Home » Diary from Kabul, the Kalashnikovs remain outside the door

Diary from Kabul, the Kalashnikovs remain outside the door

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The number of patients assisted is slowly returning to usual levels, especially that of children with cerebral palsy or congenital problems. They make up over a third of new admissions, so many and demanding that they require a special department. The Taliban-disabled are now regular. They arrive in a group, leaving the machine guns obedient outside the door (we have a box with a lock to keep them, but it would become an arsenal). They accept the hospital rules, they don’t make a fuss. Even without weapons, they retain a threatening aspect, but not for long, smoothed out by being among so many similar.

Taliban leaders have known the Red Cross, some for over twenty years; as soon as we got into Kabul they urged us to continue the work, ensuring the safety of the staff. But I have serious doubts that the new recruits are as well informed. Our symbol being a cross alarms them. In Europe no one associates the red cross with religion, here it is different. This is not new. I will never forget the problems I had with Mawlawi Enayatullah, a very zealous member of the religious police during the previous Taliban regime.

Diary from Kabul, all those doubts about the future of the school

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He came stern to check that men had regulatory beards and no contact with female staff or patients. But it was the cross that gnawed at him. Impossible to make him understand. He asked to remove it, even from the cars. Once we did, immediately reprimanded at checkpoints. “Who are you?” Asked the Taliban there. “The Red Cross”. “And the cross? Put it back on.” A comedy.

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One day Enayatullah came more mischievous than ever. I had an Italian weekly on my desk. Shooting with the solfa of the cross. I protested: “It means medicine, aid, solidarity.” No way. Almost defeated, a photograph from the magazine came to my aid. It depicted a dog for the blind on whose side a very red cross stood out. “It is not a religious symbol, look, would we put it on dogs otherwise?”, I asked, knowing that dogs are considered impure animals here.

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He grabbed the magazine in shock, holding his breath (thankfully he didn’t look at the cover photo, a soubrette in casual clothes). For a while he left us alone. I believe that many of the new Taliban will need to explain who we are and our principles. Colleagues in the dedicated department will have a lot to do, I predict.

The Taliban respect the hospital rules, I said. All but one: very few wear anti-Covid masks. They don’t seem to understand its usefulness. Are they deniers? No-vax?

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