Beautiful Kabul

~By Anu. My friend Rafiq Maqbool took this lovely photo at a place called Mini-Mobile Circus for Children here in Kabul.

MMCC, as it's called, is an after-school program. Children, many of them refugees, get to sing, dance, act, juggle, walk on stilts, even make professional radio programs! I'd watched the film, Osama, the night before. I couldn't agree more with David Denby, who wrote in the New Yorker:

"This lovely movie, the first to come out of Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, is about a twelve-year-old girl (Marina Golbahari) who dresses as a boy in order to get work and winds up with dozens of prepubescent boys in a madrassa, where she is subjected to nonstop Koranic recitation and bizarre lectures about sex. The movie is deeply shocking and understated, with an iconic use of such repeated imagery as the shots of men slowly keying elaborate locks that pen the women up. The groups of faceless women in their burkas are like fields of lavender swaying in the wind; the boys in their white turbans bobbing over the Koran are both beautiful and foreboding. Made for less than fifty thousand dollars (plus free use of camera and crew), the movie is an outright miracle."

Aghanmmcc1 If you've seen Osama, you can imagine how striking it was for me to see little girls running around, laughing, playing... oblivious to their gender.

A morning at MMCC really lifted my spirits and opened my eyes to many ordinary things happening in Afghanistan that have nothing to do with the Taliban, burkas, Buddhas, or opium.

In the snow and sunshine, children ran around, throwing snowballs, sliding down ice ramps, playing volleyball, and singing songs composed by their music teacher. Many of the children's families are refugees, displaced by several decades of war.

Afghan families are incredibly conservative- men and women eat separately when guests come over. But don't let that fool you. This is a country of fiercely independent, sensible people. If, like me, you often wonder what day-to-day life here is really like... it's about lighting the wood stove in the morning... rising early for prayers... eating together... getting off to work... taking the children to school... preparing meals...worrying about your family's future and watching lots of Indian TV in the cold together. It's about not wanting too much for yourself and alot for your country.

Afghanmmcc4 In short, it's about enjoying the everyday blessings of family and community- something that was ripped apart by the Soviet invasion, years of civil war, and Taliban-rule.

It's also about families of 10 or 15 surviving on a sum total of $100 a month (unless you're lucky enough to work for a foreign news organisation or NGO). I can't begin to imagine how I'd feed and clothe myself, pay bills and get around on $3 a day...

My friend Sharon, who works as a mid-wife here in Kabul, describes some of the horrific accidents and illnesses people suffer. Most children in this country die of respiratory illnesses or diarrhea by age 5. Women often die in pregnancy. The mullahs still negatively influence people's habits, by giving them the wrong advice (ie- don't breast feed your baby in the first days; don't eat fish, eggs & meat during pregnancy).

She's also seen children and whole families with catastrophic burn injuries from heaters that catch fire or explode. She was telling me the other day of one case where someone sold kerosene mixed with jet fuel with appalling consequences.

So wherever you are, Happy Eid. Enjoy what you have and please remember how little most people in the world get by on. You'll be doing yourself a favor. And if you want to donate to MMCC, go to their website and follow the links.

Watching Afghan families surviving together only sharpens my desire to have children, devote more time to my allotment, write letters and spend time with my friends, family and neighbors. It's good enough for me.

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Hi Anu Didi- Loved this entry. The movie that you mentioned sounds interesting. Afghanistan looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing you experiences with the rest of us via this blog.
I wish I had something more insightful to say, but it would be hard to do so after reading your recent entries. I think all some of us can do is just sit back and follow along and be amazed that such a different world exists at the same time that we are typing away at our computers, reading our blogs, and drinking our tea or coffee in front of our computer screens. Your blog is inspiring!

Posted by: Ritu | 02 January 2007 at 05:24 PM