Our team, consisted of six international and twelve national trainers, managed this project with huge power and amazing team-spirit. Was great to see how international society make a difference with Afghan youngsters on equal level!

great trainers

All of them were selected in an open election process by the Independent Election Commission and the project is run by the National Assembly, Ministry of Culture an Youth and UNDP Seal. And all effort paied back by the highly motivated participants and their work in the commitees, e.g. for media or education. Together with our five international colleagues and around 10 national trainers we faciliated their work and together we realise a resolution with around 60 articles, as “voice of Afghanistan”.

And we really feeling like in a movie here, cause situation is changing each hour in our project, but today we started with orientation-day and experienced 100 representatives from schools in Kabul, that made us believe in our work cause they were that great. And as our three last people arrived from Dubai we were completed by one Fillipines – working with that six experienced guys is amazing but still taff under this conditions. But we believe in the young people and as I got to know that 68 procent of Afghan population is under 25 years I understood, that “they are the future of the country” is not longer a sentence but reality.

And I took my friend Katrin Hünemörder (Germany), Asser Mortensen (Danish) and Igor Casapu (Moldova) with me and as we know each others from youthpolicy in the European context I am really lucky to find this dream-team. Together we will make to impossible possible and work with 100 young students in the youthparliament in a country, where democracy is not very wellknown and hardly any youth-NGO´s are existing. That´s exactly what I like as challenges. :) And the whole UNDP security stuff I want with Igor through together the whole day was really crazy, now I am not only UN-official but have a radio also, are not allowed to travel alone and have filled in whole books with papers. :)

I asked before at the German Embassy, if they have some experiences about security on this street and they promised to call me back. I did not espact anything but half an hour later the telephone rang and a security-policemen from German BKA said that he checked with UN and Afghan security and their securit service and the road might be okay, but he said, that still Jalalabad is dangerous for foreigners. But from my friends I knew that I am looking now, a bit browner, like an Afghan from Panshir valley – as they always joke about – and so we took the risk and drove three amazing hours between mountains from 4.000 till 5.000 meters, camels on the street and fast rivers on an unbelievable new street. As we managed the last high mountains we saw Jalalabad in front of us – a town like an island in a desert with much green, palms and great and undestroyed city-center. Next day the conference started with almost 70 people in the morning and their were even people waiting for the beginning before the official start… normally Afghan people are more then half or one hour late… And due to my great translator I managed to catch all details about Islamic law in thre hours, that is far away from our western understanding. Afterwards the discusion should start with the experts in panel-discusion but suddently the mullah said that for the discusion the women, that know nothing about Islam should leave the room – otherwise we have huge problems… Well, fortunatly their were some taff women from women-rights-organisation and they fighted against in a wild discusion with unclear end. Fortunatly we somehow managed to end the discusion and canceled the panel-discusion so both sides did not win, but it was very hard. Afterwards the woman introduced us with their situation, which is totally different from Kabul as the capital and said, that the mullahs were taliban and well-known in Jalalabad…

That was an amazing adventure in a beautiful town between women rights fighter and taliban and says a lot about the country and his possible perspectives. I almost got in troubles again, cause I was talking with the women too long for a foreigner and I had a female translater, that was also not suiting to the mullahs but they did not tried to argue again. I realized that our work can save human lifes and our office is doing great job and will come back to Jalalabad…

And the hard reality hit very close to my the day before yesterday. The “Attourney General” felt insulted by the programme from tolo-tv and so he decided to take some soldiers and went to their private TV-station and arrest some journalists. Huges proteste was coming from journalists afterwards, demonstration were held and fight is going on, how independent media can be in the country without having conflict with islam… this discusion will dominate the society and the development of the country and let´s hope for an agreement.

I realise that Afghan often lack national feelings – it´s difficult for them to describe “why they are proud of their country” – mainly they blame themselves for the awful streets, the destroyed energy-system or the situation in the South but what unites them is the great hospitality. And I realise that our work really make sense in the country, because Afghan people are more then willing to learn and experience – but often you have to start from the empty ground. And that´s great challenge – I had a training on project-management and figured out, that I trained the personal assistant of the EU respresentative, the leader of Pakistan-department in Foreign ministry and a project-leader of the world-banc. Such cooperations are not happening in Europe – things can really develope here but it will need much time…

And here the proof that I am still living – in the morning on my way to our office at 7.30 o´clock – tired:

And as if this was not enough for this country today I woke up at 5.10 o´clock and it was shaking a bit – I experienced my first earth-quake and at around eight o´clock the second one. The first one was 5,2 on the Richter-skale and it had his center in the north and their several houses and villages were destroyed. I really have to say, that might be more than enough for this country that has seen 30 years of senseless war. But there was also something crazy, that I discovered… The Afghan people like football and specially German teams but they better play buskashi, their national sport. Riders on horses went in the arena and wait for the start, then a dead goat is the aim to carry around. The winner is the guy, that managed to carry the goat against the others to the circle on theother end of the arena. It is really crazy but I definatly gave to see this soon!

The next days I work on the young journalists network and potential exchanges with “the world” and I love do to the work, cause the country lackes independent media and that would make a big difference to the people – even if only 200.000 have internet-access, the news are spread out via radio and TV and reach them. Next week the SPD chairman Kurt Beck is coming to our office, so we are already cleaning – which is not that easy, cause after the rain we have only dust outside on the streets…