Living and working in Afghanistan during these moments has one major problem. Getting money. The world had closed off the world bank and access to money from banks. We had some work and people send us money via Western Union. Many waited in lines to draw money. Kandahar had very few lines but it didn’t have money to take. The minimum you could possibly withdraw from a bank was $200 and you could only do it once a week. Frustrated I had to rely on the hawala system.
The hawala system is family run business where money can be transferred between families with a small commission. For example you need money from Australia, you get someone to bring your money to an Afghan shopkeeper or might own a travel agency who has an uncle that has a hawala transfer shop in Kabul. They take about 2-5% commission for the transaction, often cheaper than Western Union. It is considered illegal because it was one of the ways funding terrorism works but it is the only way everyday Afghans can get money to pay the rent or just food.
We visited the Kandahar prison mainly to see the drug addicts in jail. To solve the drug problem in there, the Taliban rounded up the drug addicts and threw them in prison to ‘dry out’ One cell block was for people in their first few weeks. The Taliban guard was really worried for me and asked if I could go to the roof to photograph. You could hear people scream in agony while withdrawing and others walking zombie like.
Hollie and Naweed were interviewing the ones out of withdrawal, they were mixed with prisoners for crimes. They shared one large prison block that was overcrowded yet they shared mattresses and lived mainly in the lightless cells. The youngest addict in there was fifteen who was put in by his family.
All the drug addicts mobbed Hollie and Naweed just like Spin Boldak listening in and adding their two cents to the questions by the subdued in-comparison to the rowdiness at the border. I expected something but often Afghans are just really nice people even if they are in jail.
Kandahar is probably one of my favourite cities in Afghanistan. It is clean and has kind of order to it. Rickshaws roam the streets and Talibs love having a picnic on the medium strip grass or on the roundabouts. Fridays however for sermon and prayer, the streets are empty and the shops are closed.
Before the Taliban came into power, the place was consider high on the threat level of being kidnapped so I never really got to spend more than twenty minutes roaming around the town in one place and now I could take all the time in the world. Bizarre.
The shops had an assortment of things, mainly from Pakistan. The opium pipes were definitely interesting and worth photographing. I bought some more Afghan items like Pashtun caps and checked out the jewellery stores looking for bling. Kites were still able to buy in the markets.
Pictures of General Razik, a commander who had governed Kandahar and was quite ruthless to Taliban were scratched out and removed. They renamed Kandahar Airport after the Taliban who posed as his security who shot him dead.
We got back on the road and headed back to Kabul early in the morning deciding to do the whole lot in one. That was one long day. Broken by all the bumps in the road, I curled up in my bed and slept hard. Valium helped.
Fascinating story. Thank you for sharing this.