08 Feb 2010 | no comments » Children, hazara, women
Education is a source of social and economic advancement as well as a vehicle for teaching children to be good citizens. She is a young girl in district of Sharestan (Shahrestan) province of Daikundi, who never had opportunity to go to school. For the last years, billions of dollars poured in Afghanistan but life in Hazarajat central part of Afghanistan never improved. Hazaras as a minority are almost forgotten. Estimates suggest that 30% of Afghan children are engaged in child labor, and discriminatory traditional practices make girls more vulnerable.
19 Jan 2010 | 2 comments » Helmand
Helmand river is the longest in Afghanistan by the length of 1,150 km. the river rises from Hindu Kush and ends Hamun-i-Helmand in Sistan & Baluchistan province of Iran. One of the two primary arms of the river crosses through Lashkar Gah, imparting an attractive air of a riverside city to it. It makes for a pleasant setting for the citizens of Lashkar Gah to picnic. The river is deep enough at Lashkar Gah to allow for varied water sports, including swimming and boating. Boats are available for hire to the citizens.
08 Jan 2010 | no comments » people
This picture is taken in Balkh, (the birth place of Mawlana Jalalud-Din Balkhi) in Northern Afghanistan. I was assigned to photograph the birth place of Rumi and his school that had spent learning until he was 12 before he had left Afghanistan for Turkey. Donkey cart is used in rural areas normally by farmers where there is no proper road and transport system. Today, in major cities every type of car, bus, mini-van, horse cart and donkey cart can be found in the congested streets of Kabul.

05 Jan 2010 | no comments » people
Zebulon Simentov is a 50-year-old is believed to have become the last Jew in Afghanistan after the death of the caretaker of the only functioning synagogue in Kabul. It has emerged that the caretaker, Ishaq Levin, another Jew, aged about 80, died of natural causes. According to media around 5,000 Afghan Jews left the country after the creation of Israel in 1948, with others leaving after the 1979 Soviet invasion. Early biblical commentators regarded Khorasan as a location of the Ten Lost Tribes. Today, several Afghan tribes including the Durrani, Yussafzai, Afridi and Pashtun believe they are decedents of King Saul. They call themselves Bani-Israel, similar to the Hebrew, B’nai Israel, meaning the children of Israel. Even some Muslim scholars and writers accept this. In 2001, the Taliban stole all the synagogue’s supplies and the two Jews had to close their synagogue and leave the country. Worldwide Jewish organizations say that Jews have been in Afghanistan since the eighth century, mostly in Kabul and Herat. But in recent times many have emigrated to Central Asia and India.
04 Jan 2010 | no comments » people
Kabul City’s narrow streets that were built up more than three decades ago have fallen victim to the enormous traffic. With no traffics lights or signs, accidents and traffic jams constantly plague the population. After the expulsion of Taliban, thousands of people have bought cars with their new-found wealth, leading to hours-long traffic snarls on streets previously plied mainly by donkey, horse carts and bicycles.