The last couple of days I have been to quite a few meetings at different Afghan ministries, universities and NGO:s It is very interesting to visit Afghan institutions. Often they have rather spacious offices, partly because they don’t have that much furniture. Although all the offices I visited had desks, chairs and laptops. Often it is very difficult to find the person you look for, even though you have an appointment. There are often no signs or listings on where to find people. Fortunately there are always a lot of people around to ask. Unfortunately the often have no idea about where to find the person you look for. Sometimes it is a little difficult not to start laughing. Not at the persons themselves n. b.!! They are all very nice and friendly and helpful and, I am sure, doing their best under very difficult circumstances. What makes me want to laugh is the enormous difference to offices in Sweden and how absurd it somehow seems. In every office you meet a lot of people who just seem to linger in the hallways. Often they look as if they had been sleeping in the street, a bit dirty and rugged, some limping, many missing teeth or having very black teeth. Some of the old men in beard and traditional clothing look as if they would be hundred years old and you really wonder what they do there. Maybe many don’t really do much there, maybe they just do linger.
On the other hand there are a lot of people doing different kind of services. It is a huge difference between the people you meet in the corridors and the ones we meet in the meetings. The ones we meet are all better dressed, healthier looking (although some of them also miss teeth) are well educated, often abroad and speak good English. You also notice a very big difference in hierarchy. The guys (they are all men!!) that we meet seem to have an army of office attendants. Whenever they want something they just call, or even ring a bell! And immediately there is someone at the door, ready to bring some more tea, get some documents or make a copy. You will not find any like that in a Swedish office!
When you ask someone for the way to someone they often point in some direction only for you to meet someone there who sends you back. Often they even choose to walk with you, even though they don’t know where to go, they just walk with you and do the asking for you. So not only do the traffic situation often make you come to late to the meetings, the walking around on huge office areas delays you even more.
The Kabul University area was also huge! But it was actually very nice. It is the greenest place I have seen so far in Afghanistan. It is in a huge lush park. Of cause the buildings are quite run down and the equipment and furniture is really nothing like we are used to, but the area was very nice. The professor in geology that we met was contemplating the situation of his country compared to what he had seen in Europe (Germany) and disapprovingly wondered how long it would take for his country to get to 50 or maybe even 30% of the level we have in our countries. He looked a bit sad when he said that and I can understand him and felt that there was nothing we could say to cheer him up.
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