Much has already been published about how Dutch soldiers stationed in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province live and what they do. The lives of ordinary Afghan people in the region, however, are less well documented. Journalist Bette Dam is writing a book about Uruzgan and spent this week in the provincial capital Tarin Kowt. She stayed with a family and got a glimpse of daily life. By Hans de Vreij.

Bette Dam has been in Afghanistan for two months, researching her book on Uruzgan. News about the book did the rounds and led to many key figures from Uruzgan visiting Ms Dam while she was staying in Kabul. Tribal elders, clan leaders, people formerly linked to the Taliban – they all wanted to tell their stories. That also went for President Hamid Karzai with whom she had long conversations.

The reason for the interest is that the book is about a key period in Afghanistan’s recent history: the uprising against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan shortly after the attacks of 11 September 2001. The rebellion began in Uruzgan and was led by a then relatively unknown Hamid Karzai and supporters from his influential clan, the Popolzai.

Attraction
Last week, Bette Dam left Kabul for Uruzgan itself to talk to witnesses of the events of 2001. She moved in with a family in a quala, a walled house, in Tarin Kowt’s main street, not far from where Mr Karzai was based with 12 United States commandos and a team from the CIA.

Ms Dam says she did not feel in danger in Tarin Kowt, although she and her host did take precautions to prevent unnecessary problems – for example, not staying in the same place for too long. “You’re already an attraction, being a foreign woman. If you wander about in the bazaar, you’ll have at least 20 men following and staring at you.”

Safe
“I sometimes felt a bit unsafe at night. You ask yourself whether the Taliban know you are there, but the family where I was staying really did their best to keep me safe. I walked around the bazaar, talking to people, making videos; you can do all that in the city centre.”

However, outside centre of Tarin Kowt the situation is quite different and one quickly enters Taliban-controlled territory. “For the book, for example, I had to interview people from villages a few kilometres outside Tarin Kowt. The security situation meant I couldn’t go to them, so they came to me and I paid for their security measures.”

Quite apart from her research work, life with an Afghan family was a singular experience. “From the street, you just see a blank wall but, inside the compound, it’s bursting with life. Fifteen women, ten men and loads of children live in the house where I stayed. And there are goats, geese, chickens and cows wandering around – I had very fresh milk in my morning coffee.”

Separated
As everywhere in Afghanistan, inside qualas, men and women live in strictly separate worlds. Ms Dam lived and slept with the women, who at the outset made gaily coloured dresses for her. They found the black Afghan clothes she had brought with her far too gloomy.

“Black is fine for the street but, inside the compound, it’s a feast of colour,” she says. “There are plastic flowers hanging up, and there are wash bags with lipstick and make-up lying around; the clothes are brightly coloured and covered in sequins, that’s typically southern Afghan.”

Disappointed
However, outside the walls of the quala, there is disappointment. People are frustrated about the developments since the 2001 uprising and President Karzai is not really popular anymore. “The people from Tarin Kowt and Deh Rawod with whom I have spoken really did their very best for Mr Karzai and simply don’t understand how it is that the Taliban are coming closer and closer and that the president can do nothing to make Uruzgan safe.”

 Listen to an interview with Bette Dam. 

31 March 2008

[Copyright Radio Netherlands]