Make a donation today and help us reach twice as many women in Afghanistan:Īlice, Rosie and Pippa are fundraising for Afghanaid and would love your support! On the 10th September, we will be running 26.2 miles through the vineyards of the Médoc region, France. That means right now you have the opportunity to double your impact. Until 30th September 2022, donations made to our By Her Side campaign will be doubled by the UK government. In this way, we could all learn from Afghanistan - with a hand on our hearts, a gentle acknowledgement of the head, and plenty of questions about our families and well-being, we can all pay our respects to one another whilst keeping a safe two metre distance! So join us and #SalaamForSafety! How can you help people in Afghanistan?

What this pandemic has therefore made clear is the need for a physical greeting which conveys both respect and sincerity without the need for physical touch. The avoidance of the common handshake or cheek-kissing has led to many coming up with new substitutions - as such, we have seen the proliferation of 'footshakes' and elbow-bumping in our new Coronavirus-etiquette. As a reflection of modesty, it is polite to keep eye contact to a minimum during greetings with people who are not close friends or family, especially if you are greeting someone of the opposite gender, or as a means to respect the wisdom and seniority of someone who is older.Ī very common form of physical greeting is to place your right hand over your heart and nod gently to show both respect and sincerity in your exchange.Īmidst the spread of COVID-19, there has been plenty of discussion about the sue of traditional physical greetings when promoting the reduction of virus transmission. Generally, people of the opposite gender who are not family members do not touch during greetings. The handshake is a common form of greeting, however this greeting is dependent on your gender, as well as the gender of, and your relation to, the person you are meeting. Starting off with a direct question can be considered impolite when greeting people in Afghanistan. It is then customary for prolonged enquiries to take place, with each person asking about the health, business, or family of the other - 'how are you?' is 'tsenga yee? ” in Pashto and “c hetoor hasti? ” or 'khoob hasti?' in Dari. The shortest common verbal greeting is Salaam or Salaam Alaikum, meaning 'Peace be upon you' in Arabic - it is used amongst Muslims across the world. Verbal greetingsĪrabic greetings and phrases are widespread in Afghanistan as it is the language of Islam, the official religion in the country. In addition to Dari and Pashto, there are a number of regional languages spoken across Afghanistan including Uzbek, Turkmen and Balochi. Dari is the official name of the Persian spoken in Afghanistan - although it is widely known as Farsi, the Afghan government changed its name to Dari in 1964. Languages in Afghanistanĭari and Pashto are official languages in Afghanistan and are both part of the Iranian language family. Follow our guide to Afghan greetings and discover why they are particularly suitable to our new COVID-19 reality.

As is consistent with Afghanistan's modest and extremely hospitable culture, greeting Afghan people correctly is important to show both sincerity and respect.

Asa lama lakum