Portrait of Nickbakht, 21 years old, double arm amputee. This image was taken in her home in the village of Aliabod, in Mazar-e-Sharif. Nickbakht was in a car accident seven years ago when all of the family was travelling to Kabul. Both her parents died and her younger brother was left with bad legs/ has difficulty walking. In the first year Nickbakht was depressed, but she managed to overcome her disability and now she is the bread-winner of the family. Until six months ago she was working as a counsellor and providing peer support for the Afghan Landmine Survivors Organization (ALSO). Now she is unemployed, but she still does lot of social volunteer work. Nickbakht is a very smart girl and hopes to continue studying.

Mobin, 5 years old. Here he raises his eyes to the ceiling in his house in Kabul, a typical gesture. Mobin was born with autism, and doesn’t understand the concept of danger. The family has taken him to see seven specialists, but nothing has changed. They all say that their son can’t be treated in Afghanistan and they should take him abroad. The family is concerned about Mobin’s future because Afghanistan has no educational services for autism.

Fatima, 25 years old, prepares the oven to bake bread for her family and neighbours. Fatima suffered a serious infection to her face when she was nine years old and she lost part of her chin bone. She is paid 10 Afghani for every loaf of bread. Before the infection she worked as a shepherd in the Province of Ghur, her home. People avoid survivors of facial diseases. Nobody wants to speak to them, and they are isolated. People don’t even want to look at them. When Fatima’s brother married, he decided to offer Fatima in marriage to his future brother-in-law (an Afghan tradition known as Badalì). She is now married with two children.

A mentally disturbed man is stretched out on the pavement in one of the main streets in west Kabul. He receives no assistance. Afghanistan people with mental disabilities are one of the most vulnerable groups of the community. So far several NGO's and government agencies have provided a few services for mental disabilities, but their programs fall far from meeting the needs of these people and there are no specific actions taken to alleviate the problem. The difference between lightning and a lightning bug* *This quotation, from Mark Twain, American author and humorist, refers to the abyss between two different sources of light. The powerful flash of lightning against the faint glow of the firefly. As to light, the same anology can be applied to the very different situations that persons with disabilities face up to in their lifetime.

Mohammed, 13 years old, prays at the grave of his cousin and best friend Haji Ahmad, 15 years old. Haji was an orphan and a Paraplegic and he lived with his sister. The rest of the family didn’t want to know about him. Before he died, Haji hadn’t been to school for almost a year because his wheelchair was broken. His sister attempted to contact different organizations to get a new wheelchair but she never succeeded. In this period Haji stayed at home and was depressed.

Sayed, 25 years old, landmine survivor and double amputee. Here Sayed is climbing a hill on his way to the grocery shop where he works part-time in the city of Bamyan. During the day he frequents university, where he recently enrolled in the faculty of psychology. Twice a day he walks 4.6km in order to attend the course.

Khulam Ali, 29 years old, landmine survivor and double amputee. Twice a day, Khulam walks 5 km to and from work in the province of Bamyan. He runs a small grocery shop and he manages to make enough for a living. Occasionally he finds people who give him a lift, but most of the time he has to walk. Khulam Ali is having problems with his prostheses and has been trying to get new ones for the past four months.

Portrait of Shukrya (left) and Nuria at the Afghan Association of the Blind (AAB) in Mazar-e-Sharif. Both sisters are blind and they have been attending the Association for the past four years. So far they have learned to read and write. Before coming they stayed at home on their own without doing anything. “Our lives have changed completely since coming to AAB, we are much happier”, says Nuria.

Safar, 30 years old, in his house in the North of Kabul. Safar has a congenital disease. He generally stays at home on his own without any recreation or stimulation from the outside world. He has been suffering with a sore throat for a long time but the family cannot find a cure. Quite often in Afghanistan, families who have members with a disability prefer not to talk about the person or let them appear in public.

Hafiza, 60 years old, awaits food distribution. The World Food Program (WFP) supplies food to the Afghan Association of the Blind in Mazar-e-Sharif. Hafiza was wounded in an eye when a rocket landed near her house during the Taliban war. The food is distributed to poor people who are either blind or visually impaired. With winter coming soon, it is very difficult for them to survive.

Portrait of Norya inside the Dasht-e-barchi sub office of the Community Center for the Disabled (CCD), an Afghan NGO, in Kabul. Norea is an inspiring table tennis player who won first prize in a national competition where she was also awarded a trophy for her force of character. She is a member of the National Afghan Paralympics team. When CCD first met with Norya she was very shy because of her disability. After receiving counselling, CCD sent her to a private school where she discovered table tennis. Norya trained very hard and was selected to go to the London Paralympics in 2012, however she didn’t go because her family wouldn’t allow her to participate.

Malik Mohammad, 20 years old, shows how he can walk on his hands at the Ghazi Stadium in the city of Kabul. Malik is a landmine survivor who lost both of his legs to a landmine near the airport in Kabul. Before the accident Malik worked in a bakery. After the accident he tried many different sports including basketball, skiing, swimming, surfing and running. But in the end his favourite is swimming and lately running. His next competition is the 2014 Asian Paralympics Games in South Korea, where he will compete as a swimmer.

Zubair, 28 years old, training in a private swimming pool in the city of Kabul. Zubair lost his hand to a landmine when he was seven years old. Now he is a member of the national Paralympics team as a swimmer but he also practices other disciplines, including Taekwondo and running. In 2012 he won a silver medal at the Southeast Asian Paralympics games in Taekwondo.