Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
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KABUL — Across the Afghan capital, carpentry shops are turning out crude pine tables. Soon, thousands of families will spend icy winter evenings huddled around them, with a few hot coals underneath and blankets spread over the top. In many areas, electricity cuts and high firewood costs have made these traditional “sandalis” the only source of heat.
“The cold is getting worse, the prices are going up and there is no work,” said Baba Pahlawan, 70, who sells firewood for about 8 cents a pound. Most customers, he said, can afford only a few sticks at a time. When they run out, they buy a few pieces of coal. When that runs out, “people stay under their blankets and wait for the morning.”
As another harsh winter approaches, worry is sharpening the seasonal chill in this bustling but bedraggled city of 4 million surrounded by white-capped mountains. It is being felt not only in communities like Pahlawan’s — and not only because of the worsening daily struggle to survive.
Two larger, intertwined struggles to determine the country’s future have dominated the national conversation for months: on-and-off peace talks with Taliban insurgents and a contentious process to choose a new president. Now, both efforts have slowed to a near-halt, and analysts say it may be spring before either bears fruit.
As winter sets in, Afghans feel chill of endless peace talk, political paralysis
And it's ok because all of the people don't have the same concerns.
“The cold is getting worse, the prices are going up and there is no work,” said Baba Pahlawan, 70, who sells firewood for about 8 cents a pound. Most customers, he said, can afford only a few sticks at a time. When they run out, they buy a few pieces of coal. When that runs out, “people stay under their blankets and wait for the morning.”
As another harsh winter approaches, worry is sharpening the seasonal chill in this bustling but bedraggled city of 4 million surrounded by white-capped mountains. It is being felt not only in communities like Pahlawan’s — and not only because of the worsening daily struggle to survive.
Two larger, intertwined struggles to determine the country’s future have dominated the national conversation for months: on-and-off peace talks with Taliban insurgents and a contentious process to choose a new president. Now, both efforts have slowed to a near-halt, and analysts say it may be spring before either bears fruit.
As winter sets in, Afghans feel chill of endless peace talk, political paralysis
And it's ok because all of the people don't have the same concerns.
