videos
From Missouri to Nangarhar
Video credit: AFAfghan Missouri Agriculture Development Team has helped farmers in Kama districts and equipped some of them with advanced tools of farming. They’ve also taught new approaches of farming and how to harvest more healthy crops.
Pul-e-Jawan: A Regional Peace-building Team
Pul-e-Jawan, which literally means “bridges of youth” in Dari, Urdu and Hindi, is a group of regional peace building and active youth from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. In September 2011, Internews, Afghanistan took initiative and invited five citizen journalists with an interest in peace and reconciliation issues from each of the above countries (a total of fifteen people) to meet in Kabul. The aim of Pul-e-Jawan is to provide an exchange for the youth and to bridge any gaps and issues…
Support Afghan Female Boxers Fighting their Way to London Olympics
In the basement of once notorious Ghazi National Olympic Stadium of Afghanistan is where the Afghan national team of female boxers train tirelessly hard for the Olympics 2012 in London. Once known as the stadium of death the venue was used for holding public executions and stoning under the brutal Taliban rule, 1996 to 2001. Under the Taliban women were completely forbidden from participating in any sports, not even as spectators. Refurbished by the US government, Ghazi Olympic Stadium reopened…
Open Source Map for Nangarhar
Jalalagood Geek Squad worked on this open source map of Nangarhar for about seven months starting from June 2011. I am not bragging but Jalalabad is the most detailed city on open street map. A lot of aid workers and those who are new in town use this open source map to get around in Nangarhar. If you are using it on a smart phone it has navigation as well. NGOs and health workers use it to plan their humanitarian projects.…
Buzkashi
On a down day in Kabul, we decided to take a road trip up to Panjshir Valley. Lou has written about our experiences in a previous post. This post focuses on the game of Buzkashi. The objective of Buzkashi is to gain possession of a goat carcass, carry it a full loop around the field, and then deposit it into your opponents goal (which is a circle on the ground). If at any time you drop the goat, you…
Of Lions and Horses in the Panshir
Last Friday morning we headed off at first light from the muddy streets of Kabul. We wound our way north, past Bagram, where ISAF is headquartered, and took a sharp turn east in the village of Jebal Seraj. We’d decided to take a day long pilgrimage, of sorts, to the tomb of Ahmad Shah Masoud. His grave lies deep his homeland of the Panshir Valley which he so famously defended against the long and arduous Soviet attack. Masoud is arguably…
Measure Ma’an
Each be ruled by his own. Here in Jalalabad, wood is ruled by a ma’an (my spelling, trying to caputure the pronunciation. Elsewhere it is spelled mann.) Most of the heating and cooking energy needs in Afghanistan are supplied by wood. Along the road you see plenty of shacks of the wood dealers. Â Today we stopped by. Â Typically kids are chopping wood while an older bearded propriator (father/uncle) is sipping tea and waiting for customers. I noticed our wood was being…
Nan Factory
While walking down the streets of Kabul last week I stared a little too inquisitively into a nan store/factory pumping out the long, flat bread that is eaten with every meal in Afghanistan. The man stretching the dough noticed my prying and invited us in to see the whole process up close, encouraging us to take photographs and film the intricate, six man team working together to form the vat of dough into identical diamonds of flat bread. The bread is baked in a…
Turkey Slaughter
We went shopping for Christmas dinner in the bazar. Todd (Huffman) had in mind to get a turkey and our driver helped us find one. The bird was disassembled in front of our eyes.
Take me for a ride in Kabul
This is footage I shot out of a taxi window while the boys and I were in stop and go traffic on Taimoni Street, heading for Pajhwok news.