Schools out!

Primary school is out of session and kites are starting to fill the skies of Kabul. Kids race through the streets in gangs pulling kites behind them - colorful paper, clear plastic, homemade and store bought.
Students at Kabul University are taking the last of their final exams. This week I am giving seminars on course development and capacity building to the faculty.

Some Slow Days

The King of Afghanistan, 92-year-old, Mohammad Zahir Shah, died this week. Kabul has practically shut down, both officially, with government offices and Kabul University closed, but also under virtual security lock-down with concerns over attacks during the ceremony to honor the King. Zahir Shah's reign began in 1933, at age 19, and ended in 1973 when his cousin, Mohammad Daoud Khan took over and tried to increase the speed of reforms. Zahir Shah returned to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, having spent the previous thirty years in exile, mostly in Italy.
With the town so quiet, and no activity at the University I'm posting a few earlier shots. Lunch in the cafeteria, served everyday by a large crew of older gentlemen. Also a shot of an assistant professor, Abdul Aziz, signing the payroll book in the Dean's office. Along with drinking tea and chatting (a photo of me and another professor, Mohammad Wali) this is a major reason for staff to visit the Dean's office.

The Shomali Plain

The Shomali Plain begins just to the north of Kabul, a broad valley with towns tucked along the base of the mountains that line the plain. With a local NGO, I visited three towns, Guldara, Farza and Istalaf where they are developing woodlots and fruit tree production. Wood for house and furniture construction, such as poplar, mostly comes from Pakistan and Russia, but can be readily grown in Afghanistan. (Wood for heating and cooking seems to come mostly from oak and cedar forest in Eastern Afghanistan).

The hills above these towns are rocky and barren , but snow melt flowing from these slopes provides water for homes and irrigation for agriculture. In Guldara we visited a farmer growing grapes, plums, apples, cherries, woodlot seedlings, wheat, and many vegetables over a well-tended series of terraces. For water, the farmer was constructing and maintaining a Karez, an ancient system to channel groundwater. Deep pits dug to the level of the water table are lined with stones and then horizontal tunnels dug to connect each pit. The further up the slope, the deeper the pits and the more groundwater can be captured and channeled. To maintain the Karez someone has the extremely dangerous job of regularly clearing the underground horizontal tunnel's connecting the shafts. After touring the terraces fed by this system, the farmer, Samad, invited us to a lunch of yogurt, fresh bread and mulberries in front of a large, clear pool where the Karez emptied.

On to Farza we toured another series of woodlots and could see some of the snow remaining from the previous winter clinging to the mountains above town. Just outside of town, we visited Paghman, where the Royal family used to maintain a summer home (now in ruin) which looked out over the Shomali's green fields fed by the snowmelt. Across a narrow river valley from Paghman, lies the town of Istalaf. Like several towns in this area, during the past decades Istalaf was heavily shelled, but construction of homes and schools is occurring at a rapid pace. Istalaf is becoming an attraction for its production of pottery. Our group was invited in see a potter at work. He was happy to give us a tour of his workshop, but he insisted on his son retrieving his turban if we wanted to film him at work.

Shots of the Faculty of Agriculture

A faculty workshop was held last week, and I haven't posted any photos for a while, so here are just a few. Many more photos are on the way.
Along the side of the building there is a small tree seedling project (above). Below are a couple shots of some of the faculty...fully absorbed in the workshop. (There is one woman faculty member, but she is away in India getting a graduate degree) Last is a shot of Dean Mohsini giving a talk.

"Bush" Bazaar

The center of Kabul is so full of commerce and markets, it is hard to know when you pass from one bazaar into another. As far as I can tell, except for Fridays, the markets are bustling from dawn to dusk.
Last week I went to a section full of fabric vendors and purchased a few yards of cotton fabric. Down a few more alleys in a building whirring with sewing machines and one tailor after another, I ordered a shalwar kameez (long shirt and baggy pants), typical daily dress. In general vendors of specific goods are all grouped tightly together be it cookware, shoes or dried fruit. And on the outskirts of all the markets are fresh fruit and vegetable vendors. Tomatoes, apricots, melons, okra and peppers are all in great supply right now.
The "Bush" Bazaar does stand a little apart from the other bazaars, along one of the roads out of town. Here you can purchase just about any item gleaned - one way or another - from the mountains of material brought in for military personal or employees from foreign government missions. Western cloths, electronics, huge containers of chow (canned fruit and vegetables, mashed potato mix, pie filling) cosmetics, printers marked "non-confidential", giant felt snowmen with top hat and green vest. Military rations which the army probably buys for 30USD sell for 80 cents in the bazaar and are a popular item in almost every shop. With all the variety in the bazaars, I'm hoping to score some items needed at the faculty, such as latex laboratory gloves, and lab coats we can have made.

Challenges at the Faculty of Agriculture

Each day I get to know more faculty in the Ag school, and get a better idea of challenges facing the program. Decades ago, the US poured money and resources into the Faculty of Agriculture. Over a dozen professors from US schools (mostly the University of Nebraska) taught a majority of the classes, trained technicians for the laboratories and oversaw administration. Now the older, Afghan faculty, with the best training and experience, expect a restoration of the old model and barring that are not inspired by the prospect of years worth of rebuilding an academic program. Younger faculty are ambitious and want to improve, but have had extremely poor training and preparation. Some younger faculty are currently outside the country seeking higher degrees, and when they return will provide traction to move all the faculty forward. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Higher Education sends the Faculty of Agriculture increasing numbers of students every year (currently over 1200 students to about active 40 faculty)
Afghanistan is awash in money for development, and native, technical expertise is highly sought, but next to impossible to find. Many professors would like to contract with NGOs (monthly salary for professors is US 400), but in general the Faculty of Agriculture has few resources and not much expertise to contribute, and so are not sought out as a resource by development groups. But as existing resources are mobilized (new lab equipment, laboratory and teaching resources) the plan is that the Faculty will become more active in development.
I've spent a lot of time meeting with professors from all the departments, so that's a quick run-down on the realities I hear a lot about everyday over many cups of tea and a lot of hospitality.