AnotherAfghanistan A photographic journey through the Afghan spring
Ginna Fleming
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Preface Against the backdrop of these headlines, I traveled to Afghanistan in the Spring of 2008 primarily to photograph the work of a remarkable science teacher from my hometown of Mill Valley, California. Camilla Barry has been conducting science teacher trainings in Afghanistan since 2003, and her enthusiastic teaching style has captivated Afghan teachers eager to learn her innovative “hands-on” teaching methods that fascinate young Afghan girls and boys.
Throughout the course of my stay in Afghanistan, I became immersed in the work of many other agencies bringing education, health care, and humanitarian services to families who have survived three intense decades of war and devastation. What I found and my camera captured in the midst of all of this wartorn devastation was a very different, more hopeful story. The photographs in this book are a testament to the fact that behind the grim headlines lives “another Afghanistan:” a country rich in history, culture, hospitality and hope. These images reveal a country where brave men and women are struggling to survive against tremendous odds, and are slowly rebuilding education, health care and housing. It is a place where children increasingly go to school, skip rope, and blow bubble gum. This progress is fragile, and at great risk. But it deserves to be celebrated and protected. Ginna Fleming Mill Valley, California
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Daily Life in Kabul T
he buildings and streets of Kabul, the nation’s capitol, are
slowly being reconstructed. Daily life is consumed by the struggle for basic necessities: housing, water, a way to make a living. Small neighborhood storefront vendors continue to support most families. In the central bazaar, merchants offer grains and other food, hardware and clothing. Finding employment for the large number of widows is especially important. New small enterprises are beginning to create jobs in textiles and other crafts.
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In the old city bazaar, traditional readers help those who cannot read. A skilled craftsman incises verses from poetry and the Koran on pendants.
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Finding employment for the large number of widows is especially important.
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The shortage of teachers is acute. Now women with little education themselves are stepping in the meet this need, and young girls are beginning to take teacher-training classes. Camilla Barry, a science teacher from California, gives teacher training lessons in partnership with Parsa-Afghanistan. Simple materials, easily available in local markets, provided lessons in electricity, pressure, density and magnetism. The most important lesson, however, was about experimenting and scientific inquiry, still new to the Afghan curriculum.
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Save the Children supports two village schools in the Shomali plain north of Kabul, at Bostum and Farza. Opening day ceremonies mark the beginning of the school year in March, when the snow has melted and high roads are once again passable. Village elders, persuaded by the determined efforts of strong women, have just given permission for a new girl’s school in the area.
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Parents and local officials at the school opening day ceremonies.
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Mirbachakot Health Clinic, supported by the Afghan Institute for Learning, is a busy center of medical care and education.
A young woman pharmacist fills prescriptions and delivers them through the window hatch of her pharmacy.
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The Jawzjareen Valley stretches south from Bamiyan, a remote mountainous potato growing area where snowstorms pass through even as spring crops are planted. Schooling has been scare here for both boys and girls, but Parsa-Afghanistan has now opened literacy classes in two villages, and elders have given permission and space for two children’s classes. Spring brings hope and possibility.
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