Kabul,
Afghanistan
Thursday, July 26, 2007
During my very first visit to Kabul, I met an Afghan lady, SG, at one of the official dos my manager took me to. She has spent most of her life in the UK, her family are still abroad. She is unmarried and 40 - very rare for an Afghan woman. Active in the government as well as an entrepreneur. Started a charity, firstly by providing help to refugees in Pakistan. I met up with her again on my return and in conversation mentioned that she has adopted a number of children and she lives with them. I was fascinated. SG invited me to her place today to meet the children. She had to send the boys back to their families because of cultural issues. She has had to live with the frustration of 12 year old girls being taken home by their families to be married. Adoption is not legally recognised here and so she was unable to protect them. The average marrying age here is about 15/16. Only the children who have no parents or extended families manage to be educated beyond that. The eldest is now 18. She is black belt in Judo and an instructor at (Bagh-e-Zanana, the womans' park). She wants to become a pilot and SG is hoping to send her abroad for her studies..
I will spend one evening a week playing with them and helping them with their conversational English.
