tankers and other vital supplies being shot and burnt by the Taliban on the main transit route (Jalalabad-Kabul) puts things right back into perspective. The daily bombings, kidnappings and killings raise major concerns about the lack of security even inside the capital of Kabul which was fairly safer just a year ago.Reconstruction is just as painfully slow as ever and the frustration of the locals over the presence of the International Forces is growing very rapidly. The job of the donor community is perceived as being inadequate in its manner of unfair distribution of moneys, paying extremely high salaries to International staff, who do less to nothing but offend people with their expensive cars, etc. Even the donor community and the NGOs themselves are not investing in Afghanistan so
how can they encourage others to do just that. The rent they pay for a year could easily build them an extravagant building. Because of their occupation of all the houses and the high rent they can afford, no one other than them can even think of living in a reasonable house.CDP, a project of USAID, which received a fund of $218million supposedly works on capacity building but what does CDP do? I have yet to figure that out exactly. The feeling here amongst professionals is that they don’t even know what to do with the money they have – what a way to build capacity! I sat in one of their “Strategic Planning” training sessions which was no more than a complete waste of time and of course a lot of money. The money that donors pledge for the poor, the hungry, the orphans, the widows, and the less fortunate – all go to those already with deep pockets. If the donations stop, only the rich will suffer, not the poor because quite frankly they never stopped suffering. If they are not suffering more now then they are definitely not suffering any less than before.
Civil Servants from other countries take a leave from their job, so they can be rich overnight in Afghanistan by getting extremely high salaries for – once again doing nothing and the skills they bring with them “to benefit Afghans” are greed and corruption. All the hiring posts are occupied by them and the only people they hire are their own except for the posts allocated directly from donor countries such as the US. International “talents” are hired just so they can complain about the poor state of Afghanistan, its culture, security, lack of infrastructure, unemployment, pollution, dust and make fun of people. They do all that “work” while earning more in a month here than they could possibly earn in a year back home. This is without their security, housing and partying costs to make them feel at home. All this could be done by a local employee too plus it would mean one less unemployed Afghan.
It is not just about how money is spent. Donors pledge money but they never deliver as much as they promise. The only exception was Britain, last time a survey was undertaken it showed Britain spent more than it pledged.
Just a few days in Afghanistan is enough to make you heart break with disappointment and injustice. Yet you still see smiling faces everywhere; you see optimism in everyone and hope in the eyes of every child. Real progress is not in buildings or wealth but in the happiness of people.
If people are happy than that is all that matters. Its not that the people here are used to the injustice so they have stopped caring or their smiles are fake because eyes never lie. So what is keeping the Afghans in high spirit and proud after 30 years of war, destruction, misery and injustice?The only thing I find common amongst all Afghans is their strong faith. Could it be that? Faith as many scholars say is a power and a source of energy. It might be that energy, which keeps them going. The power of faith is described in every religion from Islam to Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. In the Gospel Jesus says that people with faith could move mountains. Islam says that those who have faith “They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve”. Its not just religions that preach the power of faith, Napoleon Hill said, "Whatsoever the mind of man can conceive and BELIEVE he can achieve."
Soul as believed by Muslims (most Afghans are Muslims) is immortal and the strength that
belief of immortality in itself must give people an enormous amount of hope. Knowing that, this life is not everything and that there will be an end to the misery may make it easier to live with. Any temporary torture may be bearable as the belief is that it will only be for a short time. More suffering in life means more rewards in heaven. This is what the feeling must be amongst the people in Afghanistan which gives them hope and the energy to remain happy in the never ending anguish that is brought upon them.
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