Postcard from Kabul, Afghanistan

Kabul comes to a standstill every day due to the Taliban. There's a growing fear that there'll be more attacks and so safety measures are increasing. And they're creating endless traffic jams. The city's main roads, where the ministries, embassies and the ISAF have their offices, are being closed off with blast walls, barbed wire and tank traps.

There are about half a million cars in this city of five million, and they squeeze their way through the side streets alongside hand trucks and donkey carts. It's a game of stop and go for hours on end. We make complicated detours to avoid the chaos - usually without much success. The DW Akademie workshop we're holding is only six kilometers away. A few years ago it would have taken about 20 minutes to get there, but during rush hour it can now take up to an hour. Reporters in Kabul know this and plan their schedules accordingly.

And so my Afghan colleagues and I tend to complain about the traffic and not about fears of more attacks. Beneath the surface, though, many - myself included - are anxious. But our work and the daily obstacles we encounter keep us busy and on our toes.

Traffic jam in Kabul

Florian Weigand has been working for DW Akademie since 2008 - initially as a trainer and project manager and more recently as the regional coordinator for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Prior to joining DW Akademie Weigand spent four years in Kabul working as a media expert for the former German Development Service (DED). In June he and his colleague, Ahmad Said Suma, trained radio journalists from Ariana FM in reporting live from crisis areas. Ariana is a radio and television broadcaster and a longtime DW Akademie partner.