Type Afghanistan into Google
and see what you find. Bombings... The explosion ripped through a wedding
in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing dozens of people in... War… Crisis... These are normally the pictures that come
to mind when you hear the name Afghanistan. But are these tragic events
really that common? Yes. Tragedy strikes Afghanistan
on a daily basis. A country at war for
40 years. But is there another side to
Afghanistan that is rarely covered? Let's find out! The world's
deadliest conflict. The war should end
in Afghanistan. Hi, how are you? We will smile towards life
because life is worth smiling, Not a day without
violence... We will show our
resilience... We will not allow people to know
that we have weakened. Our families shed blood
for this country. ♪♪♪ So, today we're heading
to a village out in the countryside. We're leaving here Mazar-e-Sharif,
which is the third biggest city in Afghanistan. We're gonna have an armed escort
by the Afghan security forces because a few days ago
there was say a lady, A female police officer and her mother,
and a civilian, taken off a bus, a public bus, and executed
by the Taliban in the road. The bus was able to continue but
they were killed tragically. It's a daily life here, sadly,
in Afghanistan, so... We're gonna head out,
should see some mountains, and then when we get to the village,
see what a village is like in rural Afghanistan. Should be an hour
or so drive, if there's not any
complications. And should be nice to see
the countryside and a local village. ♪♪♪ We drove for an hour or so,
and we've arrived in the Khulm district. The mountains are
absolutely magnificent. And there's local kids around, there's some coming
I'll say hi to them, but have a look at this view. So I think that's the foothills
of the Hindu Kush mountain range, which is the main mountain range
running through Afghanistan. It's huge! Yeah! You can see a lot of the houses
here are straw and dirt constructions. The security behind me
is very keeping an eye on me. Welcoming local kids... Yeah! This is really feels like,
you know, rural Afghanistan. There's a fruit
production around here, it's pomegranate season
at the moment. Really, really nice to
be out here. -How are you?
-Good! How are you? -How are you? Good?
-Anything... We were gonna go to
a different region, but the security situation
here is changing all the time. So, we're we were gonna go had an increased
Taliban rest so we came to this region instead, and that we've got two units vehicles
for us which are armored vehicles with bulletproof glass,
reinforced doors. And then at each end of that
we've got two police trucks with a bunch of these Afghan
security forces protecting us. So, yeah! Although it's beautiful! It's... It's Afghanistan. But people are super welcoming,
you know. We're gonna head down
into the township zone, and go for a walk around
the more busy streets. Shouldn't have to say but it's one of
the most powerful trips I've ever experienced. Okay. So, now we've come up
onto a viewpoint here. It's Arion again. And you can see all the houses here,
they're built out of straw and mud basically, right? Yeah! People here
mostly farmers. It's very hard to find any work or work on the lands
so people are compelled to go into different villages and find work as a mason
or any other labor So, I was mentioning to the camera before
about how tight security is here, and what's the reason for that, why do we have
four extremely kitted out vehicles with, as you can see behind you one
of the Afghan security forces. Why is it so strict here? See, it's still for
the people... It's very hard for them
to comprehend that there are people who are coming
here just as humanitarian workers, and trying to help with
their children, and vaccinate their children, immunize
their children, and provide education. You don't know
who inhabits these villages. There could be anti-government elements
who do not appreciate development, do not appreciate
humanitarian work, so that's why it becomes difficult
to provide the security. Some of these people are middle-class
but most people are below poverty line, so they normally would
have two rooms, and no matter if they have 9, 10 people
at their houses, they will only have two rooms, because keeping it warm during winter
does the most important thing for them. So they'd rather live together in
winters rather they have many rooms. The other thing that you can notice
is that it's very green here, so people normally would have
a piece of land that they can provide their families with fruit at least,
and vegetables... So, that's how life is
supported here. You work and you take
the produce from the land... That helps you
to survive! And then burn some of the twigs and some of
the branches that are left from the produce in winter. So, that's how the life cycle
goes around here. Okay. So, we've just meet
a local man. Would you mind introducing him
and just ask him what he does for a job? // Speaking native language // Abban is 35 years old. He's got two kids,
he works in gardens. Right now he is working on
his pomegranate garden, trying to yield that good produce
so that he can sell it in market, and make a good living
from it. I heard before that 7 Kg
of pomegranate is about $ 350 AFN which is roughly $ 6 USD,
is that right? // Speaking native language // 7 Kgs of pomegranate would go for $ 200 AFN,
about $ 4 USD, but it depends on the season. If the season is good and the one-acre
land that I have it produces good result, and I have good produced,
then that season would go well for my family. If not, then... Most of the season
we are just... It's very hard to keep up with the expenditure
for the land, like the fertilizer, working on the land, making sure that
the pomegranate or other produce don't go bad. So that also takes away a lot of money,
and then, at the end of the season, very little is left for us
to survive on. Where does
he buy supplies from? Does he go down to the city or the town
and buys general household goods? Or does he grow them here and
then just live off the land? // Speaking native language // Normally with the people
in this village and myself is that we, whatever we produce in
our garden we take it to the city and we exchange for some
other commodity that we require. The most challenging for us right
now is safe drinking water, we don't have good water in which results for our
children developing different kind of skin diseases that you can see on
my child here. That really hurts us and
that really ails us. Other than that, it happens that
we have some good produce one year, the other year is not good, but water
is the main issue for us right now. So, those are
the negatives, right? And so what are the positives
of living here for him? // Speaking native language // The positive side here in
my village is that there's peace. That's a
very positive thing! We are living together
as united people, if there's a difficulty
on one house, the rest of the houses come
to the aid of this house. So we live each other’s happiness
and each other’s sadness, and that basically gives us
the motivation to move forward, to look the future
with positivity. There's a really strong sense
of camaraderie here? There is! Yeah! Yeah!
Everybody comes to each other help. If one person
do not have enough, then other person lends to him
wheat or flour so they can survive. If one person do not have
wood to burn in the winter, other people comes together and provides them
so that the entire village can survive together. Right, okay. // Speaking native language // Another thing that you have
to take into consideration here, I'm okay in the village here but
if I was to stray too far off of the perimeter, there's a high chance of landmines,
from the days of when the Soviets were here. There's all these different elements
playing into this situation here. There is a big demining operation
from the United Nations as well, but there's always
the risk and... You know, you can see
behind me those kids playing, Sometimes
they can be the victims. And also sometimes
the Taliban find the mines and they'll turn them
into IEDs, so bombs that they can use in other
areas to cause explosions, but... From what I can say of this area,
it's got a really nice feeling at the moment, very quiet and
peaceful... // Speaking native language // Very quiet
and peaceful, and... You know you can see there's
the strong strength of community here, which is quite beautiful,
I think. // Speaking native language // Okay. So we've just come down to the town
where that men that we interviewed earlier who sells fruit...
He brings it down here, right? Yes! And he sells it to the locals here,
or trade the thing. This is the main market
for Khulm District, and that guy and other villagers would
normally bring their produce here, they would put it here on
the roadside and people would buy it. So this is the market,
a bit small, but this is where people do their
business and make their living from. There's something really interesting that
I think a lot of people will be surprised to see. There's a big American
flag here, right? Yeah! It's surprisingly
to me too. // Speaking native language // I bought it for $ 200 AFN
from somebody who was selling it, and I put it down here,
most people don't know what this flag is. -Somebody told me this American flag.
-Right. -But I'm fine with it.
-Okay. And what's his views
of the USA? // Speaking native language // So, I don't know, I don't know what
kind of country is... I really don't know. -He feels neutral, nothing towards to...
-Yeah! Neutral... Okay, cool! So, there's some political activity
in this area at the moment, so we can't
spend too long. And we're pretty much surrounded by guys
with big weapons and stuff. And this American flag
really stood out to me, but... I think a lot of you guys
will find that fascinating. Much than I do, because it's not the first image
you think of when you think in Afghanistan. -How are you?
-Good! How are you? I'm okay! -Do you speak English?
-No, no... -A little bit...
-Yes! What are
you doing today? // Speaking native language // Suhayla is 23 years old,
this is his shop. He sells different things like plastic,
made things, he sells plates and any groceries
at the houses need. This is he's shop, he comes
every morning, works until evening. How is the business? // Speaking native language // The previous year used
to be very good, but now things are not
looking that nice. But it's good! The good thing is that we have peace,
and hopefully it will get better. You say we have peace... In this town
there's not too many problems? // Speaking native language // Yeah! There are not
too many security incidents, if we look the 100%,
maybe 10% is insecurity, that also petty crimes,
nothing major. -Thank you!
-Good luck! Cheers! // Speaking native language // From two years old, but since
I was my children's age, 10 years old, I used to come to my father's shop
and work with him. So, since 10 years old I only know
about shop, and shop keeping... So that's why I brought
my children as well, I have 3 sons and
2 daughters. They would be working with me
and they would then take over from me. Is he happy doing
this job? // Speaking native language // Well, of course,
I'm very happy. Because we have peace which
is the most important thing for us, we have security,
and with security I'm also healthy. My health,
that's also very important. Two people have said
that it's peaceful here, so... Does he get a feeling that this
is one of the most preferable places to live in terms the security in
the whole country of Afghanistan? // Speaking native language // I think I will call it that it's one of the most
peaceful place and most secure place in Afghanistan. People are living in unity and harmony,
and we're very happy with our security forces because they provide good security,
we've had no security incident. What's his opinion of the international
community coming to Afghanistan? // Speaking native language // I think Afghanistan has been at war
for too long, and with the international friends, and those who are coming
to help Afghanistan... It's very good and their welcome
because it's going to help with our economy, it will boost our economy,
it will boost the standard of living, it will make up Afghans have a better life...
So that's a good thing! Okay. One last question,
what's for lunch? // Speaking native language // So, we have fish food today,
my son's wanted fish today, so I said: "Okay. Let's get fish
for lunch today". Alright! Alright!
Is that delicious? -It's very delicious, do you want?
-No, thank you! ♪♪♪ So, back in the city... I found that really special to go out
and see how the village people live. There was a point when
we actually pulled up at this old library, and when we arrived there was all
different kinds of security forces, Afghan police, Afghan military, paramilitary,
there were bullet holes in the wall. Troops on the roof, troops on
the perimeter, troops up close to the door, and we were gonna go into this library
and see the gardens and things, but it was quite
a dodgy atmosphere, and the security adviser advised us
not to spend any time there because things can kind
of go wrong military. And police can sometimes
turn on each other. We didn't want to be involved
in any kind of crossfire or anything. So, we kind of got
out of there. It was pretty extreme scene,
wall-to-wall military. I did get a photo of one
of the soldiers. I'll put it up here. I'll be chucking that up on
my Instagram with a few more photos if you want to check
them out. And we also went to, I didn't film it
because that I filmed in past videos, but we also went to another
immunization clinic that UNICEF funds as well. The doctors taking care
of malnutrition as well there, there was a few kids receiving the sachets
I showed you in the other videos, and the immunization, and some
other treatment that kids were getting there. So, again, obviously this is a, you can see
people are in die need of help here. So, I just want to emphasize again
UNICEF isn't paying me anything to be here, They did organize the whole trip
for me and everything, and I don't have to say this but, again,
if you want to help out a bit, I'm gonna leave the link down below and
you can chip in a couple of dollars if you can. Only if you can! Another mind-bending
fascinating day here in Afghanistan. Tomorrow the journey
continues leaving this city. So, I will see you
in that video. And in case I don't see you...
Good afternoon! Good evening! And good night! We are living together
as united people. If there's a difficulty
on one house, the rest of the houses come
to the aid of this house. So we live each other's happiness
and each other's sadness, and that basically gives us
the motivation to move forward, to look the future
with positivity.
