Visiting Afghanistan: A Country at a Crossroads

A Traveler Finds Strong Women in a Post-Taliban Afghanistan

"I think Afghanistan is very dangerous," Shazad, my taxi driver told me while driving towards Dubai International Airport's Terminal 2. His words sunk in. Just hours before my flight, I began second-guessing my vacation choice. 

After debating whether to board that flight to Kabul or not, I decided I had come this far and nothing was going to stop me from continuing my journey. Not even fear. 

Sure, I could have spent my vacation being pampered at a luxurious spa or cruising the Caribbean islands. But curiosity and opportunity led me to Afghanistan, a country at a crossroads, to learn how women are progressing in a post-Taliban society. 

The Taliban reigned Afghanistan with fear and terror between 1996 and 2001. During their rule, women could no longer work and girls were forbidden to attend school. Women were not to be seen and were mandated to wear a burqa when in public settings. A burqa is a one-piece, opaque garment that drapes a woman's body from head to toe. It hides her entire face and body shape. She sees out of a six inch net-like area. Those women who did not comply were beaten and/or tortured. 

The Taliban played heavily on the illiteracy of the country and interpreted the Koran to their advantage. Today, the women's literacy rate is a mere 14% and the Ministry of Women's Affairs estimates that 60% of the nation's girls are not attending school. 

"I told them [Taliban], show me where it says in the Koran I need to wear a burqa. I will wear seven burqas if you can show me," provincial governor Dr. Roshanak Wardak told me while sitting on her cousin's living room floor. We were dining on a lunch of rice, naan (Afghanistan's flat bread) and grilled lamb in the village of Sheik Yassin, a two-hour drive southwest of Kabul. 

While many wealthy people fled to Pakistan during the Taliban occupation, Wardak remained in Afghanistan. She is a gynecologist who, unlike most women during the Taliban control, was permitted to work.

"After all," she said while sipping her cola,  "I took care of their [Taliban's] women."