Afghanistan Archives - Susan M Hall

Aschiana Art Students Take a Field Trip to Band-e Qargha Lake

In 2007, I visited Aschiana at the invitation of an acquaintance who was volunteering as an English teacher. Students created oil paintings and watercolors by copying images from postcards and photographs. Most of the students had never been outside of their neighborhood, let alone Kabul. My friend Sandra and I decided to organize a ‘field trip.’ We rented two Pakistani buses for the bargain price of fifty dollars. We purchased a new supply of pencils, sharpeners, paintbrushes, paper, and Russian watercolors from the local stationery store. Two days later, forty-four students set off on a hastily organized field trip to Band-e Qargha Lake. After students got bored with painting, they skipped rocks into the lake; a universal pastime enjoyed by children and teens across the globe.

Three Afghan boys interior Pakistani bus

Bande Qargha Lake with ice capped mountains in the background.

Afghan men cook kebabs on a grill at Bande Qargha.

March 31, 2005 by Susan M Hall

Greetings from Afghanistan

Kabul is a city of hustle and bustle. There are few paved roads and no traffic lanes, intersections, or traffic lights. Livestock including sheep, goats, and camels weave in and out of traffic consisting mostly of old Toyota Corolla Sedans converted to taxicabs while young men in jeans talk on cell phones. It is a cacophony of traditional and modernity.

Deminers search landmines Kabul Afghanistan

Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR). De-miners search for land mines on the outskirts of Kabul.

A technician creates a prosthesis at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) rehabilitation center in Kabul.

Carpet weavers pose for a picture outside of factory in Kabul.

Carpet weavers pose for a photo outside a carpet factory in Kabul.

Afghans4Tomorrow girls’ school. During the five years from 1996-2001, when the Taliban were in power, girls in Afghanistan were not allowed to attend school. Following the fall of the Taliban in 2001, girls resumed their education.

English Lesson. Students study three languages at the Afghans4Tomorrow schools: Dari, Pashto, and English, as well as the “Quran,” the Holy Book of Islam, which is written in Arabic.

Afghanistan has been at war for over a quarter of a century. The future of the country depends on education and literacy for boys, as well as girls.

Children bring “naan” from the neighborhood bakery in Kabul.

“Naan” (flat bread) is a staple of the Afghan diet.

Baghe Zanana Womens Garden Kabul Afghanistan

Kabul’s Baghe Zanana (commonly known as the Women’s Garden).