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How can we solve this problem
How can we solve this problem Today I was announced best speaker in our debate training arranged by IEFS. I was opposition leader on the issue of, is government obligated to lessen the gap between rich and poor? As the training ended I didn’t leave the center with cherishing memory of my success but with a question on my mind. In the end of the class everybody was talking about learning pay which is about to. I discovered that each of…
Electricity in Nangarhar
There is very little electricity generated by Darunta Dam which is divided between the corrupt officials and a few hospitals and government offices in Jalalabad. Households in Jalalabad buy electricity from these expensive community generators: $1.25/KW. Most families do not use heaters or air conditioners or anything that use a lot of electricity to save on bills at the end of the month. One generator powers about 60 households. These are private businesses and there are no regulations from the…
Be in Jail for 12 Years or Marry Your Rapist
Afghan woman jailed for being a rape victim offered release if she MARRIES her attacker Gulnaz was convicted of adultery because she had sex outside of marriage by being raped. After falling pregnant by her attacker, she and the baby were jailed for 12 years. She has been given the choice to marry her rapist and be freed from jail Read the full story here.
What Cripples Afghanistan’s Economy?
A world bank report came out yesterday that says depending on security the economy of Afghanistan could face a complete collapse beyond 2014. More than 90 per cent of our national budget comes from foreign donations. The world bank report in PDF: Transition in Afghanistan: Looking Beyond 2014. Income per person in Afghanistan is $528 a year. Josie Bassinette, the acting director of the World Bank says this figure conceals pockets of worse poverty because aid money is not divided…
Getting a National Identity Card in Jalalabad
Waiting for the Officers to Come A couple of cousins and my aunt asked me to help them get national identity cards called Tazkira for them in Jalalabad. I wrote an application for them and went to Nangarhar Governor’s Office with them. Normally, most government offices should open for clients at 8:00AM and close at 4:00PM. We were there by 8:10AM expecting that the workers would be settled. I thought that it’s the governor’s office and it would be more organized…
Ali, the Shopkeeper
I was in Dara-e-Noor district of Nangarhar province with my mapping team last month. I met Ali. He is about 4 years old boy with light skin, blue eyes, and blond hair. Ali’s father is a shopkeeper running a little convenience store in this very remote area in the middle of mountains. Ali keeps the shop and sells some small items that he knows the prices of when his father goes to Jalalabad for replenishing the store. That’s how Ali…
Interesting Twitter Fight: Taliban vs ISAF
ISAF">@ABalkhi is Taliban’s Twitter handle and @ISAFMedia is ISAF’s. I am following both. They sometimes have Twitter fights. They are exchanging some serious words right now as I am typing and here is how the @ABalkhi started and then the @ISAFMedia’s response follows and I quote everything: @ABalkhi: Article CSM:1000s Afghan mercenaries hired by CIA in Afghanstan.Commit outright human rights abuses(rape,robery,extra judicial killing etc) Story confirmed by US diplomats, western officials, afghan authorities. Hired to fight Taliban and others Recruits…
Difference between Wilf and a FATA Child
FATA Child">“The West must see the death of a FATA child the same way they see my 3‑year-old son Wilf.” Said Clive Stanford Smith, the legal director of the UK-based non-profit, Reprieve in Waziristan Grand Jirga Islamabad, Pakistan last month.
Two Young Afghans Join the Taliban
All names in this real story are unreal. Sexual Harassment Basir, who lived with his extended family in a little village 20 KM outside Jalalabad city, raped his sister-in-law. The victim, Shinkai, finally told her husband and the rest of her in-laws at home after spending two long days going over it in her head. She shared it with them so that they would punish Basir for his unforgivable crime. Nobody in the family believed her and everybody thought that…