Hair stories

The Wall Street Journal reported last month on a training program for Afghan businesswomen that brought one woman who runs a small beauty salon in Mazar i-Sharif to see how a top of the line salon in New York operates. The article does a nice job of showing the value of the visit from a business point of view (and fortunately it rather admires the work of the Afghan woman, when it could easily have sneered at the whole idea). It also gives a nice overview of professional exchange programs, complete with interpreters (not translators, WSJ), cultural activities, interaction with Americans, and the big hope, that "with her skills ... she'll make a difference in the lives of these women in Afghanistan."

One thing is certain: this story seems far more Afghan-focused, even though it takes place in New York, then the story of the Kabul Beauty School, run by an American. Somehow, though both are about training, respecting the talents of an Afghan and providing her with some opportunities is a much more successful approach than setting up a permanent aid station in the form of a for-profit business. (Photo from the NYT article.)

A beautiful film on Afghanistan

Do check out this film on Afghanistan, with beautiful and unexpected images.

Thinking about Kabul again

It's been quite a while since I've posted on this blog, but that doesn't mean that Kabul has gone away. The attack on the U.S. Embassy, for one thing, certainly gave me a kind of scare. It was never clear in the media reports exactly which building the Taliban were shooting from, but I've always assumed that it was the building up near Massoud Circle that I was told will someday be the Marriott Hotel of Kabul. A building that, for that very reason, seemed to be a source of great hope.

Then in another "you never leave your last post" moment (post being, in this case, the assignment, not the blog), I was able to join former Public Affairs Section colleagues to play Trivia at Tonic up the street. With great memories of the Red Tent on the Embassy compound and the fiercely competitive Trivia matches there.

And finally, an email from Ram, filmmaker, IT guy, and dedicated teacher. He was part of the International Writing Program group that came to Kabul in May and in between reading his own poetry, showing new techniques to film

students at Kabul University, and generally being the good guy that he is, he finished several video projects about the tour. I haven't yet seen the feature documentary, but here is a short video about the poet Nathalie Handal, with images of her workshops at Kabul University's English Department (here in the photo) and at the Education Faculty.