stopped and sat down with him. He asked us to wait for him to finish his hash. “I enjoy the conversation then,” he said. Baba Jan has a small store right across from his hut which is run by his 9‑year-old daughter. He…
Addresses in Afghanistan
Normally, in Afghanistan we don’t have street names and street numbers. There are some streets and almost all towns with names. Funny story how streets and some towns are named but before that: I was driving outside Jalalabad city the other day and I needed directions to a friend’s house. I asked a couple of famers with their shovels on their shoulders for directions to a friend’s house in the area. In rural areas where people live in small towns…
International Day of Peace
Everyday when I go to work, my mom tells me, “Have a good day, son.” Today was different. When I was saying goodbye to her this morning she came to the gate with me and said, “Be careful, OK?” Just go to you office and come back straight home, she said. September 21st was like any other day normal day in Jalalabad. Most of the time, when there is a national or international day of celebration and there are officials…
Government aid too late
A couple of weeks ago my colleagues and I went to Kama district for gathering data for mapping the area on the open source mapping site, Open Street Map, we came across a team of the government aid distributors. They were distributing mosquito nets. Now that the summer season is over and there will be almost no mosquito anymore, these people don’t need these nets this year. “We will keep them for next year”, said one of the locals. This…
Thankfully my Brother Got Hit by a Car
My little brother, Imran was riding on his bicycle to school yesterday. He got hit by a car from the back. Imran’s backpack which had a broken zipper was on his back. When he got hit, his backpack fell to the ground and all his books got scattered all around in the middle of the road. Imran got up unscathed and started picking up his books to put back in his backpack. Suddenly, he saw a big scorpion with its…
Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management
Together with my colleague, Una Moore, I am taking an online course on Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management at TechChange Institute for Social Change: http://techchange.org/. It’s a 3‑week course and today is the last day of week 1. It’s my first online course ever and Una is helping me a lot with how it works and the course materials too. Yesterday evening, we took turns and read aloud the first week course materials at a French restaurant in…
New Computer lab in Khogyani
About five months ago, my colleague, Noor and I set up a computer and English language training lab in Kaga, Khogyani. Kaga is about 35 kilometers south west of Jalalabad city. It has a small main bazaar which is basically all on a one-hundred-meter long street. There are many small and sparsely located villages all around the main bazaar. It’s a beautiful place with a lot of snow in winter and cool weather in summer. We went there back in…