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From Kabul to Mazar i Sharif ::: Afghanistan 2007

FROM KABUL TO MAZAR-I-SHARIF
by Kurt Hörbst/Alexandra Grill

“The 100-Bed Maternity Hospital of Saleha Bayat” was our final destination, when we made the trip from Kabul to Mazar. Passing the famous Salang-pass and driving through the beautiful landscape, we saw lots of special views of Afghanistan. People living in those valleys are isolated, most of the women never received medical attendance. Since one year the new Maternity Hospital at Mazar offers at least a possibility to get professional treatment. So many child-bearing women surmount those awful streets walking or sitting on carts, pulled by donkeys. – Of course covered by a “burka”, looking through the small grid, seeing almost nothing. They are the lucky ones anyway, because still many families do not want the mothers to go to the doctor at all. Many of them arrive at the clinic too late because of the huge distances. But the number of new-borns dying within one year is decreasing….

:::August 23, 2007