the conundrum that is kabul university

a vision nearly california-like in tree-splendor is that of the kabul university campus. while a few buildings suffered bombing damage during the wars, the bulk of the campus has been preserved. trees seventy years old + older are everywhere, a welcome presence in dusty, destroyed kabul.



kabul university is divided into many different faculties, + each faculty has its own library. most of the libraries are ridiculously under-resourced, + there is no coordination amongst them.



we were kindly welcomed into the libraries of the english department, the engineering department, the legal training center, the sharia (islamic) law faculty, the medical university, the central library, and the afghanistan center of kabul university.

i took lots of photos of books.



strange, strange collections.



the afghanistan center has some unbelievable political posters + cartoons. acku is doing the best of any of the libraries at kabul university, primarily because its founder is the "grandmother of afghanistan," nancy hatch dupree.

["the hijab is my protection"--mujaheddin era]

["the man with two faces" (the face he presents to the people + the face behind the face) -- soviet era -- enlarge to see to whom they refer!]

the campus has about 8,000 students, but there has been a mass exodus of qualified faculty. only a few professors have master's-level educations. the university is free + many parents send their kids there, full of hope. and the students turn up + seem to be working hard.

just like the american university kids, ku students are extraordinarily charming + friendly. this aspiring engineer wanted to know why i would take photos of trees when i could be photographing him.



an apt point!

kabul university used to be a respected institution, but, like so many here, it has experienced such great loss--loss of funding, loss of faculty, loss of tradition. the institution is known for its political activism, some of which is of the highly conservative variety. it is hard to predict what will happen at ku, but again, a real privilege to see it for myself.