OneWorld.net (U.S.)

© Satomi KatoI visited Pakistan for five weeks in the summer of 2005 for my graduate thesis photography projects.

When I arrived at the International Islamabad airport, I wore blue jeans and a casual shirt, the usual dress in Washington, D.C. However, the female Japanese owner of the Japanese inn advised me to wear a shawl to hide my female curves in Pakistan. I bought a small, white shawl at the local market and covered my head and hip.

When I went to the local restaurant in Peshawar, where people highly respect tradition, people were not happy to see my blue jeans and pointed at me. I was so embarrassed I tried to hide my jeans. My Pakistani translator explained to me that women are not welcome to wear jeans because it shows the body line. I respected their tradition and customs and tried to find looser clothes from my suitcase and finally chose my pajamas.

After getting permission from the office of the Commissioner of Afghan Refugees, they allowed me to visit two camps out of the 12 in Peshawar, near the border of Afghanistan. On the morning of July 7th, I visited the Kacha Garhi Camp, located behind the busy stores run by the former Afghan refugees.

Although I am a Japanese woman, I wore traditional Pakistani clothes when taking photographs and enjoyed two advantages: one is to keep from being sunburned by the scorching sun; another is to hide my camera under the shawl because of security.

My appearance was unique because I was a Japanese woman wearing Pakistani clothes, and Afghan refugees stared at me. However, once I was ready to shoot photos of children, they gathered around me and gave me big smiles. Even though they live in the refugee camp, they vividly played around, as if they had no concerns about their future and were satisfied with the camp life. Children's smiles showed how humans are strong and gave me energy to live.

I walked around inside the camp and took photographs and was accompanied by an Afghani refugee officer, and Afghani policeman, a Pakistani Pashto/English translator and a Pakistani driver. The officer and the policeman guided me to the refugee camps and explained that there is a free school donated by the United States and a free clinic donated by Saudi Arabia. At the same time they warned me not to take photographs of Afghan women and watched me when I shot.

Numerous Afghan refugees still survive in the vulnerable mud brick houses which need to be restored every year. The sewage arrangements at the Kacha Garhi Camp are incomplete and the smell is bad.

In the afternoon, I hired an Afghan taxi driver and went to another Afghan refugee camp, Badhber camp, which is very remote. To my surprise, the number of graves is greater than the number of refugees. I was so scared to find refugee children in the empty camp that I could not get out of the taxi. From inside the taxi, I observed devastated mud brick houses surrounded by the graves. One girl was playing around a grave. One old man was just looking at one point and sitting in front of his empty house. When I asked to him, "Do you want to return to Afghanistan?" He said sadly, "Yes, I want to go back to Afghanistan, but, I don't have money and can't move." Although he clearly needed some help from others, he has never begged. The human dignity on his face was impressive.

After visiting two camps, I discussed Afghan refugee issues with the Afghan driver, who used to live in one of the refugee camps. I found out that about two percent of Afghan refugees successfully live in Pakistan. Some Afghan refugees become richer than some Pakistanis. This situation creates new frustrations for Pakistanis. I expressed my opinion that in terms of human rights, people should live in their own land, not other's lands and Afghan refugees should return to their own country if Afghanistan is safe. I asked the driver about how I, as a foreigner, could help out refugees. After he thought a minute, he said to me, "There is not one answer because refugees' backgrounds are different. But they definitely need others' help." Helping out Afghan refugees is still our assignment.

© Satomi Kato