SMS government: District Government registers client via cellphone

We are trying to promote the idea that district level government in Afghanistan need to engage population more proactively in the face of general disillusionment.

We work with a few district governments in southern Afghanistan to facilitate constituencies who are visiting the district offices to use government services. We have recruited and trained a few constituency caseworkers in the provinces of Wardak, Paktika, Nangarhar and Kunar; we are placing them inside the district governor offices. The candidate was briefed that the role is not to initiate a broad array of actions resulting in a speedy, favourable outcome. When performing casework, the scribe cannot force an agency to expedite a case or act in favour of a client. Scribe role is to intervene to facilitate the appropriate administrative processes. The scribes have a form which they fill out with details of each client/constituent visiting district government office. The form has three copies and one goes to the client.

Local governments (both district and provincial) should try to stay engaged with the public. Keeping continuous and systematic communication with them is a tool to gauge their mood and needs. The challenge in Afghanistan is lack of security, geographically dispersed villages, corruption and public reluctance to engage with the government; under such circumstances it is impossible for local governments to remained informed about public need and raise awareness of government efforts.

Using cellphone local governments can easily gather citizen input via voice platforms and SMS, grouping constituent interests by keywords. Then, based on those keywords, informing them of government actions in their interests.

we are working to use frontline sms to automate the system. this idea came to me when working with telephone operators; there is alot of neglect on the part of staff in a place like Afghanistan. they are not serious about details and cannot be bothered to be accurate.

Project Description and Technical Workflow

The idea is to make the inprocess form available via cellphone, so scribe can use client – or his cellphone when they don’t have – to directly input their detail into the database. we can automate the process this way. Client will be promoted to give regular feedback. District governor and related staff will be reminded about client status and scribe will be tasked to follow up on issues when hitting a barrier. The digitization of bureaucracy on an easy to use medium not only streamlines process but also makes up for lack of physical interaction as a result of worsening security situation.

We can make the form for data entry available via phones without using java enabled features. That we it can be available on all phones. The telephone which receives the form can send a simple hand-written SMS and our dB sms software can receive it. the data is not interpreted, validated or written in a database by FrontlineSMS. For this purpose we can develop a MySQL or MS Access database system to host the SMS data and to provide validation on the data received and to send an automatic reply to follow up with the sender, relate the problem to other stakeholders. For instance a client sends in form with a petition for Tazkira (birth certificate), the sender will receive an sms back, giving him the contact information for the Tazkira manager and working hours of the dept. the dB will also send a message to Tazkira manager informing him about the petition and any unusual notes.

For the functioning of the system we need two dBs, one at the front end and another at the back. The front-end database is the system that performs the validation and the queries would require adaptation for porting to another system.

We have received some money and currently working on a short-codes to toll-free SMS lines, to lower the barrier to entry for ordinary citizens who may not be able to afford a multiple SMS ‘conversation’ based on a menu tree.

There are a few other features that we could add to the casket: I am interested to look into geo-tagging, to give additional geographic context and trends analysis of citizen feedback and information requests.

So far we are only building this text based but we would like to bring in the voice; by using text to speech technology we can trigger recorded audio call-backs for those instances where audio is more appropriate than text.

good luck dying

I grew up at a time when most people had to confine themselves to closed spaces or there was serious risk of getting shot. This give people a good chance to make an income from by doing labour extensive handcrafts. People would spend ten hours a day working on a piece of embroidery or weaving carpet. The amount of money they were making was closer to nothing. Most women would severely lose eye sight in their mid thirties and the job general deteriorate worker health condition. this is the story of my uncle http://sanjar.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-am-terrorist.html. I had turned out to be against handcraft labour as a mean of income.

I was particularly pissed off by the international community and all other fancy people who would stand around and say how pretty certain carpet or embroidery was. If you google for Afghan handcraft, carpet, embroidery or etc you will see millions of dollars had been spent to revive or build such a niche where vulnerable people such as children and women labour so some fancy guy could show off. I always thought the way out is not through creating menial labour extensive camps but economic prosperity. My argument had a logic that is common sense - unless sweatshop workers are literally slaves, they are presumably working long hours in horrible conditions for low pay only because the alternative ways of making a living are worse or none existent.

When you take away iconic handcraft labour from a woman or child the obvious risk is that they lose whatever financial power they have, they will be out on the street begging or resorting to worst activities often with criminal inclination. This is surely not the aim. The only alternative is economic growth: while it may be frustratingly slow, it finishes off Afghan handcraft by producing far more attractive jobs. There is also a psychological element to the persistence of “afghan handcraft”. Many labours, traders and international buyers and sponsors see this work as the only way some afghan can make a living. In the head of the labourer it has resonated that he or she is not good for anything else but this repetitive task. This kills imagination and a will to life. The traders and international sponsors reinforces the belief by supporting the interprise.

While the economic logic is straightforward enough, it is not watertight. But I am starting to believe that economic development is not alleviating this particular problem. Economic growth itself can increase the demand for child labour as well as reducing the supply. While luxury customers are willing to pay a dime more for well established carpet brand, increasing the chances of handcraft labouror income. So I was intrigued to discover two new pieces of research addressing these questions. One is an article in March’s American Economic Review, written by Ann Harrison of the University of California, Berkeley, and Jason Scorse of the Monterey Institute. Harrison and Scorse study data from Indonesia. Harrison and Scorse look at the footwear, textile and clothing sectors with brand names for handmade products. After US boycott of such products profits did fall, and so does investment. Some small plants closed. But few, if any, jobs seem to have been lost. The minimum wage in Indonesia more than doubled between 1989 and 1996, after inflation, and this did depress employment. But there seemed to be no additional effect in the districts with lots of high street handcraft suppliers, despite the fact that wages in those regions outpaced wage increases elsewhere by almost a third.

The second paper was presented in draft form at the Royal Economic Society meeting in Guildford in 2010. This research, by Nigar Hashimzade and Uma Kambhampati of the University of Reading, shows that economic growth – at least in the short-term – is not enough to reduce child labour. Complementary policies to strengthen schools and the incentive to attend them seem to be necessary.

Neither piece of research is the last word, and neither discounts the long-term effectiveness of economic growth in improving working conditions. But I am thinking about women and children who work 15 hours to waving carpet and inhale the dust from the wool. There is no quick solution for them and it seems like they have to keep doing it for another few decades.

Information via mobile phone

Tamas is a project intended to provide crops and market prices to farmers. I was earlier talking with a few of people about it. It is a brilliant idea but they are not doing it right; I am not impressed by the people who had designed the project there is not much enthusiasm on their side – not a good attitude to start with. I was surprised by a predominant attitude that expects it to fail…

Tamas have a few sever shortcomes – apart from crappy attitude. They don't have a good user/client base. The number of people who use tamas falls in 0.000X figure of the people who need the information. The number of people with technical capacity to extract such information is between 15-20 % of those in need; given cellphone ownership. this line of thinking is valid for planning the user base but the project should be based on specifics; the inflow of user numbers within the first quarter and subsequent timeframes. I don't know what they originally planned but they can't readjust that to the reality and revise the figures. Reality for Tamas managers is more like we are not sure. The key to success of this enterprise is creating a user base and the inflow of users. I am a big fun of anthropological theory of innovation diffusion in this regard. It explains who and how the user base will expand. Many e-commerce enterprises used the concept, for instance paypal was giving free credit to attract experimenters when it first started.

 

Second problem with Tamas is the marketing approach they have. Mass advertising is not efficient for promoting technological innovation in communication chain. We need to provide knowledge to bridge the understanding gap. Projects such as cellphone innovations need education for end users. The efficient way to do this is through direct marketing,1.  it gives a virtual product a living face 2. Interactive information for user and step by step guide. 3. Targeted . Moreover technological innovation need to focus marketing effort on previous customers; to keep them engaged – so they are not there for a one time shop. This is all I have learned with a similar project I am working on. The radio advertising and print campaign didn't work out for us. Our marketers on the ground are drawing clients by dozens; with this inflow we are creating the customer base we need in a quarter.

 

The third problem with Tamas is the availability of price index. I texted for banana and apple price in Kabul and they didn't have it while now is the season for both. This is like having a radio station but it is not on air.

 

The failure of tamas doesn't mean text or voice based cell application doesn't work. For the starter it means that USAID and its partner did a lousy job in doing it. they need to have people who believe in texting and have entrepreneurial spirit , not the type experimenting on Afghanistan. "Tamas doesn't work" or "mPaisa doesn't work" are the common type of arguments I hear on daily basis when people want to oppose mobile phone applications. All of the above arguments also apply to mPaisa but I have to say they are getting better at it and will have a larger user base especially if the could successful enroll the entire police force for salary transfers.

Explosion on darullaman road at 8:10

I just heard a big explosion near our house; it is around 8:10am. The explosion happened on darullaman road toward the ministry of rural development. The smoke is mushrooming in the sky and i can hear sirens. Trucks are rushing toward the scene. This part of town was quiet recently and not many explosion had happened in the last few years.

Rationality and Taliban and how can we rationally handle them

Here is a daunting question; are Taliban rational? i say terrorism is the only rational thing Taliban are capable to do. Taliban as individuals are not rational. they lack control over basic human instincts such as anger, joy, jealousy… etc. that is why they decided to be Taliban as a result of foreign occupation, corruption or anything that is happening in Afghanistan which made them angry. Taliban movement is the only framework that helps the lunatics behave rationally and have a sense of fulfillment.

Mullah Rockety, Waheed Mozhda and Abdul Salam for instance were all Taliban but they are not any more. They are in the government or have something going that is engaging and provides that rationality which they once enjoyed from being a Talib. No longer these men have nothing to lose.

There has been many theories to reconstruct a rational theory of terrorism an one of the best is Eli Berman's. Reverse the story of mullah rockety or abdul salam and you get a sense of Berman's argument: effective terrorist groups are effective only because their members are cut off from the outside world and have little to gain from quitting the group. This could be caused by many things such as poor education and etc but the core reason for the majority of a nation is bad governance and in Afghanistan failed state for decades.

Of course, the world is not short of terrorists, but there are many grievances, many disaffected young men and hundreds of thousands of murders or deaths on the battlefield. Given what an impact terrorist violence can have, and how low-tech it can be, Berman is probably right to suggest that the rarity of effective terrorists, however welcome, is a puzzle.

Lets pursue rational terrorism and the answer is in former Taliban. A single defector can jeopardise a terrorist network, and defections do happen. Sudanese militant Jamal al-Fadl quit al-Qaeda in the mid 1990s and jumped ship to the US, reportedly for huge sums of money. Abu Musab alZarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, died when his safe house was bombed in June 2006 – it has been reported that an associate betrayed him for the $25m bounty on his head.

The higher the stakes, the more tempting it will be for a half-hearted terrorist to defect. Berman argues that radical religious groups are well-equipped to ensure that there is no such thing as a half-hearted terrorist. It is not the theology of such groups – martyrdom, for instance – that makes the difference, but their ability to cut off outside options and create very strong ties between group members. there was not a single thing that we didn't fear not to do without fearing Taliban reprisal, from flying kite to the colour of cloths and even genital hair. Everything was Taliban business. The aim is to reinforce a group identity and make everyone part of the circle.

At the core of Taliban is a set of rules that makes it unattractive for adherents to leave, and attractive for them to stay. If they stay, they enjoy the membership of a group that provides substantial social services to members. If they leave – having been cut off from education, work and isolated from real life – their options will be limited, even if they do run off with a truck full of smuggled goods or a pay-off from the Americans.

Berman's theory is puzzling in some ways. He devotes very little attention to the fact that the violent religious groups he studies – the Taliban, Hamas, Hizbollah and the Mahdi Army – are all Islamic. But the focus on the way some radical religious groups are able to control defection does seem very fruitful. It points to clear solutions, too: give potential terrorists attractive outside options, offer effective social services and try to cut off their sources of funding. Not at all easy, and not altogether new. but, what is?

SMS in Afghan media

SMS text messages are a natural part of local radio stations; SMS messages are inexpensive and easy-to-use and in recent years the mobile phones that are needed for sending and receiving them have become ubiquitous. In most stations SMS use is informal. Only tolo tv and a few other high profile stations make complex use of SMS. These are good examples of experiences of complex uses of SMS by afghan media but this cannot be duplicated in local media without external funding and technical support, even though the financial and technical resources required are minimal.

A local radio station, catering to a district of 50000 people receives on average 150 letters a day. these letters are general in origin and most of them are not being used by the radio station. The point here is, a culture of participation in local radio station already exist. Now the next step is to use technology in order to transfer letters into SMS. Once this takes place there are many other creative ways to build programmes with participatory themes. Technologies such as frontline SMS can be used to segregate incoming text and create programmes with real time polling and etc. As mobile phones become increasingly common, SMS messages are being used by community media in a variety of ways. At its simplest, announcers and journalists announce their phone numbers over the air and invite listeners to send messages with comments on the news, questions, greetings, song requests… Some of these are then used on-air.

Desktop software and web-based services allow stations to do more. However, local radio stations in Afghanistan don't know much about them, even though they offer a low-cost and relatively simple way of stimulating participation and interaction. There are various software and service packages available. Among them is FrontlineSMS, a programme that runs on a computer connected by a cable to an ordinary mobile phone. Unlike most other programs and services, FrontlineSMS does not require a connection to the internet – messages are composed, stored and processed on the computer and sent and received on the mobile. There are a variety of tools available with different capabilities and pricing. Basic services useful for community media include:

1. Broadcast messages to dozens or even thousands of mobiles advising them of a special programme or an important community activity
   
2. Keyword response – when a listener sends the letter "A" the station replies with a text message listing activities while "B" is answered with current headlines and "C" is answered with the weather forcast.
   
3. Encourage the public to take part in content production for instance send news, views and reports.
   

We have just entered into an agreement with three of the largest telcos where they provide us a premium number with toll free feature; this means that stations can generate feedback via mobiles without the listeners having to pay even the cost of SMS message. The cost of the SMS can be a barrier to some; by removing it we can have a larger poll of participation in the radio station.

I am trying to incorporate SMS polling into local radio programming. This feature is particularly useful for getting the public talk about large political issues. The upcoming parliamentary elections represent us with a good opportunity to use SMS feature in local media. We are planning to use SMS to poll listeners on a number of questions. We can do a program around question; the same question will be put to a panel of guests in the studio and to audience to respond via SMS. The questions are designed to provoke debate about democracy rather than to measure public opinion. Examples included: "Have politicians done enough to fight corruption and mismanagement of public resources?", "Do you think special seats should be created for women in parliament?", "Does party politics foster national unity?" and "Do you feel your vote has the power to make a difference?". I think they did the same thing in Kenya; and they had a website where they posted the results. We can do a similar website too; http://mfoa.africanews.com/site/page/sms_campaign

FSMS can also be used to create a network of citizen journalists for a website or radio station. This is particularly useful to do in a place like Kabul where you have a sway of folks interested for instance journalists students; they can get some training which is useful and some hands on journalistic experiences. They can send their news and views via SMS messages. A selection of the messages will be published /aired while others will be redistributed via SMS to community members. It is quite difficult to fit the news into the 160 characters that an SMS message can have, but there are ways to overcome the problem.

Similarly a radio station can use SMS to encourage audiences and the general public to send breaking news. it can also be used for specific campaigns for instance people report police corruption.

 

Karzai: a psycho or an April fool joker

I thought karzai is pulling a Prank yesterday, it was funnier than his usual notes - after all it can be an April fool joke. Then I realized that he was dead serious. This government is a joke if he was not kidding yesterday. I had a bad day yesterday, I had to look for a place for half an hour to park my car and then the guards outside some house called after I parked and left; saying we will crush your windows and tear down your doors. Literally all streets are impounded by someone and blocked. This whole city feels like a psycho house and Karzai just complete the organogram as the head of nutters.

Karzai accused all foreigner of blackmail, fraud, bribery, threat and vast misconduct during presidentially election he singled out Peter Galbraith and the EU mission head Gen Phillippe Morillon of being involved in a plot to put a puppet government in power. He mentioned foreign embassy, MPs and congressmen trying to bribe Mr. Najafi and Lodin to swing votes.

Karzai talked about an organised plot by foreigners to rule Afghanistan. in this conspiracy he added, their military, industry, finance and media play central roles. he added "foreigners tried to bribe IEC staff with money, used threats and their New York times printed hostile article at their order, so they can change the fate of Afghans".

He said 'a foreign embassy called Mr. Najafi with directions… they also said if he fail to follow he will make his way toward his grave.' Then Najafi presented his resignation which karzai refused. The question is: Why are you the president of a country whose highest electoral officials are being threaten, harassed and forced by some embassy. Why did you keep it quiet for four and a half months? As a leader I think you have to do something about it and what are you going to do about it. Leadership comes with the responsibility to be constructive and refrain from cultural urge for whinging. Karzai needs to evaluate presidential election and ensure integrity of parliamentary elections. This is not even close to how this clown thinks. He made absurd claims to sensationalize public opinions and this is a power game. Mr Karzai is currently locked in a power struggle with parliament over his attempt to appoint all the monitors in Afghanistan's election process. Karzai's comments come a day after the Afghan parliament rejected his attempt to have an all-Afghan body monitoring elections.

Karzai's suggestion that foreigners would organise electoral fraud was "absurd"; especially after what he did; mass fraud which is well proven by many sources. It is even more absurd to see karzai stamp on next election being funded by the same foreigners. It was a few weeks ago he asked the UN to provide technical assistance in general area of organization. His regime is incapable of funding, planning and undertaking the election. Why is the international community playing along with this baby? He once again shows how reliable he could be as a ally.

Offsetting Bribery

It has been three weeks since I decided to pay electricity, yet unsuccessful. it took me a week to find out how exactly to pay electricity bill; this is my first time, my bad is telling me that the payment mechanism has improved tremendously. Bribery has changed the culture of state sector but also people in general; people have become less helpful even in comparison with five years ago. On an upside note it is interesting to see how such changes can be deeply rooted over a short period of time. I had to go to the right meter box and then the right power junction and after that to the right electrician for my street, etc. Finding all this in a new neighborhood is hard and traditionally you rely on peoples' good manner and attitude to help you out. But these days people just wouldn't bother much to help out a stranger. They want to see what is their personal benefit in it. Life has become as dull as everyone is so concerned about how they could monetarily benefit from something. Monetary income has also become a determinant of statue. There is the public obsession at different tiers to worry about financial status of others; starting from a brother at family tier to politician at the government tier. People have lost interest in doing things because it is fun, nice or interesting.

Corruption breaks down social fabrics and functioning of the society. I was getting help because there was no recognized reason for them to take money from me; just giving information is not good enough to get bribed. But also I didn't know any of the guy at the power station. Another negative effect of corruption on state sector has been strengthen tribalism. You have to know somebody even to be allowed in the office. It is already a compounded problem – *corrupted tribalism* and it is only getting worst. People bundle up in blood relationships, interest groups, mates, gangs, mafia and etc to suck money out of the society. The believe is, you can only make money if you do it the wrong way and this belief is reinforced by living proofs. People who make money don't usually have good reputation and doing things the right way seem to be reserved predominantly for suckers. The belief is that there is a lot of money around at the hand of people who don't know what to do with it. Which is absolutely true. Now everybody is getting creative to get some of this money. The idea of doing something useful with the money is as strange as questioning God. An old mate who has a big business was telling me people of minister and MP level visits him for a bonus from a large project when he gets one. Bribery is now history and the fashion of the day is extortion. People in power are more creative in corruption than the rest, as usual.

I am now thinking what could be possibly done countermeasure the negative social consequences of bribery. I believe there is nothing wrong with the mania to get rich. However, the glorification of status material such as car, house and money to the extent that nothing is now considered bogus to gain them, is the problem. Changing the way people think about bribery is important in changing perception of corruption. I thought the concept of carbon offsetting can also be altered to bribe offsetting, carbon offsetting is well rehearsed in the west and at its root is also changing populous perception about a social demon.

Bribe offsetting is when individuals take bribe because they are in a position to facilitate, block, delay or hinder a public; they add to national corruption and social evils. bribeoffset offsets bribe takers (and bribe givers) by funding someone else to be clean and NOT take bribe. This neutralises the harm and unfairness that could happen when lower level staff try to extort from the most unfortunate, and leaves the bribe taker (and bribe giver) with a clear conscience.

Can officials offset all their bribery?

First officials should look at ways of reducing their bribery. Once they've done this they can use bribeoffset to offset the remaining, unavoidable bribery.

A bribe offset is a financial instrument aimed at a reduction in administrative corruption and subsequently all the social evil it causes. There are two markets for bribe offsets. In the larger, compliance market, companies, governments, international organisations or other entities buy bribe offsets in order to comply with caps on the total amount of bribe they can allow to happen due to organizational failure to detect. There is also much smaller, voluntary market, individuals purchase bribe offsets to mitigate their own contribution from bribe taking or bribe giving. For example, an individual might purchase bribe offsets to compensate for the bribery action caused by be in a position to take bribe or induced to give bribe. We will also offer companies, government, international organization and other entities with the option to offset bribery as an up-sell during the work process so that employees, clients and other stakeholders can mitigate the bribery related with their work or service (such as offsetting bribery related to a car taxation, electricity bill, police checkpoint, employment etc.) for example an international organization contracted by USAID to build 40 hospitals up-sell 40 bribe offsetting certificate related to 40 hospitals. The organization then reduces a small sum from all staff salary to finance upsell bribe certificate. Alternatively the organization can charge a premium to Afghan subcontractors who receive the contract to do the field work.

Offset is achieved through financial support of projects that reduce bribe taking. Officials and staff who are in a position to take bribe but think they can resist will be sponsor by a bribe offset.

The idea is based on carbon offsetting that is a well rehearsed approached and that has gained some appeal and momentum among the public who have become aware and concerned about the potentially negative environmental effects of energy-intensive lifestyles and economies. The Kyoto Protocol has sanctioned offsets as a way for governments and private companies to earn carbon credits which can be traded on a marketplace. The protocol established the clean development mechanism (CDM), which validates and measures projects to ensure they produce authentic benefits and are genuinely "additional" activities that would not otherwise have been undertaken. Organizations that are unable to meet their emissions quota can offset their emissions by buying CDM-approved Certified Emissions Reductions. However, some critics object to carbon offsets, and question the benefits of certain types of offsets. Offsets are viewed as an important policy tool to maintain stable economies. One of the hidden dangers of climate change policy is unequal prices of carbon in the economy, which can cause economic collateral damage if production flows to regions or industries that have a lower price of carbon - unless carbon can be purchased from that area, which offsets effectively permit, equalizing the price.

Bribe offsetting may be more feasible and convenient alternatives to reducing one's own bribery affect.

The key problem for the approach is openness. Bribe giver offsetting certificate is more important than the takers. How can we get them to sign up. Any thoughts?

Here are some:

The rational is openness should start with high ranking officials to set open precedence.

Getting as much as possible evidence on dealings, asset and property prior to sign up high ranking official can be useful.

There has got to be some way to deal with the officials who hide corruption for instance they can remain anonymous.

In addition to bribe takers bribe giver can also offset.

We find match for bribe offset projects. The certificate holder can choose person in which sector should receive the money, police, judge. etc.

more random thoughts on cellphone project

Last couple of months I have been working on using cellphone in media and business communication. Most of the people I put the idea to is going, "but is this going to work in Afghanistan?" which basically means I don't like what you are saying but I find no way to hand you a bunch of better refutations. I have met with senior staff in charge of private sector support initiatives and they are so clueless about their job that they can't offer anything substantiating and constructive.

However, market uncertainty is a valid concern; so far in building Afghanistan and its private sector the players had dodged it. Aid agencies and NGOs just like to give goats or dig wells or drainage for Afghans. You think more than cattle as an afghan and your sanity is questioned. They look at you as though you suffer concussion; I spent half an hour the other day to practice turning my saliva into foam. Not doing good yet but I don't think I need it if I could get people to take the project seriously.  I think one way I could do that is to do a market assessment. Nonetheless, I have a big concern, I am all for doing market assessment for a new brand of tea but when you are combining two sectors, i.e. market connection and cellphone then using classic market assessment methodology will not prove a thing and wrongly disprove ideas such as iBazar (I mentioned it in my previous post). Moreover, the perceived level of complexity required by iBazar sellers and buyers might also foster unfavorable response. iBazar do present new market channels but the response to such a new phenomena in business especially when it is brought by technology is negative. Six years ago when I was telling people to do radio they were mocking me. Not even a handful of Afghans believed it will work. They could never believe that radio could be done without gigantic infrastructure or content could be produced without president decree or advertisement could bring revenue or … etc.

In the process of pitching cellphone related project ideas some aspects of Afghanhood seem sharper than ever before; and how it is niggling into the newly created business cramp. We are brought up to be conformative to the social and individual regime imposed on us but at the same time we are dreadfully egoistic. The roots for the problem can be traced to our early childhood. Most fathers ignore, disrespect and beat their children from the age of only a few months old and then their mothers console them. Children grow to be suppressed on the one hand but overcomforted on the other by their own mothers. Mothers tightly grip to children because they have no man to show affection, husbands pay no heed to their feelings.

Most Afghans do not have an in-depth understanding of their surrounding but comprehend from a single dimension. They are not fun because they cannot get to change perspective and look from different perspectives because they fanatically cling to certain values of their existing paradigm. The egoist and conformative individual understand and perceive the world from his perspective. The past is about what he did and how he did it. The present is what he thinks. He gives monologues; shows little willingness to hear and evaluate new ideas; communication is confrontational. Things are changing in the last few years people get to learn the social skills to communicate with others easier and they develop curiosity or copy cut curiosity to make their character more attractive. They shine better and function more successfully but at the end their understanding of the issues change little to the initial doctrines inserted by the society. Below the surface of communication and social interaction they remain the same people. In the business world they are easier to deal with but you cannot put a lot of trust in them because they are no better than the ME, ME, ME guy. They are slicker and can pretend better which are phony qualities added to the initial ignorance. But there is something very important to know about socially easy conformists who don't act and function like the rest of their compatriots. There are actually people who have understanding of the realities or are sincere and truthful in their views and self recognition.

Trading and market information with cellphone

Market linkages are critical for creating a trading area for small entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, sellers and businesses in Afghanistan. In order to create market linkages sellers need to identify their potential customers. Identifying their customers and reaching them is the daunting challenge for micro entrepreneurs in Afghanistan. Reaching the customer requires marketing and infrastructure. Many micro entrepreneurs even cannot afford to set up a place to sell. Many roadside sellers would be better off if they could set up a delivery system but if they are off the street they lose the limited number of customers. Hundreds of foreign agencies hand out things like a sewing machines and a couple of weeks of training. That woman with the sewing machine will never be able to find customers. My latest preoccupation has been to create a structure for economic activities in the face insecurity, limited mobility and crushing poverty.

I am designing cellphone business, simple enough to be used by low literate Afghans. In this project, we will focus on using cell phones, especially via SMS/MMS, but also voice, to create a market place where sellers can send product information and buyers can search for the lowest price with a reasonable quality. After finding the proper product information with the seller's contact information, buyers and sellers can finish the transaction. iBazar will have a web interface too; having an online credit card to iBazar gateway. The project will pilot in Kabul for three months and expand to six regional cities within a year. the scheme below shows how it works.

I am seeking investors and funders for this project and quite rightly many asks if this thing is actually going to work. The key effect on the will to invest is conditioned by factors namely; market demand conditions and market maturity. It will make it easier to invest in my proposal if demand and market uncertainties are low. There is a benefit for investing in- what I call- iBazar at this stage when market demand condition is almost impossible to determine or will cost as much as setting up the project. Investing in a market of uncertainty and demand indication will enable iBazar to enjoy economies of scale and scope in long run to maintain the profitability. iBazar as an early entrant will be well established in the market.

Demand uncertainty is predominantly exogenous because it is widely assumed that consumers' lack precedence for such a service therefore low confidence in attempting to use it, this is a valid point and has been tackled well in our marketing plan under outcome number three.

When we are talking about whether Afghan market is ready for iBazar we are inevitably asking the question of what is the level of certainty in the mobile market. mobile phones have been around for six years now, some 9 million Afghans are using them. To turn iBazar into a success we target a substantial number who are well informed and aware about features of cellphones and relative benefits; plus our marketing is designed to engage cellphone users which we find the best way to inform.

Demand uncertainty is not going to result in failure for iBazar because that is only certain in monopolistic cellphone market competition; Afghanistan has at least five large telecommunication operators with a very healthy and vibrant competition.

Another factor which reduces iBazar demand uncertainty is price. There is no initial cost for iBazar customer to start participation. They will not buy new devices or medium to connect but use handsets which are multi-functional device and already owned. The cost of use is low too. At the initial stage the eMobilizer (both voice and text) will be toll free to facilitate network diffusion.

Mobile phones are often used not only for work –essential communication tool - but also for entertainment and pleasure… missed call is a good example. It is probably one of the single acts which could have various different meanings. It means how are you? It means let's take a walk or... missed call which is the most basic feature of cellphone have been turned into something very useful and recreational.

perceived playfulness plays a significant role in the developing the intention to use as well as the attitude toward iBazar. iBazar is a simple platform which could be used to mean many different things. Additionally, system quality is inherently relevant to the model, many people will become reluctant to use iBazar if they experience frequent delay in response, frequent disconnection, lack of access, errors and poor security. The recognition of this point means system quality will be given enough attention.

A core question when assessing user attitude formation is why would an Afghan use iBazar? not from commerce or communication viewpoint but merely attitude.

Utilization of mobile products and services holds a far greater meaning than simply the purchasing of mobile handsets, sending message to Afghan Star, calling friends, buying ringing tones, flashy light and etc. Indeed, the consumption of mobile services is to a greater degree seen as a means of self expression, individual identity-formation, creativity, or even art. Using mobile technology, consumers express their identity by personalising the appliance itself through design, size, ringtones, logos and screensavers; as well as the actual use of the various available mobile voice and text products and services.

SMS messaging is by far the most popular mobile data service both domestically and worldwide. In 2008 more than 140 billion SMS messages were sent world-wide, demonstrating the service as an ideal subject in the examination of mobile data consumption meanings. As with asynchronous text-based such as traditional email services, SMS messaging is valued because it allows users time to select, craft and edit the personality they present. Studies have shown that consumers develop new and deeper relationships through the use of SMS messaging.

Overall, the identity-building aspect of mobile use is the most revealing aspect of the technology's effect on consumer behavior. Studies reveal that many view their mobile devices as essential elements of the intimate, personal space, having integrated them as part of their own identity. Through the use of SMS messaging, consumers can construct their own virtual identity, free from the physical restraints of everyday life. Afghans, in general, are industrious people. Working hard to make a better living for their family which is a source of pride and pride is a central value of Afghanness. Afghans are diligent when no monerary reward is expected to help out friends or a common fellow. Diligence is encouraged and laziness is frowned on strictly. Hard work is a quality of good person. Creating an arena for business combines a key element of daily life with working class and entrepreneurial self expression.

Another important issue is when the venture is going to be actually start making money. Enterprises that are resolving strategic market chain bottlenecks are very lucrative. There are great profits to reap at various segments of supplying market chain connection. Certain aspect of market chain connections, such as market information and communication, are hard to monotise. This is perhaps the second biggest contributor, after lack of physical infrastructure, for fragmented markets and loss of millions in Afghanistan.

Should iBazar be charging buyers or/and sellers? The premise is simple: iBazar charge for the right to post product on the eMobiliser and for make asynchronous searches with an off-line cellphone possible. Product posting creates disproportionate amount of value for buyer and sellers in comparison to iBazar. For instance, let's evaluate agribusiness sellers. Farmers are only growing a small quantity of seasonal crops, such as onion or watermelon; enough for the family consumption and to sell at local Bazaar or a whole buyer but it is never large enough to cause major losses if it is not sold. Agriculture in Afghanistan is flactuating; at certain season there is plenty of onion but for almost 10 months the price goes up to 400% higher. At the season the farmer can not sell to enough people who can conserve or consume at large quanitity either at household level or business; due to lack of market connection. The onion farmer can benefit tremendously from iBazar. the basic law of capitalism compel to ask how will iBazar benefit.

It is pivotal quesiton: should iBazar open-platform orchestrators get compensated for adding value to user entreupreners? And would monetary incentive systems spur more value creation or possibly taint the dynamics that have made participatory communities, say ebay, google, paypal and hundreds of others, successful.

This seems like a simple question but to answer I look at successful participatory platforms; specifically at those which like our proposed idea match buyers to the sellers and vice versa such as gumtree, craiglist and many smaller ones. These companies have long been in the business to establish successful ecosystems.

I also want to say there are systems of value other than, or in addition to, money, that are very important to people but espicially Afghans: connecting with other people and markets (espicially for women and other marginalised groups), creating a business identity, not least, garnering other people's attention. iBazar –indeed Afghanistan- would be a much poorer place without the collective generosity of its contributors. The culture of generosity is the very backbone of the iBazar.

i expect to profit from iBazar, and profit handsomely if we can. We emphasize the need to build the largest network possible first, and it has been proven that the profits will soon follow. It sounds a little like dot-com logic, but the difference is that iBazar provide an envrionment for experimentation, and then seize on the things that users find valuable. The key to this is openness. Put profits first, and we will cripple the network we are building.

iBazar as a market chain connection and cellphone enterprise will be built openly and as big and as fast as possible; this will ultimatly put us in the best position to figure out where the real economic value is. Google built the world's most popular and useful search engine, and eventually became an ad company. Skype built a free phone service, and eventually sold it to eBay. Craiglist built a free classified –ads community, and is turning a healthy profit – while killing tradational publishers – with its comparatively low-cost job ads. The main reason for thoroughly piloting the project is to assess cash-flow and revenue generation forecasts, tested wherever possible upon the market and take into account each of the revenue streams.

Three key points stand out from my business model. First, all applications of a new technology go through an evolutionary process in which a period of early experimentation gives way to shakeouts, and then the truly viable business models emerge. Second, radical decentralization and openness create tricky environments in which to build genuinely viable business models – success lies in "closing up" the right parameters and monetary rewarding without destroying the characteristics of the system that make it innovative. Third, iBazar will only remain viable for as long as all the stakeholders are adequately and appropriately compensated for their contributions – we are not offering free ride forever.

Fired for suggesting lunch improvments

I used to work as a media and communication consultant for IRD, SPR project, a major USAID contractor building 400 million dollars worth of roads in southern and eastern Afghanistan. My contract was terminated on the 23rd June by the Chief of Party, Frederick Chace, for allegedly ‘accusing IRD of separation of classes’. here you can see the termination letter http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=F.e11fd414-7ef6-4b8c-807d-12e47233de91. The termination letter is a false accusation and I was wrongly terminated. I did not protest against the treatment of Afghans or the privileges of expatriate staff. The day before my termination (June22) I complained about the poor quality of office lunch but what I then thought important was some suggestions about improving lunch environment and space. My suggestion was in response to an email which offered special food only for expatriates. This is the email.
----------------------
From: Leonard Fexton Chitekwe

Sent: 22 June 2009 07:45

To: International; National Staff

Subject: July 4th


All,
July 4th is America’s Independence Day holiday. This is a public holiday for ALL staff. SPR offices in Kabul and Kandahar will be closed for business on this day.
A special meal for expats is being arranged and if you have ideas contact Johan Venter. Details will follow later.
Leonard


Leonard Chitekwe-Mwale
Senior Director of Finance and Administration
SPR_SEA Program
International Relief and Development, Inc (IRD)
Kabul, Afghanistan
Ph: +93 (0) 796 110 003
E-mail: lchitekwe@ird-spr.org
----------------------------
I found this email quite disturbing. We are celebrating American national holiday in Afghanistan, but Afghans are not welcomed to fully celebrate the occasion. Special meal is only offered for expatriates. This resembles very much the colonial ages; rules and regulations are placed to compel locals to observe the dominant nation’s culture but they are not fully welcomed.
I am a fan of American culture and I think many IRD Afghan employees would enjoy American cultural occasions. Both Afghan and expatriates celebrating Afghan and American cultural occasions together could bridge the current distrust. Afghans generally are hospitable and welcoming to share happy occasion; although, I can not ask Leonard or IRD in general to invite me and Afghans to 4th of July special meal; but I think the email was ungenerous at best and rude, especially when it was addressed to both Afghans and expatriates.

I thought an invitation to a single occasion, particularly when it could be more special to expatriates than Afghans, could not make a difference in perceptions. I wanted to make a suggestion with longer term effect on attitudes. I suggested that Afghans and expatriates eating lunch together would be effective in improving relationships.
in response to leonard I sent this:
----------
From: Sanjar Qiam

Sent: 22 June 2009 09:07

To: Leonard Fexton Chitekwe; Johan Venter

Subject: lunch
Dear both,
It is great that you are celebrating 4th of July; it is a great cultural exchange for Afghans and third country nationals.
I had a suggestion on a separate issue – lunch. I have been in IRD but I have rarely been to lunch; the quality of food, service and environment is poor and in some ways degrading. The food is served in basement packed with hundreds of IRD staff, white plastic chairs and tables and flies. The food is poorly cooked; most often super greasy. It is only one course and one item.
Segregation of Afghans is unpleasant. Working for Afghans and segregation – a system based on phobia - doesn’t go hand in hand; this raises questions about motives of IRD management.
My suggestion is to mix Afghans and foreigners lunch. Obviously, that would mean foreigners would lose some privileges but that is for a good cause – improvement of afghans lunch. It won’t be possible to have lunch in one location so staff has to be divided between several buildings and food should be cooked in each building with different menu so people can have a choice.
Looking forward to changes,
Best,
Sanjar
---------------------
Frederick Chace IRD-SPR chief of party asked me to see him in his office at once. Nadir Abdullah, HR manager, and an IT officer were present too. Frederick Chace was very aggressive and rude; every other sentence contained the ‘F***’ word.
- ‘There is no difference between Afghans and expatriates in IRD. It is only in the narrow minds of people like you who make bigotry statements.’ Said Frederick.
- ‘what do you mean there is no difference? When I came to the gate of your building they wanted me to show my ID and they searched me thoroughly; when an expatiate is coming s/he is being escorted by a bodyguard and the door opens prior to his or her arrival. There is even special expatriate desk and there is afghan desk and it goes to many other little things. The system is through to segregate. This whole system of privileges places expatriate psychologically above equally qualified Afghan counterpart’ I said.
- ‘I was shot in my head by Taliban … but I came back… Expatriates leave everything they have and come to work in Afghanistan. They have a better life at home and they come to a very poor situation, this is not a privilege’ said chace. Frederick’s wife is the reporting manager while my departments’ manager appointed his wife as my direct supervisor. So they are not exactly leaving everything at home. Expatriates like Frederick are running IRD like their home.
- ‘Expatriates are paid several times more than equally qualified Afghans. In the last four months since I work in IRD I had no time off; my expatriate colleagues were paid at least two to three times for their holidays’ I said. here is IRD benefit package for expatriates http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=F.ab2b4c9a-5d29-4928-93ef-04886da60d2b . There are some 26 benefit packages; expatriates only receive 70% of their base salary in post differential and danger pay. The only thing I received as an Afghan was a salary and no paid leave let alone paying for holidays.
- ‘Expatriates have high expenses and they used to be paid better at home. Afghans are making 1000 – 1500 dollars a month. Nobody used to make this kind of money in this country… They don’t need that kind of money…’ said chace.
- ‘This is sick – Afghans don’t need money – this is the same thing told about the slaves – why do they need wages when they can have food and shelter. Everybody needs money but a sound social system allocates this scarce resource not based on our nationality and creed but by our excellence and hard work. Everybody should be paid based on their contribution and merits, not their nationality.’ I said.
- ‘expatriates are putting their lives at risk … and they are going to what is now home for some quite time and food… something narrow mind people don’t understand’
- ‘IRD only value the lives of expatriates, not Afghans. Foreigners are given half a dozen body guards and two armoured vehicles when travelling inside Kabul city and even more security when going to provinces. Afghans are constantly at risk. An Afghan colleague was made to resign because he had a family emergency and couldn’t travel to a province where he was provided no security. He was very concern about his safety and informed so his expatriate manager who asked him to resign if he is not prepared to go. When Afghans travel they take public transport. Yet, statistics shows Afghans are the victims than expatriates.’ I said. There have been at least three cases since I had worked in IRD where IRD staff or contractors were killed and they were all Afghans. In a couple of instances IRD-SPR concealed it from its funder USAID.
- ‘what statistics! I was shot in the head by Taliban… The person who you are talking about is an isolated case which I do not now about… IRD-SPR puts its staff, especially Afghans, safety at most importance.’ Said Frederick.

This conversation went on for an hour and then he told me he categorically can not accept such remarks and he has fired four employees before me for making such comments and he has to do the same with me. ‘I have to treat everybody the same’ he said. When I left his office with the IT and HR persons, both Afghans, were strangely quiet. Nadir walked around with his head hanging and said ‘I am sorry’. I said ‘don’t be. I don’t need this job; it is excruciating’. He said ‘not for that but for what he said and his attitude.’ But what can he do except being sorry along with thousands of other Afghans. They need their jobs and have to put up with people like Frederick.


I wonder if zero tolerance policy to suggestions about office lunch that challenges well trenched segregation policies could be considered discrimination.

hospitality

during a routine footpatrol a company of american troops reached an unknown Afghan village perceived hostile where they are taking position in preparation for possible attack. an Afghan man unaware of their frantic condition is bringing tea for a crouching troop while the other one in the background seems surprised.

Stop Human Rights Violators from becoming President

Hereby, we a number of victims of Daikundi province would like to draw your attention to the background and atrocities of a number of provincial council candidates in the province. The nomination of the people, who have committed and continue to commit heinous violations of human rights, to run for the provincial council elections is a matter of serious concern for the people of Daikundi, especially the victims of their crimes and atrocities.
Nomination of infamous and known human rights abusers, such as Arif Hussain Dawari and Anwar Moballigh is indeed a mockery of elections and democracy. This is equivalent to rewarding of criminals for their crimes. Just as examples, we would like to draw the attention of your respected Commission to the following:
1. Rape and forced marriage: Dawari has committed numerous rapes. The victims of his rape are known in every village. Some of them were killed or forced to leave the area. Victims have registered complaints with various authorities. Some of his rape cases have been documented by human rights organizations . He has forcibly married many wives, including Wolesi Jirga Member Sherin Moheseni who was wife of some body else.
2. Murder: Dawari has committed horrendous and brutal murders and assassinations. Currently there are around 30 murder cases against him filed with judicial and human rights agencies both in Daikundi province and in Kabul. The respectable IECC can request a copy of the cases from the department, should it deem necessary.
3. Drug business: Arif Dawari is the main person behind cultivation and trafficking of narcotics in Daikundi province. From 2001 to 2004 alone, he extorted three to four thousands ser (approximately 20,000 to 30,000 Kgs) of opium taxation from the people of Sharistan and Meramore. He used to force people to cultivate poppy and then levied tax more than the volume of their product.
4. Private jail: Scores of innocent people and his political rivals were kept and inhumanely tortured in Dawari’s private jails. Many died as a result of his cruel torture techniques. He is still running a private jail in a remote area between Sharistan and Gezan district.
5. Illegal armed group: Dawari does not only possess the largest arms depots in Daikundi but also runs the most organized and frightful illegal armed group . A number of his sub-commanders who are currently involved in intimidation of people are Gul Muhammad Azizi, Sayed Nazir, Reza Hekmatyar (Dawari’s nephew and a provincial council candidate), Ghulam Ali Mojahid, Habib Ghaf, Ahmadi (known as Ahmadi kar), Padshah Ghochan and Hussaini (known as balaaye kotut).
6. Kidnapping and torture: tens of people have so far been kidnapped and brutally tortured by Dawari and his men. Several cases and complaints have been filed and registered with relevant authorities since 2002.
7. Relationship with Taliban: before the collapse of Taliban, Dawari was a commander and agent of the group in the area. He continued to maintain his links with the group after their fall. Their interactions have included narco-traficking and transiting and arms smuggling. Dawari has personally met with Taliban commanders several times in 2007 and 2008. He also had met two famous and senior Taliban commanders, namely Mullah Dadullah and Mullah Fayzullah in November 2006. The meeting was facilitated and arranged by a person named Sayed Sufi Gardezi. Dawari has also repeatedly met Taliban commander Mullah Salaam over the last two years.
8. Money Laundering: the fortune that he has made through illegal means have largely been transferred through hawala system and invested in the U.A.E and Iran.
Anwar Muballigh is also implicated in the same crimes and violations and continues to do so. He has committed a number of horrific crimes such as murders, illegal taxation on lands, illegal taxation per head, kidnappings, forced recruitment of soldiers, running of illegal armed group, extortion and intimidation of people through his armed men, robbery, forced marriage and illegal detentions.
We are confident that United Nations, including Human Rights Unit of UNAMA, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and other human rights organizations have enough data and information regarding violations committed by Dawari and Muballigh. Their participation in the political process will further disappoint people. It will give similar criminals and abusers further courage and assurance of impunity.
Arif Dawari and Anwar Muballigh are ringleaders of two human rights violator’s gangs in Daikundi. They want to misuse civil institutions and public offices as a safe ground for their criminal activities. Disqualifying these two criminals and their gang members are the minimum demand of their victims for the interest of peace and justice.
Dawari has also nominated his sister (Rashida Shahidi) and his nephew (Reza Hekmatyar) who has also served as one of his sub-commanders. Dawari intends to use them and their post as a shield for expansion and furtherance of his illegal activities. Reza Hekmatyar is an accomplice in all Dawari’s crimes. Rashida Shahidi is intended to be put in the provincial council position to serve as a cover for his inhumane and criminal actions, as he has skillfully done with his wife Sherin Mohseni as a member of Wolesi Jirga.
Regrettably, UNAMA allowed Dawari in the last Parliamentary Elections to get his wife (whom Dawari had forcefully married) to the Parliament through intimidation and vote-buying. The woman was later widely misused by Dawari as a political cover for his criminal and inhumane activities. Using his wife, Dawari even managed to secure himself an official government position as head of National Security Directorate in Sharistan district in January 2009. However, he was removed from the position in less than one month due to the objection and protest of people. Using his wife, he has however continued to interfere in the affair of the province and is even flying on MoD helicopters to and from Daikundi! By this action, he is further intimidating his victims by demonstrating the government as a protector of his criminal activities.
We demand the disqualification of Dawari, Muballigh, Reza Hekmatyar and Rashida Shahidi and removal of their names from the list of provincial council candidates. Re-empowerment of these criminal gangs will dash all hopes of victims for peace and democracy. We have lost many beloved ones and we have experienced various atrocities. We do not want to dwell on the bitter past; rather we look for the future. Re-empowerment of these individual will destroy our future also and will turn it into a sad and dark destiny. Our past has been destroyed, please do not let them destroy our future too. Please listen to our voice! We all cry:

difference between an ‘Afghan’ and a ‘Pessimist Afghan’

Meant to write lately but whatever I tell lately is about how things are not fun. sooo done telling pessimist stories; so I thought maybe I should tell you this. Here is a joke.
Can you tell the difference between an ‘Afghan’ and a ‘Pessimist Afghan’?
The later would respond to a joke by ‘damn it, so unfair. Can you believe that?’ The later would say; ‘that is funny. Tell me another one’.
I met a man earlier who is about to marry a relative of mine. The so called bride is usually nervous and wants to make a good impression on relatives of his future wife. Nervous I hate; mmm, Hate is rather strong but more like don’t keep on speed-dial. It put me at unease; I just can’t stand the view of somebody who is ruining his moment and not enjoying the company. i went to an easy mood and attempted to be not only funny but acrobatic funny. Something I had learned from a good friend; ‘people would like and feel at ease if you act as a clown’ she said. i suppose she is particularly right about nervous wankers and pessimists. Whatever I said he was damning it.
I said ‘man, sure is many dogs in this neighbourhood’.
Looking at the floor or out the window he responded ‘damn right. They are certainly a nuisance’.
That didn’t go well. I recognised if we talk about something he felt positive about then he would be less nervous. Searching among the limited topics you could talk about with a stranger.
‘the weather is certainly rainy these days’ I said.
‘can you believe that. Things are just not right’. He said.
I was getting desperate. I thought of jokes. So I told him one.
‘A man had two goldfish, he named one of them "One" and the other "Two". he did this because… if one died, he'd still have two’.
His mouth started to spread toward his ears but he held his grin ‘damn it, so unfair. Can you believe that’.
Later the relative asked me what I thought of him. I said:
‘he is a perpetual pessimist who will only tire you out.’
She asked ‘what do you mean?’
I said ‘well, he is a pessimist. He doesn’t see the bright side of things. Life is gloomy and doomy for him.’
She looked rather confused and shoke her head ‘but who doesn’t’. she is right because she is surrounded by pessimists.
‘Most of the people on the planet’. I said.
She didn’t seem sure. ‘Like who?’.
In an attempt to show my confidence ‘all the good writers’.
She exclaimed ‘really’.
I took her to my books and I showed her my favourites. She picked, the brothers Karamazov, dostoyevsky’s master piece. ‘But it’s brutal murder and violent love. Its gloomy; it portrays a potential of criminality in all of us.’ She said.
‘ok, maybe not this one’. I said. then I give her ‘The sound and the Fury’ by William Faulkner.
‘a story of self destruction seeded in love . how crap is that? …’ she said.
I soon give up. ‘This is not what I thought it should be. But there is a lot of good stuff within’ I said.
A bit disappointed ‘really’ she said.
‘How about a joke?’ I said.
‘go on’ she said. …….. ‘that is funny. Tell me another one’ she said.

Afghan reconstruction or Darwinian experiment

The spirit of Charles Darwin has been an inspiration for me; I hold maximum respect for his scientific achievements and social courage. How many people are going to come out today in any society and who could say something so radical as Darwin did; many, that is right. Many people would do that; because we as the human species, in Darwin words, have become so negative and pessimistic that we would challenge anything and everything. But here is the thing, who would stick to their word and fight for what they stand for. Very few people and they will back down when pressured.
Darwin was about experimenting and evolving and I think we need to learn from him at this critical point in Afghan history. I was just reading an audit on the over US$ 8 billion USAID has spent in Afghanistan and there is so much; this came to my attention after I tried to figure out what the fuss was about. Some were so angry as though the whole amount had come from their pocket. Even if they are taxpayers they put the trust in to a system and shouldn’t lose faith so quickly. For the sake of keeping ourselves and the society sane and in maintaining the Darwinian spirit of experimentalism. Afghanistan is an experiment. Six audits of the U.S. Agency for International Development's multibillion-dollar Afghanistan reconstruction effort found only one program working largely as it was supposed to. Nobody knew if it was going to work, it is mere chance. Afghanistan is uncertain and mysterious as human nature was during Darwin period; the only way to find out is through experiment. A US$ 219 contract to improve government institutions produced a lack of evidence of results after the agency and the contractor spend an inordinate amount of time attempting to define the program’s activities and priorities.
Another $102 million contract to promote agriculture led to defective buildings, the spraying of pesticides without studying their impact and the failure to implement a major commercial farm program. Isn’t that experiment?
i asked three different people what they thought about the outcomes of USAID audits; an Afghan, an American and a USAID employee. It might sound like a job but it is not. The Afghan said ‘USAID is just a front for the CIA and has been for 30 years in Afghanistan. So all that money went nowhere except in to the hands of people that don't have to account for it like Dick Cheney. The warlords, Taliban and other criminal allies of Americans.’
The American who lives in America said ‘Contractors get millions trying to convert a bunch of 12th century, poppy growing, mysoginists who don't want to have anything to do with Western culture except the money derived from its taste for Heroin addiction.’
And the aid worker was not certain and hesitantly said ‘money spent in Afghanistan since 2002 has produced "remarkably powerful impacts," in health, education, agriculture and other sectors.’
I am not worried at all about the money but rather the attitude it produces among peoples, ghettoising minds and communities.
I think people need to calm down and get on with their lives. So we can take all the suspicion, stubbornness and anger away from Afghan issues; which is the key for the evolution of Afghanistan in to a stable place.

bringing taliban onboard

Obama declared in an interview that the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/us/politics/08obama.html?scp=5&sq=taliban&st=cse

The Afghan government has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people. corruption, lack of administrative capacity and bad leadership has resulted in fading away whatever trust existed in the first place. the government and US is losing because they don't have the public on their side, not because there is a strong pro taliban Pakistan infiltrating into Afghanistan, or local taliban are gaining momentum in the south. for policy makers it is very important to know that afghans don't like taliban and don't want to see them return, the majority. Afghans don't want Taliban. what about under current circumstances; do Afghans want the Taliban to return because the government is failing and it is the only way to stop bloodshed. i don't know the answer to that but if Obama says 'YES' then there are two points to ponder about. first, it is admitting that Taliban can do a better job than americans and Afghan government. second, a shameful set back to democracy. Iraq is what it is but Afghanistan is winnable and it shouldn't be lost. this war is no longer fought to make the western world safe from terrorism, it is a war for realising democratic values. democracy set back in afghanistan would hinder any future intervention in any sort of tyranny because the west will lose moral grounds.

Plight of an Afghan Christian

Many people in Afghanistan have turned to the faith of Jesus Christ in recent years. A few of them have done so openly, though most have kept their conversion secret. The new converts have either been influenced by travelling and settling in Christian countries of the west or by the audacity of Christian missionaries who have travelled to Afghanistan.
The converts number in thousands and congregate in secret churches in Afghanistan or in the blossoming Afghan church which has been set up in England. They all decided to turn away from the faith of their ancestors – some in search of food; others in search of a better world and yet others in pursuit of a better faith. Accepting never-ending fear of rejection and animosity as a consequence of conversion, they have been born again in the Christian faith.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/mar/05/afghanistan-christianity?commentpage=2&commentposted=1

shamsi made a choice which has put him in danger if he return to afghanistan. thousands other had fled from fighting in southern and eastern afghanistan, something they didn't choose to have nor they had any control over. hundreds if not thousands of afghans are inside afghanistan trying to fight and improve corrupt state and impaired cultural values. they are being persecuted for their political beleives on daily basis. the choice they make are for greater good than the choice shamsi had made yet many have been refused asylum in the UK. it is hard to distinguish between genuin refugees and economic immigrant at this age. UK can't accomodate everyone fleeing their country under different names. UNDP human development index shows that some over 85% of young afghans want to immigrate to the west because they see a better life for themselves there. but they need to stay and fix thier own country.as for shamsi he opted out of his ancestor religion because he found a better one. if he really likes the new one then he better move on and enjoy christianity.there is enough problem in afghanistan, and UK too, created by religion we don't need another one added by Shamsi. religion has no answer to the problem of humanity. there is a similarity between shamsi and a suicide bomber and a difference too. they both get themselves killed, that is if shamsi was in afghanistan. there is one difference too. a suicide bomber deceives himself into 72 virgins and heaven; Shamsi deceives others with his asylum claims.
as for Mr. Reza who is allegedly a journalist. please improve your journalistic skills.'Many people in Afghanistan have turned to the faith of Jesus Christ in recent years. A few of them have done so openly, though most have kept their conversion secret.'
how do you know that. there is a lot of information packed in the first sentence without any proof. what is your source. perhaps you should consider adding i think....to the begining of each sentence but that again is bad journalism.
'The new converts .... or by the audacity of Christian missionaries who have travelled to Afghanistan.'a less loaded sentence would be ' or by what they see as audacity of chritian missionaries who have travelled to Afghanistan'. but there is a problem wtih that sentence too. it is not true. what audacity are you talking about. i was investigating the missionaries and i was recommended to several misssionary organisation but all refused that they have any christian motives.

Despotism over Liberty, even the choice of successful Afghans

I am bugged by the thought of why is it that ‘modern Afghans’ are not backing the government and international community whose values of government system has made it possible for them to tremendously improve their life in comparison to Their situation under the Taliban.

I have come to realise that bright Afghans who do not have a social mind set orbiting solely around religion, with an interest of individual nature and hobbies are against democratic values. They do not possess any prerequisites for radicalisation such as social isolation, political grievances affecting their daily life, marginalisation, oppression and the rest of it. They are quite happy and not religious. They have an open mind about alcohol and sex as part of routine lifestyle, they know places in Kabul where they can purchase and drink. This group of Afghans I call the modern Afghan. This group theoretically should make up the core of Karzai government supporters. This is exactly the key allies that the international community and Nato should have on their side. If they are not on their side, then who is? I am wondering, why they are not, while stuck in this traffic jam. This group has much in common with the ordinary man of the west: a shared lifestyle, putting family first, secular views of daily life, sought education and career dedicated. But they differ in what is known as morality and political views.  Ordinary man of the west, I consider those who are not partisan political such as members of religious, ultra right or left wing groups. The man who is family dedicated and seeks happiness for the loved ones. The ordinary man of the west, by and large, condemns violence against the innocents while the modern Afghan man condones terror and civilian targeting as a way of addressing the grievances of the group which, he considers, had been marginalised and betrayed. The ordinary man of the west sees terror as a serious threat to their safety, while the modern Afghan sees it as a part of life in what he can’t have a say.

Modern Afghan’s silence against ‘the evils’ has got to do with his inability to bond with the values of democracy, the current socio-political trend promoted by international community and Afghan government. The modern Afghan man is the closest Afghan replica, similar to the moralisation of democratic values by the ordinary western man. On the other hand and generally speaking, the modern Afghan man has political views and morality codes which do not go with his lifestyle. The modern Afghan condemned the Danish Cartoons and rallied to take action against Denmark. They launched a campaign which boycotted Danish products. The modern Afghan is anti-Semitic in what they see jews as human elements of Israeli state. Unaware of the fact that not all Israelis are Jews and there are Jews outside Israel too. An international colleague with last names as Sigal, Izaaks,  Hickman or Sichel;  are seen as another foreigner. The modern Afghan has not been disgusted by the action of Taliban rather they have become more sympathetic. Almost half of the modern Afghans I know have been involved in numerous incidents where they were close to be hurt. The target was some foreigners or government installation but the pedestrians took the toll; people going about their lives on the street. Witnessing this didn’t change their mind about Taliban tactics. The modern Afghan do not necessarily support Taliban but it is that they have a fluctuating ground in relation to what is happening around them on daily basis. They see that the dead pedestrians could be them and that Taliban puts their life in grieve danger but it is something behind their action.

Among the modern Afghan is Elias. A successful entrepreneur owning some several radio stations and other businesses. The radio station he owns is nothing less than a historical phenomena. The international intervention and the creation of a democratic space has made it possible for citizens to own media outlets; radio has always been a state monopoly. The radio stations are sustained by the market forces and development fundings available from international sources. Yet, Elias lacks any commitment to the current regime or the values of the system which has made it possible to own and profit from the radio stations. Elias has lived under the Taliban and he knows they wouldn’t even let him express his views about the dress he wears or his beard and hair let alone critic the social order.

Do you think Taliban would let you conduct your life, business and employment the way you do?

‘Current social is created under the influence of westerners. It is not the only and it is not the ideal. Things in Afghanistan changes fast, you won’t have a chance to reflect on what is happening and where I fit. To survive you need to punch forward. If there was no international aid, consequently my business, then I would be free to grow drug. Why do they whinge when I make money the way I do.’ said Elias.

Elias like many modern Afghans I know argue that democratic principles are riddled with double standards and contradiction. Modern Afghan grievances are based on what they see as democracies ineligibility to the moral authority. They say: what about Guantinimo, what about treatment of minorities in the ‘free world’, what about corruption in western politics. Muslims lack a sense of self criticism to enable them compare Islamic morality with democracy. Islamic morality is blazingly clear but its impairment is not questionable even by the modern Afghan. There is an urge for clarity. We should respond to the criticism of free world morality. I think there are three things here: the treatment of own citizens and the free world is doing very good. Secondly, respect to international law. Again the free world is doing good except the US under Bush administration and finally what the free world does to realise its own morality in places like Afghanistan and it is horrific. The free world is not only helping but has financed genocide. if we are talking politics that was then and now is now. The slightest believe in Islam does not distinct between personal and politics, making western support for previous wars a personal matter. We have been through enough crises to understand that decisions are not based on principles but political realities and human’s realistic ability as oppose to our wishful thinking. Elias seems to have been for most of his life at the betrayed end of hypocrisy culmination and he has experienced a larger share than ordinary man. Contradiction in the principles of democracy has made Elias highly suspicious of the values and principles of democracy. For instance, freedom of expression as a value and objectivity as a core principle of it, is viewed as a mirage. Elias is correct in saying that no outlet is objective and they have their own angle into the issues; but he doesn’t recognise how distorted their interpretation of the truth is. BBC has an angle but the angle Aljazeera or Taliban media or Iran state media has, lies some 180 degrees away from the truth. In the mid90s when Taliban were battling the northern alliance in the north of Kabul after capturing Kabul. Iranian Sada Wa Sima radio was reporting that Taliban has launched a massive attack on Kabul. This is why BBC has a reputation in Afghanistan for providing objective news and information. Truth doesn’t always matter; we as humans are fallible and for a believer in human fallibility truth doesn’t exist. The larger and the further the object of truth is from us, we’ll have more autonomy in selecting what truth is which basically means the angle we view it.  if battle is raging at the gates of Kabul; a Kabuli wants to know the progress; it is a truth. I could be heard and felt. But some Taliban pocket of resistance in Kandahar some 500KM away can’t be felt but realised through anecdotes. That is why Aljazeera make perfect sense for millions of Afghans and other Muslims as well as non muslims as long as ones world view is compatible with it. once a modern Afghan starts to take Aljazeera as an outlook to the truth it means changes to certain aspect of his world has happened.   

The notional objectiveness does not exist but do you see some are more objective than others?

‘There are international treaties and conventions. The western world has always violated these documents when it comes across their interest. The west has created an unfair world where everybody fights for survival, the weak has no choice of winning but to create a different perspective. If you are on the weak side it is as more objective than the western aspect.’  Said Elias.

Elias believes that Hamas and Taliban actions or other militant groups are justified because they are denied justice and have been shoved to margins of opportunity. They have no choice but to resort to cruelty. This is while Elias’s business partner Zameer has arrived at the conclusion that reconstruction projects are a waste of money instead the international community should have supported businesses. This view is generally shared by other business pioneers too. The basic of economics is: fixed exchange rates which will keep the goods circulate in the free market by keeping the price down is good for the national growth. Such a business oriented approach to development is assuming that Afghans would shoulder a bigger portion of responsibility instead of foreigners building stuff for them.  Elias believes that those under tremendous stress can’t be judged by the same token as those living the good life often at their expense. I asked him if people are not to bear  responsibility for their action disregarding their situation then why does he run a radio station, the basic notion of which is empowering people and providing a voice for the marginalised so grievances could be addressed and alternatives to the vicious circle of poverty could be found? 

‘America has an obligation to Afghanistan. they can’t go around and destroy countries and leave them on their own. They can but they will taste the consequences as they did on 9/11. The west bombs, kills and destroys but when we demand justice we are told that is against human rights and when we take matters in our hands, we are called terrorists.’ Answered Elias.