Carol J. Yee - Welcome Back to Abuja Once Again: How I Became a Citizen of the World

Images of Afghanistan often depict women as blue apparitions, totally covered from head to toe in blue fabric with mesh over their faces, gliding down the streets of Afghanistan. But those ghostlike creatures were anything but invisible to me. Who are underneath those burqas, I wondered?

I got the chance to uncover who some of these women were when I worked in Afghanistan on agriculture-related projects in 2004 and 2005.

For one project, I worked in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. Lash, as we called it, is a very conservative city with the Pashtuns dominating, which required me to wear a headscarf whenever I went outside the office or my home. Pashtuns, Afghanistans largest ethnic group, are governed by the Pashtunwali code that requires adherence to certain customs, including hospitality and protection of their guests, family honor, and female relatives.

Many projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other aid agencies in Afghanistan primarily hire Afghan men for their staff due to the male-dominated society and the lack of educational and work opportunities for women.

This cash-for-work project hired fourteen thousand day laborers to clear clogged canals and irrigation ditches to improve access to water for agricultural crops, as well as to provide an alternative income source from planting and harvesting poppies for opium. The project infused one million dollars a month into the economy of the province. With one hundred Afghan men on staff, we decided to hire a few women to provide opportunities for them to learn and grow. Working in southern Afghanistan presented many challenges, including the daunting task of finding women to hire as most of them remained invisible, hidden away behind the high walls surrounding their family compounds. Occasionally, you would see them walking to the market, but always with a blue or white burqa concealing them.

We put the word out through our Afghan network that we were hiring. On the appointed day, twelve women showed up to be interviewed. None of them spoke English very well, most had not worked in an office, and only a few had worked for non-governmental organizations. We finally selected two so that there wouldnt be a lone female on a project full of men. On their first day at work, they arrived in their burqas, shy and unsure of themselves. Eventually, they became more comfortableone would remove her burqa and wear a hijab (a head covering) in the office, while the other left her burqa on with the front thrown back so you could see her face.

The Afghan men initially ignored them, but several years later, when one left the project to fulfill her dream of going to medical school, the whole office turned out for her farewell party, with some of the Afghan men almost in tears to see her go. Not only had these women learned their jobs and improved their English, but they also won over the men they had to work withmen who now respected and valued their contributions to the project. When I heard about her send-off from the project, I thought back to my role in impacting the lives and perceptions of the project staff. I reaffirmed that we always need to go beyond how Afghans, especially the men, are portrayed in the media, to discover what they are really likethey are actually like you and me, seeking opportunities to provide for their families. I also realized through this project that I helped Afghan men view women in a more positive light.

But I almost didnt get on the plane. While Afghanistan in 2004 was not as dangerous as it would become, it was still no walk in the park, especially for a woman. Sporadic fighting still occurred throughout the country, including attacks in the capital, Kabul, sometimes targeting foreigners. I didnt have to go, and my mother certainly didnt want me to go, but I volunteered.

Throughout my life, whenever I am afraid, I give myself a pep talk to put aside my fears and concerns, and my curiosity about the world around us wins out and spurs me to travel the world. This is the story of how I overcame my fears to unlock some of the most magical, interesting, and thrilling experiences and people Ive ever met.

With the advancement of technology and the globalization of the world, many more people travel for business, pleasure, or to flee from their current environment. The U.N. World Tourism Organization recorded 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals in 2018, up 6 percent from the previous year. Travel opens up our minds to differences in others, which can be harnessed to learn and apply what we see in the global arena to our corner of the world. For instance, my experience with Afghan women led me to reevaluate the role of women in the US and how we need to help provide opportunities to all women within our communities. As a result, I developed