Afghanistan is a land of walls. Mud brick walls line the busy streets of Kabul as well as the dusty roads of most villages. Walls enclose both homes and businesses. Even Afghanistan’s horizons are ringed with the rugged mountain walls of the Hindu Kush, an offshoot of the Himalayas.

The mountains of central Afghanistan are called the Hazarajat after the inhabitants, the Hazara. There was a time when the Hazara lived on better land, but centuries of conflict forced the Hazara up into the safety of the harsh mountains.

Read how Mehdi and his family fled to the mountains during the war with the Taliban ... read Mehdi's story