Pictures From Northern Kapisa

While we spent a great deal of time in the Tag Ab Valley, we also worked with the ANP in northern Kapisa Province. On our trips into the northern districts, I took some pictures of the much more peaceful and orderly life there.



On this mission, we went up the eastern boundary of Kapisa, the "back door" into Koh Band.





Heading north from Kohistan into Koh Band through the back door, a quiet village comes into view.





A lovely little villa in northern Kapisa.





Drying laundry in the sun in northern Kapisa. Who needs a Maytag?





This young man just realized that his future as the village Maytag Repairman is bleak.





The Taliban sabotaged my lens cover. It's still beautiful.





A man washes his feet in an irrigation canal in northern Kapisa as our convoy passes.




A shop in the bazaar in Koh Band.





This tiny shopkeeper is the toughest businessman in Kapisa.





Afghan Stop 'N Go.




Koh Band District was nearing completion of the new District Center.




A humanitarian aid (HA) drop at a boy's school in Koh Band.




Afghan taxi. Are those ski racks?





Eddie Murphy's character from Shrek made an appearance and was quickly put to use.





A home in the shadow of the mountain.





A burqa-clad Afghan mother and her daughter stroll home from the bazaar in Koh Band.





Sheep grazing in Koh Band District.







Two shots of mountains in Koh Band District.





Koh Band District, Kapisa Province, Afghanistan


The northern districts of Kapisa Province are a model of what could happen in all of Afghanistan. The Taliban are not welcome here. Local tribal leaders and ANP leadership work hand-in-hand to govern the area, using traditional village leadership methods like Jirga's to dispense justice on village-level issues, much like a Mayor's Court in a village in the United States. The ANP are respected here.

Children go to school, farmers farm, shopkeepers do business in a busy and peaceful bazaar. While the districts are not technologically advanced, there is a fertile atmosphere for growth. The Afghan government is able to begin to deliver basic government services. It's not Utopia, but it is peaceful. This is what Afghanistan can be in the short term, establishing a framework for what Afghanistan can be in the future.