A Q&A brings news from a much-changed, muted Afghanistan

Leading up to the evacuation, we realised that things were starting to go faster than we’d hoped in the Taliban’s favour. Our concern was to make sure that the work being done by BMS’ partner could carry on. And our concern was for the people that we work with, those who don’t have foreign passports and so couldn’t get out the country, as we knew that we would be able to.
We started to notice [in our area of the country] that the women were less visible on the streets. The ones that were on the streets were more covered up. The women are very covered up anyway, but the colours were more muted. It was summer, usually you see a few more bright colours. The men started to grow beards. And there was a real atmosphere of fear and hopelessness. It was very hard to know what to say to people because it became obvious that it was likely that the Taliban would take over a large part of the country, you don’t want to give platitudes or say I understand because, as foreigners, we don’t.

I think sadness, of feeling that there were limits. Not knowing what we could do, wanting to help, and knowing that help was limited. We always think we want to do something, that there’s some sort of physical action. Actually, all we could do was pray and try to encourage and to listen. But for our friends who were struggling for food and for money and living in a society they hadn’t really chosen, that was forced on them, that’s just very sad. Very heavy.

People have said that there is some kind of normality, certainly for the men and for the children. The men are back at work, the children are back at school. A lot of the women are still at home. But it’s a very uneasy normality. People are waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting to see what actually happens. We’ve heard what the [new Government of Afghanistan] have said about allowing women to do various jobs and so on. But this happened last time. There are people who remember when the Taliban were in power before. We need to see what they actually do rather than what they say they’re going to do.

When there was a Russian empire and a British Empire, the Brits were involved in India, the Russians wanted to be, so there were three Anglo-Afghan Wars [at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century] because Britain wanted to be ruling Afghanistan to prevent the Russians getting to India. So, you feel that the Afghan people are collateral damage really to that.
And then obviously after 9/11, the US and allies were involved in Afghanistan. It hasn’t all been bad for the Afghan people, there have been some positive results of having foreign influence.

My hope is that people will remember from this past 20 years that life can be different and that they will keep working to that. That in the day to day, the women will be more respected than they seem to be under the [current Afghan Government], that they will be treated more fairly, and that people will be able to use the skills and the knowledge that they’ve acquired to be able to prepare for a better Afghanistan. It feels like a lot has slipped back. But I don’t think this past 20 years have been wasted at all. I think they’ve been building the people up. They’ve shown them a different way. I think with the influence of the internet, there is that link with the outside world and there is a link with something that’s very different. My hope is that God will turn this around. Because I don’t know anybody else who can. And for that we desperately need people to pray and to keep praying for Afghanistan.

There are many things. We’re told to pray for those who are in government and a few of us on our team felt really convicted to pray for the Taliban. Praying for the people, our colleagues that we’ve left behind, people who have been working to help others to serve their countrymen, for them to be able to continue. For the men, most of them have been able to go back to work, but it’s basically under [government] control and the [Afghan Government] are the bosses now in most places. Pray that that work will be able to continue and that the women will find ways of being able to help as well. Please pray for the women. Pray that they will not completely lose heart, but that God will be their comfort and that in all of this people will turn to God. To the real God as their only source of hope.