Sean Carberry http://redriverradio.org en Afghans With Disabilities Fight For The Right To Rights http://redriverradio.org/post/afghans-disabilities-fight-right-rights Climbing the rickety metal staircase is precarious enough if you aren't on crutches, but it's simply dangerous if you are. At the top is the office of Janbazan-e-Mayhan, one of many social councils for disabled Afghans. Men missing arms, legs or hands sit around the small room.<p>Afghanistan isn't an easy place for anyone to make a living. But for those with disabilities, it's a downright hostile environment. Tens of thousands have been maimed and disabled during decades of conflict. Sun, 19 May 2013 09:41:00 +0000 Sean Carberry 27849 at http://redriverradio.org Afghans With Disabilities Fight For The Right To Rights Afghan Mineral Treasures Stay Buried, Hostages To Uncertainty http://redriverradio.org/post/afghan-mineral-treasures-stay-buried-hostages-uncertainty For years, reports have suggested that Afghanistan is sitting on massive deposits of copper, gold, iron and rare earth minerals valued up to $3 trillion. This provides hope for a future economy that would not have to rely so heavily on foreign donations.<p>But with an uncertain political, regulatory and security environment, international investors are hesitant. And it could be many years before Afghanistan begins extracting its mineral wealth.<p>The Afghan Geological Survey office in Kabul is one of the few agencies in the country that measure up to international standards. Here, a U.S. Sat, 18 May 2013 09:13:00 +0000 Sean Carberry 27820 at http://redriverradio.org Afghan Mineral Treasures Stay Buried, Hostages To Uncertainty U.S. Hands Over Nation-Building Projects To Afghans http://redriverradio.org/post/us-hands-over-nation-building-projects-afghans On a sunny spring day in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province, Afghan officials and U.S. troops and civilians gather inside the ancient mud fort in the center of Forward Operating Base Gardez. They're attending a ceremony marking the formal end of the work of the provincial reconstruction team, or PRT.<p>As the international military presence in Afghanistan draws down, so too are these small units, which often consist of dozens of military personnel along with a few civilians. Thu, 16 May 2013 07:02:00 +0000 Sean Carberry 27707 at http://redriverradio.org U.S. Hands Over Nation-Building Projects To Afghans Heavy Metal In Kabul? It's The Music, Not The Munitions http://redriverradio.org/post/heavy-metal-kabul-its-music-not-munitions When 23-year-old Solomon "Sully" Omar felt the music scene in his native Denver wasn't giving him what he was looking for, he made a radical move. Wed, 15 May 2013 20:20:00 +0000 Sean Carberry 27700 at http://redriverradio.org Heavy Metal In Kabul? It's The Music, Not The Munitions Afghans Confront Senstive Issue Of Ethnicity http://redriverradio.org/post/afghans-confront-senstive-issue-ethnicity In Afghanistan, where most people are illiterate and live in areas without paved roads or regular electricity, a state-of-the-art smart-chip ID card may seem extravagant. But the government believes it can help with everything from census data to voter registration to health care.<p>The format of the proposed card, however, is fueling debate over ethnicity and identity at a time when anxiety is already high over the drawdown of NATO troops.<p>Each citizen's ethnicity will be embedded in the electronic data in the new ID, or "e-taskera," rather than printed on the face of the card. Wed, 08 May 2013 06:55:00 +0000 Sean Carberry 27301 at http://redriverradio.org Afghans Confront Senstive Issue Of Ethnicity