Afghanistan Today

Har amal axol amalley dorrad.
“A tree does not move unless there is wind.”
—Afghan Proverb

Present day Afghanistan is a country filled with contrasts and many of the images in this gallery exemplify these contrasts.

: Shop keepers rebuild below while the upper floors of the building are still in shambles.

: Businesses such as the car wash in the back left of this image flourish, while the “holey bug” sits as a reminder of the past 25 years of war.

: Russian tanks sit like quiet toads waiting for their next mission—hopefully to be recycled for scrap metal or parts for more peaceful machinery.

: Security guards overlook the budding spring in the village of Istalif at the foothills of the Hindu Kush on the Shomali Plain.

: Many individuals still use the two wheeled cart to transport all manner of goods. These carts travel the roads right beside to the growing number of automobiles and trucks.

: Going to the Cinema was an avid pastime of Afghans. This Theatre was one of many destroyed by the Taliban.

: At this busy intersection the tea seller has set up his shop among the recovered bricks from this bombed building.

: As we walked the streets we saw many houses marked by war serving as shelter for large family groups. This young girl was caring for a younger sibling as a little boy cried on the street. Girls in poor families are often at home taking care of the younger children while the boys are free to roam the city.

: Bullet pockmarks everywhere speak of the constant struggle for safety in the recent past.

: The second floor of this occupied house is “protected” from the elements by plastic.

: Next door is a recently renovated house with marble exterior decoration which is renting for a high price to one of the many foreign Non-Governmental Organization staff members. These NGO staff have much higher housing allowances than most Afghans can afford, so they are able to obtain the best housing and in the process inflate housing costs.

: Squatters live in any structure that may keep them dry. This structure was an art center built by the Russians during their occupation. The piles of brick from destroyed structures are to be recycled in new construction.

: The small house, no bigger than one or two rooms is home to a family of six to eight children.

: Thin slate markers in this cemetery mirror the starkness of the surrounding mountains.

: The Salang tunnel built by the Institute of Techno Export (USSR) and the Afghan Ministry of Public Works, was begun in 1958 and completed in 1964. With its completion the economy could flow more freely between the north and the south of Afghanistan. The Salang pass, at 11,000 feet in the Hindu Kush Mountains, offers spectacular vistas. Remnants of the fighting with Russia remain along the roadsides, including landmines that are still being cleared today.

: Galleries were constructed to keep the approaches to the Salang tunnel free from snow.

: Villages develop around sources of water in the valleys of this very dry countryside.

: Transportation is often via small van stuffed with 15-20 passengers. Their possessions are piled almost as high on its top as the van is tall.

: Rural schools are beginning to be rebuilt, however many classes are held outdoors or under UNHCR tents.

: The newly reconstructed Mahood Tarzi High School for both boys and girls is a sharp contrast to the elegant shell of this former government ministry building.

: Young boy doing his homework on the street while his parent tends a street-side stall in the bazaar.

: Afghan’s love for flowers is evident by the roses in bloom in front of the hospital in Kunduz. A bit of beauty in a rather harsh setting.

: Afghanistan grows 70 to 80% of the opium poppies in the world and the use of opium is on the increase within its borders. Posters warning of the dangers of opium use are throughout kabul.

: These women came to “talk” to me as I sat on a bench in the garden outside the hospital. The young girl on the left, whose mother is holding her I-V may have had her appendix removed. The grandmother bent over with arthritis “told” me of her aches and pains. We admired each other’s gold earrings and stared and smiled at each other simply crossing the divide of cultures. Tears came to my eyes as I watched them disappear around the corner and wondered at the simplicity of communication across the gulfs of language and culture.

: On my last day of walking the streets, photographing mostly men at work, I encountered two veiled women who walked beside me saying hello in English. As we passed simple greetings I thought to ask if I could photograph them. Thinking I would receive the usual nod of the head, “No,” I was surprised and please as they lifted their veils revealing these smiling faces.