People Feature

An Interview with an Up-and-Coming
Young Man from Afghanistan

By: Eliot John Hagen (June 2, 2005)

On Thursday, May 19, the journalism class interviewed Mohammad Akram Anwari, a 25-year old Afghani man who was concluding a 30-day visit to America. Anwari, who goes by only his final name in the Afghan tradition, was on the eve of returning to his native country and graciously consented to a series of questions by Mason’s high school journalists.

Lasso Online: Why are you here in America?

Anwari: I’m working in a contract unit with an American company.  I came here to attend some training classes. (Anwari spent a month in the Washington area training in a U.S. Federal Government contract regulations program. He is a contract negotiator with a specialty in grants as he tries to get Afghanistan’s agricultural sector back on its feet again.)

L.O.: What does your company do in Afghanistan?  What is its mission? Anrawi: We want to improve the existing crops and find a market for them in and outside of Afghanistan. L.O: What kind of crops? Anwari: We have grape, rice, almonds, and pistachios.  We also produce a special carpet (Afghan rugs) that are exported to foreign countries. L.O: What is Afghanistan like? Anwari: It’s a mountainous country, 70 percent.  We’ve had 26 years of civil war, which destroyed everything.  Now that the Taliban is gone and the new government is in place, Afghanistan is moving forward. L. O: What was life like under the Taliban? A: Life was very tough under the Taliban.  There weren’t any job opportunities.  They wanted people to be very restricted. L. O: And now?  What’s life like now? Anwari: Lots of people are very happy; there are lots of job opportunities.  We have lots of munitions and lots of NGO’s [Non-Government Organizations], which have brought jobs.

Mohammad Akram Anwari, who was concluding his month-long visit to the US, spoke to the journalism  class about his country, Afghanistan.  (Photo By Sara Sugrue)

L. O: Do you receive donations for your projects?

Anwari: We get lots of donations for agriculture, which is one of the main projects.  Our project, which is for two years, is going to cost $156 million.  We’re going to micromanage to provide small loans to the farmers and build roads.

L. O: Are there any projects that aren’t devoted to agriculture?

A: Agriculture is the main activity that our project is doing.  Other projects are working to improve education, for example, by building high schools.

L. O: Where do you get your donations from?

Anwari: We get all these donations from different countries; the US, China, Pakistan, England, and other countries of the world.

L. O: Are there still Taliban supporters in Afghanistan?

A: We have some outer provinces that are supporting the Taliban.  There are some elements that like to create headaches for the government.

L. O: What about security?

Anwari: The security is good.  Everything is moving smoothly.  In the south, we have some provinces where the security is worse there.  They’d like to create some inconveniences for the civilians.

L. O: What do they do?

Anwari: Robbing and killing, for example.  They’re hiding, and whenever they find an opportunity, they shoot.  They cannot move on the street, so they’re all in specific places.

L. O: Why do you think that they’re doing this?  Wasn’t the Taliban regime bad for them, as well?

Anwari: The reason is that they are not educated people.  It’s difficult for them to identify which is worse [the Taliban or the new government].  They don’t have higher education to go o work somewhere so they’re killing people.

L. O: What do you think about the recent news story that said that the Koran had been desecrated?  Do you think that the protests in your country were because of that?

Anwari: Afghani culture doesn’t accept that.  Whenever they see something against their country, they react.  It doesn’t mean they’re all Taliban but that everyone respects their religion.

L. O: Do you think that what the media has said about Afghanistan is true?

Anwari: That’s really difficult to judge.  The media is saying something and the people are saying something else.

L. O: What about the poppy market in the area?

Anwari: The government is trying to prohibit the growing of illicit crops.

L. O:  How is this ban enforced?

Anwari: This new government doesn’t have a strong enough army to go to the field and take action.  Once we have an equipped army, [poppy cultivation] will be much easier to stop.

L. O: What do you think of the new Afghanistan?

Anwari: I was really tired from the Taliban government.  At least now I see that people have their freedom.  We had our election, we’ve elected our president, and we are moving to have our parliament election.

L. O: What do you think of America?

Anwari: I’m really impressed; the Americans are really friendly and really open.  This is my first visit to the US, and I really like the government, the Metro system, the way of teaching: I really like it. One thing I noticed that is different is that in America you have backyards. Backyards are very important in America. In Afghanistan, the house is in the back and everything happens in the front yard.

L. O: What about the food?

Anwari : I have been to different restaurants and I have tried different food, but I’m not allowed to eat pork.  When I go to a restaurant my first question is to ask if [the dish I’m ordering] has pork. But I have tried a Big Mac at your McDonald’s.

L. O: What about the negative things?

Anwari: The only issue is that the people work like robots. In America time is always flying and people don’t have enough time to spend with their family and relatives; they’re just busy with their own work.

L. O: What do kids do for fun in Afghanistan?

Anwari: In Afghanistan, our kids grew up in war.  They didn’t really have any opportunity to live in a peaceful situation and have a relaxed mind.  After the changes in the government, it’s still not fully peaceful, but the kids are feeling much more relaxed.  There are no soccer grounds, swimming pools, or parks.  In time we will be able to provide them (the children) with some entertainment and give them higher education.  We’ll be able to build some nice schools and have good teachers to improve the next generation.  The bad thing is that almost 90% of the educated people have left Afghanistan.  I heard that in Virginia there are 100 Afghanis living.  This is a really big loss for Afghanistan.

L. O: Why did so many educators leave?

Anwari: The salary for teachers is very low.  They get a maximum $80 or $100 a month and the cost of living is much higher.  This is the reason they prefer to work outside of the country.  Our existing government needs to find ways to encourage people and provide some incentive for people so we can help the next generation.

L.O: What do you plan to do?

Anwari: It’s my personal plan to work for my country and help my country. Too many Afghanis have left the country because they have seen big buildings and 24-hour electricity and good roads, and other luxuries. This is not good for our country. The people need to stay in Afghanistan and work to bring these things to their country. Afghanistan is moving in a positive direction and we are working toward rehabilitation. It is very difficult to rebuild a country that has spent 26 years under restrictive rule and now we are slowly starting to rebuild our country. I can see major changes in Afghanistan, for example, in terms of security, rehabilitation, buildings.

L. O.:  Are you interested in running for office?

Anwari: I’m not interested to be in the government. I don’t like politics. I like to have a more of a freedom style of living.