Kites in Kabul

We made it safely! We had no travel problems and made it to the guest house in Kabul safe and sound and ready for a great breakfast Friday morning.  After a wonderful morning of spending time with members of the long-term team and two wonderful meals, Wakil took us out for a city tour.  Kabul is a beautiful city, full of unexpected sights.

Wakil first took us up to one of the many hills that overlook the city.  Kabul is surrounded by mountains so there are many "foothills" within the city.  The one had the tombs of the king and queen at the top.  There were lots of children running around, and hundreds of boys and men flying kites.  Kite flying is one of the national past times here, and it was outlawed by the Taliban when they were in power.  It was wonderful to see so many kites in the air.

Then we went to the palace.  The palace is one of the normal stops on the city tour, and was once a magnificent building.  It was destroyed in the 70's during one of the civil wars, and now looks like this:

There were lots of kids running around and we inquired one of the guards as to where they had come from, and we found out that they were living there.  The palace had recently been turned into a home for some Internally Displaced People (IDP's) from up north.  There are 312 families living there, which is about 1500-1800 people.  They have a well, and Unicef has put up tents where the children can go to school, but the building doesn't offer much protection from the elements.  Wakil is currently working on ways to get them extra help.

When we found out that so many families were living there, it was a very sobering moment.  Up until then we had had a fairly carefree day, but at that moment we were reminded that this is a country that is still at war, and that even if the fighting all ends today, the people who live here will face challenges for many years to come as they rebuild their country and their lives.  But the hopeful part is that there are organizations like Sozo that can, and are, making a huge difference in the lives of Afghans.  They are bringing hope to people who could easily be hopeless, and we get to be a small part of it.