Sunday, March 27, 2011

Bye-bye Kabul (for now)

Cannot say Kabul is a nice city. Dusty. Congested by traffic. It still shows the scars of a thirty-year war. And of the more recent blasts.

And you cannot avoid the unpleasant feeling of claustrophobia, overwhelmed by security briefings, security warnings, security alerts, security drills, security bulletins, radio-checks, check-points, off-limit zones, restricted-movement zones, US soldiers, Blue Helmets, etc.

That being said, I have to say I didn’t dislike Kabul. On the contrary, I kind of like it. Despite its enormous contradictions and problems, I actually found it vibrant, dynamic, optimistic, with that kind of energy you feel when everything has to start from scratch, the worst is over, and there is great hope in the future*.

In these days I met young and dynamic managers, committed leaders, and - in general - people very much projected towards the future. And determined to make it better.

Bye-bye Kabul. In a few hours I’ll fly back to Islamabad, but I’ll be back in just a few months. See you soon…

(*) "C'é fermento, c'é fermento..." - who recognizes the quotation?

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