Afghanistan's Gem Hunters | Afghan Scene Magazine - Asia-Africa ...

sceneAfghan Scene December 2009Afghan Scene December 2009friends and family. His father showed me hispicture and explained how the boy had madethe mistake of visiting an American base “as atourist”, to get soft drinks and candy. On thatday we interviewed around 10 other families, allof whom had similar stories to tell.What will you miss the most?Spending lots of time with the AIHRC SpecialInvestigations Team, having endless cups ofshin-chai. The luxury of so many good friendsliving in close proximity. And of course gettingstuck in random places, playing Scrabble andrationing provisions.What will you miss the least?Air quality in Kabul; malfunctioning bukharis;getting stuck at Kandahar Air Field; hearingrandom explosions and not knowing whetherour compound is being rocketed or whetherthe Dutch are on the range and haven’t told usagain.Favourite place in Afghanistan?Lots of places actually. Dragon Valley in Bamyanat sunset for beautiful scenery; the Bistro inKabul for Sunday brunch; the Governor’s rooftopterrace in Tirin Kot for star-/ drone gazing;L’Atmo for the autumn bonfires & gossip;Spera district in Khost for being as remote asanywhere I visited in Afghanistan; and theUNHAS flight out for white sand beaches &cocktails.What happens next?I’m living in London now, qualifying as abarrister and will then start with a chambersthat specializes in human rights related work. WHITE OUT: Human rights man braves the elements in Khost78Afghan Scene December 2009www.afghanscene.comwww.afghanscene.comAfghan Scene December 2009