Afghanistan in 2007: Archived Resources
These are archived documents and information that I
compiled or downloaded when I lived in Kabul in 2007. I'm sharing
them on my own web site to show what life was like for
international workers in Kabul once upon a time - and to show how
we hope it can be again, for the people of Afghanistan. On each of
these pages, I doubt any web addresses will work. To see these old
web sites, cut and paste the URL into archive.org (though not all
are archived there).
My Guide to Shopping in Kabul, which is based on 2007. I hope it shows just how up-and-coming Afghanistan was in 2007, how business was booming for may Afghans, how full of hope and possibility it was... and I hope it will be again.
Also out-of-date is my Suggestions for Women Aid Workers in Afghanistan - but I think it's still got some helpful info in it, and not just for Afghanistan.
UNDSS Kabul
Cleared/Approved Restaurants, from April 2007. From the UN
Department of Safety and Security Central Region, Afghanistan.
PDF. I doubt any of these exist anymore. Often, I couldn't tell
the difference in these and the restaurants that weren't
cleared/approved - not that I ever went to
unapproved places...
Menu from Korean Restaurant in Kabul
(New World Restaurant), from May 2007. I ate here SO many times.
So many aid workers did. It was my introduction to Korean food.
PDF.
At right is the cover of the book Lonely
Planet Afghanistan by Paul Clammer. I still have my copy
(yes, that's my hand).
That this book exists should give you an idea of just how
hopeful so many of us, aid worker and Afghan alike, were in 2006
and 2007 regarding the future of the country. There were at
least two other guidebooks for the country at the time as well.
I never dreamed that the first edition of this guidebook would
be the only edition of the guidebook.
It's of no use now as a guidebook now for anyone living in or
going to Afghanistan. Things were already changing so, so
rapidly in the country even when this was written that much of
its info - recommended stores, recommended places to stay, etc.
- was outdated as soon as it came out. Now, decades later, much
of the information is completely inaccurate: entire buildings
are gone, not just businesses. But this book is still worth
getting hold of a copy if you want to get a sense of what might
have been (my dream was for Afghanistan to become a tourist
destination like Nepal - not completely overrun with tourists,
with most tourists being adventure types that don't want all the
comforts from home, and with locals still very much in control).
For it's time, this was a helpful book though, and I was very happy to have it. People borrowed it from me frequently. But I also felt the book didn't say nearly enough about the reality that a woman in Afghanistan is experiencing the world in a completely different way than men in the country in 2007, whether Afghan or foreigner, and didn't warn women about foreign men taking advantage of the vulnerability of foreign women there, whether aid worker or tourist.
The cover is kind of a prescient: no women pictured, only their
burqas.
And if you are a tourist thinking of going to Afghanistan, I
beg you NOT to. It
is Unethical To Visit Afghanistan as a Tourist. And to all
of you who think it's funny to go to Afghanstan and take photos
with the Taliban and say things like, "Don't believe the media,
everyone is so nice here and I saw women on the street!", you
can f*ck right off.
Resources
to help Afghans in Afghanistan Keep Their Devices Safe.
Resources for Afghans
Teaching Girls at Home. (additional suggestions
welcomed)
Resources to
help Afghan women resist the Taliban.
Advice for
Afghan women helping each other to resist the Taliban.
Note:
Please do NOT contact me for immigration help - I cannot help
you get out of Afghanistan and I cannot help you get to another
country. All such requests will be ignored.
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