Sabre Jon. During the Soviet invasion the home she was living in was hit by a bomb. Consequently she lost both legs and the use of both hands. When she wants to leave the house she depends on her nephew, Noor Agha, to carry her. Mohammed Agha was collecting firewood in the garden of Abdullah Jan in Charakar in 1992. He stepped on a landmine. Both legs were amputated above the knee. He says he does not have time to get a prosthesis because he is too busy working as a shoe maker. Agha has four children.
“Forgotten Afghanistan†is my response to the tireless and compassionate efforts of one woman, Fatema Akbari and one man, Abdul Fatah. Fatema has introduced me to some of the widows and disabled in her vast network of victims to whom she has devoted her life, helping them to build a better life in the aftermath of war. Abdul Fatah is the head of the disabled Council in Parwan Province. Abdul Fatah was a long time friend and fellow soldier with the Afghan hero Ahmad Shah Massoud. He traveled over the mountains to Pakistan with a prosthesis on one leg, nine times, to fight for his people. In November 2011 and in February 2012 he arranged for me to interview the disabled in many villages in the Charikar area.
The faces in the images viewed in this project are windows into the souls of individuals who have lived through decades of war and agony. This project has just begun, and I sincerely hope that my work will stimulate a new conversation about the Afghans rarely seen in our media’s superficial treatment of Afghanistan’s suffering.
Let us change the dialog from war and corruption to a positive narrative of education and hope by assisting the efforts of courageous men and women like Fatema and Abdul Fatah.