Afghanistan.
The news from the other side of the world is bleak and difficult to digest, but there are reasons to hold on to some small signs of hope. These reasons, for me, revolve around a memory.
When I was an English teacher in Taloqan, the capitol of Takhar in northeastern Afghanistan, almost all the women wore the chadri, a loose covering from head to toe, with only a tiny mesh opening so they could breathe and see where they were going.
But there were at least some in Taloqan who believed the status of women should change.
One day, Abdul Wahad, a student who did chores for us in return for room and board. brought the news that a married woman had sent word via her servant that she wanted to have tea with me inside her home.
I had never received an invitation of this nature before; the few women I'd ever met with privately were in the company of their husbands or fathers. And even that was rare.
As a foreigner and the only American male in the province, I feared committing a cross-cultural faux pas of the sort Westerners were infamous for. Everybody knew that men and women not in the same family never met in private.
But this woman was married to a well-respected man I'd met several times who spoke some English, wore Western-style clothes and supported the aggressive modernizing of the country under King Mohammed Zahir Shah.
I also knew it would be impolite to turn down her request. So I sent Abdul back with the message that I would be honored to attend.
As a respected Malem, Sahib (teacher) in Taloqan, I often was invited to meet in people's homes and I knew that this meeting, like everything else that happened in that small town, would not be a secret.
When the date arrived for my visit, I wore the traditional Afghan garments of loose pants under a long shirt beneath my Western sports jacket. Abdul led me to the gate of the woman's compound where I removed my shoes, and followed one of her servants who ushered me to an interior room decorated with plush Afghan carpets, pillows, and wall hangings.
This was a wealthy family's living room.
As I settled onto a pillow and crossed my legs, another servant brought me tea and Nuqui (frosted candy) and also set out a second serving on the other side of the low wooden table in the center of the room.
Presently, an elegant young woman entered the room and I rose to greet her. She bowed slightly and indicated that I should sit back down. She sat on a pillow across from me without speaking a word.
I mumbled what I hoped were some appropriate words in Dari, but she remained silent, looking down. She wore a traditional dress, very colorful, and a scarf on top of her head, but no covering on her face. She had lovely skin, long black hair and large dark eyes. She wore gold earrings, bracelets and lapis rings but no makeup.
Unsure how to begin our conversation, I waited for my hostess to speak. But as the moments passed, she remained silent. Then I noticed that she was trembling visibly and that her expression was solemn, and I realized that this must have been a terrifying moment for her.
Although the mood was awkward, my instinct was to act as normal as I could, as if this were an every day occurrence for me, which in the U.S. or Europe, of course it would be. Maybe that would put her at ease.
Plus I was hoping that all I had to do was be present for the encounter to be a success. I conveyed by gesture that I enjoyed the tea and Nuqui, and spent time admiring the lovely wall hangings. I tried to appear relaxed, but in truth I was every bit as nervous as she was.
Just when it appeared that the rest of the meeting would be conducted in silence, she looked up and into my eyes steadily and spoke a few halting words in English, then more fluidly in Dari. She clearly had practiced exactly what she wanted to say. Her voice was clear and steady.
She told me that on behalf of her husband and their family, she was grateful to me for teaching the children in their town. She said this was important because she and her husband wanted the next generation to grow up to be educated and perhaps even go to Kabul for college.
She emphasized that she was speaking about both the boys and the girls in Taloqan, although to date only one girl had yet been allowed by her family to reach the level of ninth grade in school there. That girl was in fact one of my students.
I thanked her warmly and sincerely both in English and in Dari. I praised her husband, their household, their family, and told her it was my great honor to be received in their home and to be the teacher of their children.
She smiled kindly, and summoned her servant, who'd been hovering at the door, to show me the way out. Before I left, I clasped my hands together, bowed and thanked her for the tea. We then exchanged the traditional parting phrase, خدا بهمرات, "God be with you."
A few days later, Abdul told me that it was the talk in town that we had had a very successful tea and that her family was now viewed the most modern household in Taloqan. Abdul also told me he was very proud to be my student.
That happened 50 years ago. Thinking back on it, I think she may be one of the bravest people I have ever met.
On Tuesday, the victorious Taliban announced that the rights of Afghan women will be respected within the framework of Islamic law. I will take that as one small sign of hope.
(Inshallah) انشاالله* U.S. to Advise Boosters for Most Americans 8 Months After Vaccination -- Nursing home residents and health care workers will most likely be the first to get booster shots, as soon as September, followed by other older people who were vaccinated last winter. (NYT)
* Poor, unvaccinated countries fear getting to U.N. climate summit may be ‘almost insurmountable’ (WP)
* U.S. freezes billions of dollars in Afghan reserves, depriving Taliban of cash (WP)
* The Taliban held their first official news conference in Kabul on Tuesday since the shock seizure of the city, declaring they wanted peaceful relations with other countries and would respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law. (Reuters)
* Biden’s promise to restore competence to the presidency is undercut by chaos in Afghanistan (WP)
* Chaos Ensues at Kabul Airport as Americans Abandon Afghanistan (NYT)
* An Iconic Bridge Sees U.S. Allies Flee Afghanistan as the Soviets Did -- Retreating Afghan government soldiers crowded onto a bridge over the Amu Darya River that was a backdrop for the Soviet failure in Afghanistan decades ago. (NYT)
* IKEA to sell renewable energy to Swedish homes (Reuters)
* Culture shock: how loss of animals’ shared knowledge threatens their survival -- From whales to monkeys, elephants and even fruit flies, researchers say they are starting to understand animal culture just ‘as it disappears before our eyes’ (The Guardian)
* A new analysis forecasts that the number of days outdoor workers in the U.S. are exposed to hazardous heat could quadruple by mid-century. Also, up to $55.4 billion in annual earnings would be put at risk if the world fails to slow global warming. And it would come with dire inequities ― of the approximately 32 million outdoor workers in the United States, more than 40% are nonwhite. [HuffPost]
* Solar could be 40% of U.S. power by 2035 -Biden administration (Reuters)
* Unprecedented water shortage declared on Colorado River, triggering cuts for some in 2022 (WP)
* Winds drive nation’s largest wildfire toward California city (AP)
* Heat Is Killing Workers In The U.S. — And There Are No Federal Rules To Protect Them (NPR)
* Arizona, Nevada and two Mexican states that rely on the Colorado River for drinking water and irrigation will face cuts to their supply next year as a prolonged megadrought parches the American West. The cutbacks mark the first time in Lake Mead’s 86-year history that demand for water has eclipsed what federal authorities can safely supply. [HuffPost]
* California drought takes toll on world’s top almond producer (AP)
* Haiti Quake Destroyed Many Churches, Shredding a Mainstay of Support (NYT)
* Iran accelerates enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade, IAEA says (Reuters)
* It’s time to start taking the California recall seriously -- An initial glance at new CBS polling numbers seems to suggest decent news for Newsom, with majority of registered voters (54%) saying they don’t think he should be recalled and 46% saying he should. But dig a little deeper and the problem for Newsom becomes much more apparent. Among likely voters, just 52% oppose the Newsom recall while 48% support it. (CNN)
* Frustrated Novelist No Good At Describing Hands (The Onion)
***
No lyrics or soundtrack today, just an inspirational speech delivered by the Afghan singer and women's rights activist Aryana Sayeed in 2019. Please listen.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilfUVyyC1ec>
And please pray for the brave women of Afghanistan.
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