Moving Afghanistan from opium to other crops
Part I: Getting to Faizabad
By Bob Resseguie
Rwrret@aol.com

Goats and donkeys rule the traffic in and out of Faizabad.

Editor's note: Bob Resseguie recently moved from Columbia to Oswego, N.Y., his hometown. He has retired three times from the U.S. Agency for International Development but keeps being called back to work on temporary projects in "hot" areas of the world. Resseguie is now working on a project in Afghanistan for which the goal is to move the farmers away from opium poppies to other crops.

The first problem with the trip over here was just getting to and out of the airport in Syracuse, N.Y. And even though the snowfall was bad that day, Oswego received close to record snowfall over the next week and more. So I left just in time, unfortunately, leaving my wife and dog to deal with the winter weather.

Kabul was having decent weather, in the 30s and 40s, but the predictions were for more snow, which hampers flights in and out. So we decided to make the two- day drive to Badakhshan, through the Salang Pass and around the northern edge of the Hindu Kush.

Going through the pass required snow chains on the tires, dealing with hundreds of trucks, mostly overloaded and slow, and a couple dozen tunnels, one of which is about two miles long. If one had a flat tire in this non- ventilated tunnel, they would probably be asphyxiated before getting the lug nuts off the tire.

Coming off the pass, it's like going into a whole different climate zone - warmer weather, fertile valleys, and lots of agricultural activity along the road. We spent the night in a German guest house in Kunduz and then continued on to Faizabad. It took almost eight hours to cover the less than 200 kilometers due to the poor road, washed out areas, and curvy, hilly passes. Not the kind of road one wants to travel very often.

Faizabad, the capital city of Badakhshan province, has an estimated 50,000 residents, although it doesn't seem that large. There are no paved roads in the town, most of the shops are open to the street, the meat still hangs in the open air, and donkeys and goats define the speed of traffic in town.

It is an old city, even the new part seems quite old, but I am not sure yet just how old. Sewage disposal is not a high priority. Electricity is available just a few hours a day and not in all sections of town. We use generators for our house and office. Water is generally from public taps or from the river. We have piped water in our house and office, but it is not potable.

The people here are quite friendly, though not much English is spoken. There is one technical school and a couple of private schools that teach English and computer skills. Probably 50% of our local staff are from other provinces as it is difficult to find qualified staff from the local area. There are also a number of international donor organizations (NGO's), the UN, and others that have offices here and compete for staff.

Our project has four guest houses, two for Afghan staff not from this area, and two for expatriate staff, of which there are 10 full- time and a couple that come in and out. We have Afghan cooks in the two expatriate houses, and they are very good. Recently, we have had pizza, lasagna, baked chicken, stews, all kinds of veggies, hamburgers, cheesecake, and apple cobbler. Lunch is taken at the office in a communal dining room, and usually consists of lentil and chickpea soup, and rice with some veggie and a small bit of lamb. The large pieces of nan bread come with every meal. For breakfast we have cereal, bread, juice, oranges, and coffee/tea. Eggs can also be had if one wants. So we are not exactly suffering for lack of nourishment.

There is also cable TV with about 800 channels and good Internet access off the satellite overhead. So life in Faizabad thus far is pretty good.

(To be continued)