Kuchi

Outside of the city of Kabul, in the plains at the foot of the mountains, the Kuchi people live. They are a tribe of Afghans that live a nomadic life; herding sheep and goats. Over the 3 days at this outlying clinic, I had many interactions with them, primarily the women and children. They are fascinating people!

The first thing you notice is their brightly colored attire. Starting from the bottom up, you have foam sandals on dusty, calloused feet. Their legs are covered with bright, solid colored balloon-like pants that go all the way to their ankles. Their body is covered by an intricately decorated dress. It is long sleeved and fitted on the top. There is a long, full skirt that drops below the knee. This dress has brightly-colored, detailed embroidery, beadwork and metal amulates. Their hands have red henna on the palms and nails. They also have gold rings on their fingers and bangle bracelets on both wrists. Over their head is another colored scarf. It is covering dark hair that is sometimes braided and decorated with colored threads. It is pressed closely to their foreheads, almost to give the impression that it is a wig. They don’t wear a burka, but do cover their face with the scarf when needed. Their face is scared with hyper pigmented spots from Leischmaniasis. Some of them had black tattoos on their chin and forehead. Many of them also had a gold nose piercing. Their eyes were captivatingly large and really draw you in. Throughout clinic, I would look into their eyes as I took their history and could see my own reflection there. It was a weird moment.

I posted some pictures yesterday of some of the Kuchi children. Can you see how huge their eyes are? On the infants, they place black eyeliner around the eyes. I was told it was ward off evil spirits.