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“Travel to Afghanistan and any stay of any kind are not recommended,” says the website of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA). US authorities also strongly advise against traveling to the country. New Yorker Jacquelyn Kunz (32) is not impressed by such travel warnings. She traveled to Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power. For this, the platform “NomadMania” called her “the bravest traveler in the world”.
In 2015, the American moved from New York to Khartoum in Sudan. It was an “impulsive decision after a really bad day at work,” she says. Originally planning to stay in Khartoum for six months, she has now called Sudan her home for eight years.
Power outages, 45 degrees in summer, political conflicts – Kunz accepted all this because the hospitality of the people was priceless. Kunz already knows Sudan like the back of her hand. «I have worked a lot in Darfur over the years. Most people think of genocide and war, but when I was there it was beautiful. The culture is very rich,” she says.
Saw her house in flames
But this year her life suddenly changed. Last May, a bloody power struggle broke out between ruler Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan and his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo. “I live in the middle of it, Khartoum is the worst place there is. About ten days after the war started, the military came and said they were going to take over my apartment,” Kunz says. 3.3 million people were forced to flee, including Americans.
From abroad she saw on TV how her house burned down – ‘surreal’, as she describes the scene. Kunz later uses Google Maps to find out if her house is still standing.
Since she had to leave the country, she has been looking for her place in the world. Sudan was not only the home base but also the workplace of Kunz, an expert in the field of educational development. Since her escape, she has been to Finland, Morocco and Ecuador. She would prefer to return to Sudan, but the situation remains too turbulent.
Which does not mean that the American is afraid to take risks. In June 2022, Kunz traveled to Afghanistan. She was convinced that ‘with the bad guys at the top’ some kind of stability had been created in the country. «I took the bus to Kandahar. At a checkpoint, the Taliban boarded the plane and forced everyone to sit up so they could sit down. “They all had guns,” she says of the trip.
Taliban fighters put feet on her head
Kunz wore a niqab, a head covering with a face veil, so he did not stand out in the crowd. She says: “A man sat behind me on the bus and put his feet on my head for a few hours. I felt his toes on my head.” The way women are treated in Afghanistan was a very intense experience for the American woman. “They see women as furniture.” While visiting a family, she discovered that the oppression of women was terrible, but at least there was now some kind of peace.
She took a road trip through Iraq – as a hitchhiker. “There are many checkpoints in Iraq, but they are very friendly. They ask to take selfies with you and are very happy to see a foreign woman,” says Kunz. It is clear to them: the government and the people are different. In every city that is statistically dangerous, she met people who showed her the city and its culture.
The next trip is already planned: “In a few weeks I will probably go to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” she says. It is not easy to get a visa. But: “I want to see the Congo River. I am very excited.”
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
