What makes me sad

Now, many of you would not have thought that such a thing like female police officers exist in Afghanistan. They do. With current developments, though, the past tense might soon have to be applied to this wonderful and encouraging species.
Last Sunday, the most high profile female police officer, Malalai Kahar, stationed in Kandahar, has been shot dead by unknown gunmen, on her way to work. Ironically, Malalai was the head of Kandahars department of crimes against women. Her son, who was with her in the car, was wounded as well but survived.
Not much later, a spokesman for an extremist Taliban movement, which targets government officials, claimed responsibility: "We killed Malalai, she was our target and we successfully eliminated our target".
Kandahar is the birthplace of extremist Taliban; during the years Taliban were in power, women in Kandahar were stopped from working outside their homes, and were only allowed onto the street with Burka and male accompanist.
Malalai was the first women to enrol in the Kandahar police force after the fall of the Taliban. To me, seeing persons like her, is a sign of hope in a country where men have been brainwashed of women rights and women continue to be discriminated in almost every sphere of life. Learning about her dead, and knowing that this wasn't the first assassination of brave women like her, simply for the work they are doing, and for the change which they symbolize, brought tears into my eyes.

Realities of life in Afghanistan

Few days ago I was I talked to my driver about education, on our way home from office. In his village, he mentioned, it is impossible to send girls to school; Taliban are policing at night from house to house, intimidating residents that sending girls to school will have dire consequences for the entire family. Abdul Haq, has several daughters, who have gone to school during their exile in Pakistan. Back in Afghanistan, they cannot continue with their education, despite the fact that overall, the education system has grown from 1 million kids in school back in 2001 to 6 million kids in school today. The Afghan reality, it seems, is two steps in front and one and a half steps back.

Few days after I had talked to him about this, I came across this article that gives details over the status of education in Afghanistan; which is best described as a success with many sacrifices.

Attacks deprive 300,000 students of education KANDAHAR, 22 September 2008 (IRIN) -

Zulaikha, 14, was the top student in her class last year but has been unable to attend school this year because of increased attacks on schools, rampant insecurity and threats to students and their families. "I wanted to become a doctor and treat poor and ill people," she told IRIN at her home in the outskirts of Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan. Taliban insurgents oppose female education and work and have frequently torched schools, killed school employees and circulated letters warning parents not to send their children, particularly girls, to school. "We don't object to our daughter's education but we also don't want her to be killed on the way to school or her family members killed because of her going to school," said Zulaikha's father, Abdul Rahman. Afghanistan has made impressive progress in primary and secondary education since the downfall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. At least 3,500 schools have been built since 2002 and hundreds more are planned. More than six million students, about 30 percent girls, are enrolled in 11,000 schools across the country, compared with about one million boys only in 2000, according to the Ministry of Education (MoE). However, resurgent Taliban and worsening security have put the country's hard-won educational achievements at serious risk. Education denied More than 600 primary, secondary and high schools are closed, mostly in the volatile southern provinces, because of prevalent insecurity and attacks on formal education, the MoE said. "In 45 districts of 12 provinces about 610-620 schools have been closed," Hamid Elmi, a spokesman for the MoE, told IRIN, adding that efforts were under way to re-open some schools through community support. Most of the closures are in the four southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul and Urozgan, where the conflict is having a greater effect than elsewhere. "Up to 80 percent of schools are closed in these four provinces," Elmi said. In the worst-affected Helmand Province, only 54 schools, primarily for boys, are functioning, against 223 schools that were open in 2002, according to MoE statistics. Consequently, more than 300,000 students have been deprived of an education in 12 provinces, according to MoE officials. Punishments The MoE said 99 schools have been attacked, torched and/or destroyed by armed assailants this year and 117 similar cases were reported in 2007. Dozens of students, some as young as seven, and teachers have been killed or injured by armed assailants over the past two years. Armed men associated with Taliban insurgents reportedly cut off the ears of a teacher in Zabul Province on 14 September as a sign of punishment to those who support education. In addition, Taliban insurgents in August reportedly attacked trucks carrying textbooks from Kabul to Kandahar province and burnt tens of thousands of books, the MoE said. Taliban denial A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yosuf Ahmadi, denied the insurgents' involvement in attacks on schools and students. "Our Mujahideen have not attacked schools and schoolchildren," Ahmadi told IRIN via telephone from an unidentified location. "Criminals - whom the government cannot stop - are carrying out such attacks," he said. The Taliban imposed a strict ban on females' education and employment and enforced an Islamic curriculum for boys during their reign (1996-2001). IRIN last year received a warning letter ostensibly issued by the Taliban [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74690] in which attacks on schools and students were supported. The government blamed the Taliban for attacks on educational facilities and school employees. "The Taliban are attacking everything related to education because they need illiterate youths to join their ranks," Elmi of the MoE said. Back to Top

Normality

I am waking up. It's six o clock in the morning. It's a Friday, which translates to Sunday in non Islamic countries. It's dawn, with the sky still being greyish. Since it's Friday-Sunday, I curl myself back into the warm bedsheets. Sleep for two additional hours. It's eight when I wake up again. I reach my hand out of my bed and open the curtains slightly. From where I lie, I can see trees, moving slow with the morning breeze, in between traces of blue sky and light of rising sun. Fresh air is coming in through the open window. Now my room mate switches on her radio, and I can hear low tones of music through the thin wall. Sometimes she sings in line with the music. From the garden, I notice the watchman moving around. Sometimes a car is driving by. I take my book and start reading, while being still half covered in bedsheets and dreams.
But while I attempt to read, there is only one real thought in my mind. That this is one of the few moments when life in Afghanistan feels normal.

Trekking Mount Stelvia

Saarstein Gebirge - Trekking in Austria

Splash

Nothing feels better than diving into the fresh water of austrian mountain lakes after a long drive!

Similaun Trekking

Yes, wild animals still exist in the alps!
Trekking towards the place where few years ago a 5300 year old Mummy was found - after being hidden for thousands of years under the ice of the - unfortunately melting - glaciers of this mountain range

Hut at 3000 meters - nice that there ARE huts at this altitudes, but to be frank, the prices took away all my appetite for a warm apple strudel
View over Schnals Tal

Similaun Glacier. How must it feel to be buried under these ice shields for thousands of years???

British Columbia (just pics, text to follow soon....)

some text to follow...

New York Impressions

impressions from a recent stop over in New York, on the way to Vancouver. Picture on top shows construction progress on ground Zero. Standing there after one year in Afghanistan and two years in Somaliland made me think over the importance of this place...

interview

Hey, there is an interview with me on stol.it, a online newspaper from my region. Unfortunately its in german.... And its also VERY LONG (keeping it short has never really been one of my strenghts...) . Anyway, in case you have too much time, or it is a rainy day, or you are simply interested in finding out more about what exactly I am doing in Afghanistan, feel free to look it up! Congrats to all those who actually manage to read it all (it really is LONG!)

on and on

I guess I have never travelled as many miles as I did over the past few weeks. From Kabul I went to New York, after a couple of days there I went on to Vancouver and from there straight to Kamloops (isn't that an amusing name for a town?), from Kamloops I travelled with my friend Kate by road through the canadian Rockies, discovering plenty of similarities between Taliban and Bears, eventually back to Vancouver, and from there via Toronto back to Milan and then train to Suedtirol, where I am now enjoying time with family and friends. I guess I dont have to mention the reasons for all these travels. The time in North America can best be described as bitter-sweet and sad. Seeing the part of British Columbia where Shirley comes from, made me partly realize why she is such an amazing and inspiring person, during her lifetime and beyond. It's difficult to find words for the beauty of that region. Same as it is still difficult to find the right words to write about happened over the past weeks and to talk about my friends who lost their lifes.

Since I haven't much access to internet currently, I will not be able to add much words and pictures on my blog, until I get back to Kabul by the end of next week. so, don't bother looking for updates every day :) But I promise, by the 14th, you will have plenty of new pics and stuff to look at