Bahar’s Story: Inspiration from a Permaculture Activist in Afghanistan (Read)

“I learned how life is so good with permaculture!”

Meet Bahar, Permaculture Teacher and Activist

Salam! My name is Bahar,* and I come from Afghanistan. I am so happy to be here and to share my experience with permaculture with you.

In 2016, Rosemary (Rowe) Morrow from the Blue Mountain Permaculture Center in Australia came to Kabul, Afghanistan. She introduced permaculture to the peace volunteers in our center because Afghanistan has a serious problem with food insecurity.

I myself was so interested! We study for our PDC together as a community, and decided to start a community garden.

Building Soil

The soil in our garden was full of trash and weeds, and had no nutrients. We did composting from our kitchen, building soil by mulching (and put it in layers of sawdust, straw, tree leaves, newspaper and animal manure). By the time spring started we had built good soil. We planted different vegetables in our community such as pumpkins, peppers, tomatoes and okra. These crops were very, very delicious and this success excited the youth to try working in the garden too.

From One Teacher, Fertile Yields

We started teaching permaculture to the street kids at the center, and worked together on the soil, collecting rainwater, composting, mulching, and planting to make a beautiful kitchen garden in the center. We encouraged students to plant gardens at their houses too, and each one took a starter plant home.

Kabul University has a big department of agriculture, and they teach traditional practices, using lots of chemicals. They offered us a plot and invited us to introduce permaculture and work on the land with the students, and to teach organic agricultural development.

The plot they gave us had soil that was dead, full of rocks with pieces of trash and broken concrete which we had to clear. We knew we had to do composting and work on soil building first. We were asking shopkeepers who were selling vegetables to give us those vegetables that no one bought, and we made compost from them.

We also brought animal manure, sawdust, straw, and newspapers and put them in layers covering the unhealthy soil. Then we started designing and making plots for each kind of vegetables. We planted spinach, tomatoes, squash, beans, okra, cucumbers, beets and much more. All the crops grew really well in the lasagna layers.

We worked at Kabul University about 3 years, sharing permaculture with the students. During the harvesting those who were working got vegetables to take to their families. We had about 11 crops, and every year we were changing the vegetable’s places; this rotation kept the soil full of life, and each year our crop production grew.

In 2018 I was invited to go to Araniya Farm in India for about 2 months. It was so beautiful, with different fruit trees, animals, and singing birds. They use permaculture practices, growing foods without chemicals, and I saw healthy soils! There is no air pollution; it was so peaceful, and so clean! They were rotating crops to keep the soil healthy. I learned how life is so good with permaculture.

Greening the Community

When I went back to my home town in [Afghanistan] for two years, I saw that it’s very dry and hot in summer without plants. I started talking with my family, and encouraged them to make a kitchen garden and plant trees. Now we grow wonderful apples and have beautiful sunflowers that are almost 6 feet tall!

I knew our family garden was not enough for making a big difference, so I went at the neighbors’ houses and encouraged more women to make kitchen gardens in their yards. I was so happy when they were very interested, and came together to learn permaculture. The soil was very bad so we started composting, harvesting water, making our own green places and having fresh vegetables for our families. We started raising chickens which gave us lots of fresh eggs and manure for compost. We also stopped using plastics which are bad for the environment.

We were so happy to work together and in one year we saw the difference at our houses where the soil had become rich and productive. It was also wonderful to build a community of women, which I know is an important part of permaculture! In that area many women usually stay home, so it was very special for us to work together on these new kitchen gardens.

One semester I went to Bamiyan University to talk about nature, permaculture and what we can do for our lives. The students and faculty were very interested. We also helped a group of friends plant hundreds of trees in the area, teaching kids who live in caves how to help the environment and to grow food for their families.

From Greywater to Gardens

In 2020, after marrying, my husband and I came back to Kabul. The house we were supposed to live in had very dry soil. First, I started using permaculture methods to work on enriching the soil, and thinking about water. In Kabul there is a major problem with water, which gets less and less every year with climate change and less rain.

I asked my neighbors to collect the water after washing their vegetables and to give it to me for watering our plants. I saw it was not enough, so we decided to make a gray water system for our garden. It took about three weeks to build, and now grey water flows from our kitchen, from our showers and from our laundry. Afterwards we planted 7 kinds of fruit trees. Now the yard is so green, and we have wonderful applies, pears, grapes and cherries!

Changing Lives

At the invitation of Rosemary Morrow, my husband and I both started teaching permaculture at a private school in Kabul. Working with children is so joyful! We shared permaculture, planted trees at school, worked on soil building and planting different vegetables on the roof, and taught them how to care for the environment and our shared home.

Moving to Canada, With Gratitude

We had to flee Kabul last August. One of the hardest parts about living in hiding is not having a garden. We are very excited that we will be going to Canada. We are so grateful to Starhawk and the Earth Activist Training community for helping us, and look forward to living on the land and the wonderful permaculture community there.

Tashakor from deep in our hearts for all you are doing for us.

YOUR SUPPORT IS ESSENTIAL

Please donate to support Earth Activist Training’s Emergency Campaign for Afghan Relief.

Your gift will directly help Bahar and her family move to safety in Canada as soon as possible. More than 160 donors have raised $26,000 USD– but $30,000 more is needed.

Please give generously. Any amount will be appreciated.