Life as a Mum in Afghanistan

My daughter was two when I first came to Afghanistan. At the time, I was both excited and apprehensive about what parenting in Afghanistan would be like. Like being a mum anywhere in the world, there have been highs and lows, precious memories made and challenging moments I’ve learned from. My daughter is now seven and we have a two-year-old son, and despite the challenges, I can honestly say that bringing my children up here continues to be a rewarding experience.

We have spent the majority of our time here living in a rural location; a village up in the mountains. Recently, however, due to work reasons and schooling for our daughter, we have moved to a bigger city. Both locations have their positive and negative aspects.

What is it like?

Being a mum here has been a great way to build relationships with local neighbours and colleagues; it’s something we immediately have in common and is a great starting point for conversations. Learning about parenting in Afghanistan, a completely foreign culture to me, has been interesting; there have been aspects I have learned from and also things I have found difficult. However, sharing some of the joys and challenges of parenting with my local friends is really worthwhile. My daughter also enjoyed playing with my neighbours’ children, particularly when she was younger, although she has found these friendships challenging for her at times due to the language barriers.

Another really positive aspect of raising children here has been the way in which the expatriate children here seem to stay ‘younger’ for longer, compared to my experience in my home country. There is much less external pressure on them to behave and act in a certain way. Instead, there is more time for them to just enjoying playing.

Both my children love to play out in our garden. They spend time building dens, making mud pies, playing in the sandbox, on their bikes, building snowmen, and so forth. When we were living in a rural location in Afghanistan, my daughter spent many hours outside. She played in the river by our house, went for walks in the mountains, and sledged and built snow houses in the winter. Even here in the city, we have enjoyed day trips out with other expatriate families into the mountains and countryside outside of the city.

One of the advantages of living in the city is there are lots of other expatriate mums to spend time with. We are able to arrange playdates with, and share the ups and downs of life here. There are families here from all over the world and I enjoy the way in which my children have opportunities to learn about the culture and customs here in Afghanistan and also learn about other cultures around the world. Recently we enjoyed celebrating (American) Thanksgiving, and our first Christmas here was a rather eclectic mix of British, Canadian and Finnish food!

My daughter has recently started going to the small expatriate school here which she is really enjoying and thriving at. The small class sizes mean she knows all of her classmates well. She is also able to get much more individualised attention.

Life as a family

Family life here in Afghanistan has been good. When we were living back in the UK my husband had an hour-long commute to work and I often worked at nights and weekends; we didn’t always have that much time as a family. Here the office is a short walk away, and despite working hard, we have much more time together as a family.

If you have any questions about bringing up your children here, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Feel free to private message us on our Facebook page, or email us at @.

You can read more about expatriate life in Afghanistan here.