Women voting in Afghanistan

Afghanistan ang punta ko, eleksyon, ika-9 ng Oktubre, 2004.

Sa Kabul city ako mismo nadestino. Ito anya ang pinaka delikadong area
sa lahat ng deployment.

Sa mga araw papalapit ng eleksyon sa Afghanistan, marami ang
nagsasabing puputulan daw ng kamay ang babaeng boboto at hindi
mananatili sa bahay. Ang mga lalaking papayagan lumabas ng bahay
ang asawa, kapatid, nanay o anak ay puputulan din ng kamay. Marami
ang ayaw sa ink na "indelible", preferring the ink na "invisible" (tulad ng
ginamit sa East Timor). Dahil sa sandaling magmarka ito sa kamay nila,
malalamang bumoto sila.
Sino ang nagpalaganap ng ganitong mga pananakot? Ang lihim na mga
ahente ng Taliban. Ang Taliban ay ang Muslim fundamentalist faction na
tumuntong sa kapangyarihan sa bansa noong 1990s sa gitna ng mga
panggigyera ng mga warlords sa isa't isa. Biglang bigla, dumating ang
mga Amerikano(2001) at pinatalsik sila sa poder. Hindi ito
nangangahulugang wala na sila sa buhay ng mga Afghani. Lalong lalo na
sa buhay ng mga kababaihan.
Kahit na ayaw ng mga mamamayang Afghan sa Taliban, ang pananaw
nila sa papel ng kababaihan sa lipunan ay pareho naman (strangely) sa
paniniwala ng mga ito. Kaya hanggang ngayon, despite repealing all
laws barring women from public life, halos laganap pa rin ang bondage.
Ang dami pa ding naka-burkah, ang dami pa din naka arranged
marriage na mga babaeng teenagers sa matatandang lalaki (yuuk), at
kulang na kulang pa din ang mga duktor, nars, teacher, at professionals
na pumapasok sa trabaho sa araw araw.
Needless to say, hindi rin kami makalabas sa guest house na walang
kasamang lalaki, kahit bibili lang ng toothpaste sa tindahan sa kanto.
Isang babaeng election observer, lumabas na walang veil, dinakma sa
pwet. At kahit me kasamang isa pang babae, ay inikutan pa rin ng
bastos na lalake, dahil pumunta sa palengke ng gabi (as in 7:00 pm lang
yun).
Kaya malakas ang apprehension namin sa papalapit na eleksyon day. Sa
Kunduz province, may underground radio station na pinatatakbo ng
kababaihan, nanawagan sa mga botante na magsuot ng burkah at
lumabas para bumoto ("hwag matakot"). Pero hanga kami sa sinasabi
ng ilan sa kanila: kung tutoong me nangyari sa "disarmament program"
ng gobyerno (pag-surrender ng mga armas ng mga warlords), e ba't
andami pa ring gumagawa ng ganitong mga pananakot? At bakit dinig
pa rin ang putukan sa labas ng syudad? Nag-iisip ang kababaihan ng
Afghanistan, kelangan lang silang pakinggan.
Dumating ang election day. Ang dami pong naglabasan na kababaihang
naka burkah, at nakasuot pa ng kanilang "sunday best", pati alahas--
kumpleto. Halos lahat ng polling stations na pinuntahan namin ay may
kababaihang nakapila para bumoto, kahit na ilublob ang daliri nila sa ink
(na hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin nabubura sa daliri ko-- nagtest ako
kung nabubura) at makita sa village nilang bumoto sila.
They claimed this day for themselves too, and we felt very proud.
Babaeng observers lang ang pwede mag-observe sa female polling
stations. Sa mga lalaking polling centers pumunta ang mga kasamahan
naming kalalakihan. Mas marami ang mga botanteng lalaki syempre,
pero hindi 'absent' ang kababaihan. Sabi ng Minister for Women, kung
makaboto ang 45% ng kababaihan, success na yon sa kanila. Palagay ko
naabot naman iyon at ika nga "not bad for a first time".
Matapos ang election day ay nagpa shedule ako ng meeting with the
NGOs para sa organization ko na gustong mag establish ng links sa
bansa. Aba at ang nagsidating, guess who? Mga kababaihan. Tanong
ko "nasaan ang mga lalaki sa NGOs? Palagay ko bumuhos ang funding
sa women's NGOs at ang dami nilang sabay-sabay nag-organisa.
Palagay ko din minsan lang magkasama-sama sa isang meeting ang
mga ito-- ang iingaaay, pero ang sasaya: they did not follow the
agenda, and they talked all at the same time-- tapos ang kwento tungkol
sa pamilya kahalo sa kwento tungkol sa trabaho.
Hindi pa ako tapos mag-explain tungkol sa trabaho ng Forum Asia
tungkol sa human rights e sunod-sunod na ang tanong. Napaka-aktibo at
eager na eager na silang kumilos. Nakakapanindig balahibo ang kanilang
enthusiasm.
Sana magbunga ng maganda ang ginawa nilang sakripisyo sa botohang
ito. Sana makinabang sila mula sa gobyernong iluluklok nila sa bansa,
imbes na mapahamak dahil dito.
Hanggang ngayon nag-aabang pa rin ako ng balita kung may nasaktan
dahil sa kanilang pagboto. Sa kabutihang palad ay wala naman. Sabi ng
ilan, malamang ito'y dahil protektado ng lalaking member of the family
ang kababaihang pinayagan nilang bumoto, so napaka importante sa
bansang ito ang role ng kalalakihan para iangat ang estado ng
kababaihan sa pamilya nila at sa komunidad. On the other hand nasa
interes ni Presidential candidate-favorite Karzai na ingatan ang boto ng
kababaihan.
May tinanong kaming botante, nang iangat niya ang kanyang burkah
para pumirma sa ballot registry: hindi ka ba natatakot? Ang sagot niya:
basta nakabantay kayo (ang international community), hindi kami
matatakot.
Nakakataba ng puso, pero napakalaking responsibilidad.

Why Afghanistan?

14 September2004

Going to the Philippine Embassy tomorrow. The Consul wants to see me before giving the endorsement letter needed by the Pakistani Embassy to allow me a visa. They would probably ask first "why Afghanistan?"
And in a very professional manner I would answer "because nobody is giving a SHIT about that country going to the dogs, and in the midst of all the madness of the global war or terror being fought on Afghan soil, somebody should help the Afghan people claim a stake in their future. Will they be as brave as the East Timorese were? We'll see-- and that is really the point, isn't it? If I prove to be unable to contribute anything to help them, then at least I should bear witness..."
"And if you die before you can bear witness"? will most likely be the profound follow up question, and here I think I would be inclined to speak my heart though I doubt I could be so dramatic:
"Better to die doing what my convictions bid me, than to grow old and feeble not knowing what it could have felt like. Besides, if I survive it, I would have more memories to recall in my later years than just meetings, conferences, or how many hours I spent in front of the computer, or of how many activity reports I submitted, how long I had to sit through dialogues, listening to strangers talking about the same things over and over, year after year, and seriously doubting if I was helping to change the world. Because sometimes I think it would be nice to punctuate my trips: with happiness, such as in Mindanao, with fear and tension, such as in East Timor, with thrill and exhilaration, such as Sagada, with hopelessness such as Bangladesh, mischief as in Strassbourg, and friendship as in Brussels and the Hague, even the sadness of post 9-11 New York."
"Afraid?"
"Yes, as all my colleagues are. But I am more afraid of what my fear could prevent me from doing...."
"Maximize the funders' money?"
"O yea, there is that issue isn't there? The bastards are too scared to go in themselves so they pay someone else to do it. So 'buffalo soldiery' isn't it? But no, actually the correct answer is:
Seeing For Myself...."

life far away

How do you do it, living in a country where people don't speak English? Ninotchka Rosca asked Evelyn and me in a subtly rebuking manner. That was when we went to New York exactly seven days after the 9/11 attacks. Ninotchka was invited by another New Yorker Pinay, Indai, to a joint dinner with us. "Simple, sign languages and lots of smiling", Evelyn replied. I didn't. I found it hard. That's because I wasn't a smiling person, neither am I friendly on a first impression. Once when I attempted to buy rice and vegetables I mispronounced "khao suay" and the guy buying exactly the same thing laughed and said something to the vendor. I looked hard at him, and almost walked away, if not for the acknowledgement of the vendor (via big nods of her head) that I was next.  Later an officemate told me that "laughing it off", as it seemed to be the case, helped "extricate" me from an embarrassing situation because of my mispronounciation. "So, he actually saved me from embarrassment in front of the vendor?" I asked. "He was probably helping you explain what you wanted to eat", he said. "But he laughed!" I insisted. "He wasn't pointing at me or ribbing the people in the cue to point me to them, but he laughed..." "Laughing here," he repeated, "means very very different things to a foreigner, especially one so western-oriented as you".
So, I might have answered Ninotchka "it's not simple at all". It is so hard to look at the opposite direction when crossing the street, to memorize tongue-twisting words, read body languages, eat mouth-burning food, ride on the left side of the taxi seat, listen to your officemate's shrill traditional music all day, and face a boss who has no respect for your race.
She would've asked: why choose to stay there? and again Evelyn and I would have given very different answers.