Photographer gets glimpse of Afghan life

BY STACY L. NEITZEL
Glasgow Times Staff Writer

“It’s like going back in time. Everything is so primitive,” said Cathy Clarke, a photographer for The Knoxville

News-Sentinel and former Glasgow Daily Times employee who recently returned from a 10 day trip to Afghanistan.

Clarke and a fellow News-Sentinel reporter traveled to the war ravaged country of Afghanistan last month to cover the

U.S. Army’s 489th Civil Affairs Unit based out of Knoxville.

Without modern amenities such as running water or a raw sewage treatment system, phone lines, or even access to mail, the two were astounded by the sheer and widespread poverty.

The photographer/reporter team stayed with a group of about a dozen American soldiers, documenting the lives of the inhabitants of the cities of Kabul and Bagram and retiring to their own “tent cities” at nightfall.

With the aid of a translator, Clarke interacted with the Afghan people and caught a first hand glimpse of their struggle to rebuild their country without the influence of the oppressive Taliban regime.

“What struck me the most was their unbreakable and indomitable spirit,” said Clarke of the Afghan people. “They’ve been at war now for over 20 years,” she said, describing a country in ruins with no roads and buildings left in shambles from recent bombings.

And yet, “They are a very proud people who love their country. They are so happy to have their freedom back and are of the Americans,” she said, adding that they often followed the American soldiers shouting joyously and signs of approval such as thumbs up.

“They are a very gracious and friendly people,” said Clarke, who learned Afghan customs of greeting during her short stay. All formal greetings and introductions include bowing the head and placing a hand across the heart region of the while speaking the Islamic word for hello, salaam. It is also customary for guests visiting an Afghan home to accept a cup of green tea and sit and talk a while before conducting any type of business, Clarke explained.

The veteran photographer and Barren County native photographed children gathering for school; many crowded around the teacher and sat crossed-legged in the dirt or perched on a rock. “Those children don’t have desks or books,” said Clarke, “but they are so eager to learn.”

Some of the photographs focused on the girls who, only after U.S. intervention and the overthrow of the Taliban, have been allowed to return to school after five years. She spoke with young girls and teachers who admitted to meeting secretly in homes while under Taliban rule and studying their lessons, knowing that they were risking public execution if caught.

“The little girls just choke you up. They are very shy, but they are such an inspiration,” said Clarke.

Another teacher she interviewed said she had not been paid for her services in months. When asked why she continued she simply replied, “If I don’t teach them then who will?”

“Many of the children are very business savvy and begin hustling around eight-or nine-years-old,” said Clarke, who said they try to sell various trinkets and services for money. “They start to work early,” she said, hoping to bring in a meager income to help their families. “They are hard-working people who want to be productive,” she said, but added, “women still have a long way to go.”

In a society of arranged marriages and where women can’t show their faces in public, change is slow to come. Little girls can run and play freely, said Clarke. But when they hit puberty or turn about 15 their lives change forever. “Once you put on that burka, it’s like you vanish,” said Clarke, explaining that after the onset of puberty all Afghan girls are required to wear one.

Clarke and The News-Sentinel reporter visited a hospital in Kabul where diseases such as Typhoid, that have long since been eliminated in the U.S. through vaccinations, remain a deadly force in the primitive region. The hospital was clean tidy, acknowledges Clark, but it was small and ill-equipped and severely understaffed to handle the mass of ailing and dying patients who often shared a single room.

“Their spirit really affected me,” said Clarke, who said she was profoundly moved by her trip to Afghanistan. “I talked to refugees who were so grateful for a second chance at freedom. And you see the Afghan children and you think about your life back home. You think about all the excess here,” said Clarke, but these people struggle and long for the simple things in life like food, water and shelter and a chance to receive an education.

“I would go back tomorrow if I could,” Clarke lamented. “There is so much to be done and you want to help. I hoped that my pictures could help in some small way,” she said, adding, “I feel so blessed to be able to have that experience.”

(Reprinted with permission.)