another new member here....

[faye]

hi, bit late introducing myself, after already posting comments. i am australian but my interest in afghanistan stems from having been there in 1977. i came overland from europe and entered via iran to herat. then to kandahar, then pakistan. missed out on kabul.
i was a lone female traveller and did portrait sketches to earn money. did lots of pics in kandahar.
i loved the country of afghanistan and admired the toughness of people who have survived, in what seemed to me, to be very rugged terrain.
embarressing that my country has assisted america in invading afghanistan but it wasn't with my approval.
very interested to see afghanistan become independent from all the intruders......and mayhem. any questions, just ask. faye

[graveyardofempires]

hi, bit late introducing myself, after already posting comments. i am australian but my interest in afghanistan stems from having been there in 1977. i came overland from europe and entered via iran to herat. then to kandahar, then pakistan. missed out on kabul.
i was a lone female traveller and did portrait sketches to earn money. did lots of pics in kandahar.
i loved the country of afghanistan and admired the toughness of people who have survived, in what seemed to me, to be very rugged terrain.
embarressing that my country has assisted america in invading afghanistan but it wasn't with my approval.
very interested to see afghanistan become independent from all the intruders......and mayhem. any questions, just ask. faye

WELCOME TO PASHTUNFORUMS
THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS TOWARDS US
YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME IN OUR COUNTRY

AFGHAN AUSTRALIANS HAVE AN OLD RELATIONSHIP
DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE AFGHANS WHO CAME TO AUSTRALIA OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO AND ABOUT THE TRAIN SERVICE CALLED GHAN?

can you tell us more about that?

[Laila]

Welcome Faye...I am glad you made a thread for yourself.

I have more pictures if you want them.

Care to share some of your sketches?

[Gulalai]

Welcome! (:

[Azad Khel]

Welcome and thank you for your love towards Afghans/Pukhtoon.

[faye]

thank you all for the warm welcome. from the map i looked at it appears that i was in pukhtoon areas.
the afghan pressence in australia goes way back. i have to check on the origin of them coming here but as far as i know it was as camel drivers. big ares of desert here and long distances between some places. i assume your people helped carry goods from town to town using camels and thereby helped in building this country. many wild camels still in the centre of australia.

[*Mahzala*]

AFGHAN AUSTRALIANS HAVE AN OLD RELATIONSHIP
DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE AFGHANS WHO CAME TO AUSTRALIA OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO AND ABOUT THE TRAIN SERVICE CALLED GHAN?

can you tell us more about that?

the afghan pressence in australia goes way back. i have to check on the origin of them coming here but as far as i know it was as camel drivers. big ares of desert here and long distances between some places. i assume your people helped carry goods from town to town using camels and thereby helped in building this country. many wild camels still in the centre of australia.

Faye, welcome to the forums. I look very forward to your contributions.

As for the question on the Afghan camel riders and their contribution to Australia, it goes without saying that their contribution was far-reached. The railway which takes the name The Ghan is termed as such after the name was shortened in recent years from the word Afghan. The Ghan's emblem is an Afghan male on a camel in recognition of their efforts in opening up the interior to the rest of Australia. Their living quarters were termed The Ghan or Afghan towns and cameleers would build Masjids that would not only serve as a place of worship, but as a gathering place that offered them a sense of community that they could not find elsewhere. How they were dealt with, is not a pretty picture in history books. To scratch the surface, many men were buried with their camels. In some instances, European attitudes to the cameleers focused on their religion and in other cases, it was related to their pride and independence as, at the time, Afghanistan was really only known to most Australians as the country that had, unlike British India, resisted the superpowers' forces. However, they were shunned despite their skills and hardwork. There was more acceptance by the local Aboriginal populations. Afghans have made a substantial contribution to South Australia in particular but history has almost ignored them, and the role they played opening up inland Australia. Without the efforts of the Afghans, much of the development of the outback would have been very difficult. Whole communities, towns, mining establishments, pastoral properties and some well known explorations in the interior have been made successful because of their contributions. Recently though, they have been recognised, in many Arts Exhibitions and museums, the most recent late February this year in one of Victoria's museums.

[faye]

mazhala, that is a lot more than i knew but i worked with the elders of the native people in northern australia and some of the really old guys had also worked with the camel trains. i will be looking for more info on this subject. faye

[*Mahzala*]

mazhala, that is a lot more than i knew but i worked with the elders of the native people in northern australia and some of the really old guys had also worked with the camel trains. i will be looking for more info on this subject. faye

Well, it is not a subject taught in primary school books. What is to be Australian, is a concept yet to be defined.

Nice having you on board.

[faye]

thankyou, afghanlady. hope i can live up to those compliments.
mahzala, i looked up a site..south australian history. THE AFGHAN CAMELMEN. very interesting. on there it says the first afghan came to australia in 1838. also not all were from afghanistan, some were from other muslim countries but were all called afghans. they built mosques and kept up their religion and some had successful camel businesses. lots of good info in the article and other sites have more and photos.

[eyeliner]

welcome to PF

[Shehbaz Khan]

Welcome dear

[Admin Khan]

Faye,

Welcome aboard.

[kakargirl]

welcome faye to the forum enjoy your stay its great here

[faye]

i have become addicted to this forum. i am really enjoying reading some of the debates, that get quite heated at times. some tend to flow hot to cold then back again. lots of humour also, which i enjoy. there is a lot i don't know about the pashtun culture, but i am learning. because of my ignorance i don't make too many comments until i have a better understanding.