It’s been a long 2 1/2 months. People in Kabul have been in a state of total limbo, confusion and fear – and this has included our staff and our partner organization, HEWAD. As much as we wanted them to get out on the streets to give aid to people, and also restart the Garden of Flowers, we had to remain patient and supportive in the face of the facts:
The Taliban government is a government in name only. It is essentially non-functional, yet all-powerful. Everyone has been afraid to do anything without their approval – and yet there is no one to approve anything! Our staff has gone to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs multiple times in order to restart the Garden of Flowers, but no one is in charge, and there is no one to sign any letters of permission to re-open.
This puts our staff in a tricky position. It feels like it doesn’t matter, if no one is there to sign anything. But if someone in power suddenly didn’t like what was happening, the staff could be at high risk of something (although even what that ‘something’ might be is unsure.
There has yet to be any definitive statement of the rules regarding men and women working in the same workplace, or even of women working at all.
However, things cannot stay static forever. Movement is inevitable. And from what we understand, people in the society are starting to brave the situation. Women going to work, riding buses, shopping. And it seems that there has not been backlash. This has emboldened others, and now our staff too is ready! They have tried multiple times to get official permission for their work, but are now ready to just start on their own. In light of any government, perhaps people will create their own!
Happily, that means that the staff of the Garden of Flowers are working with HEWAD to search for a new house for the school to reopen. Just the other day, Razia got a phone call from one of the families from the school, asking when they are reopening, saying they are waiting for them!! And Razia even spoke to little Andisha, who is so eager to see her teachers again.
So, the staff is committed to reopening as soon as possible, hopefully in the first week of November! The children await!