Afghanistan - Kabul - Portrait of Daily Life

Hassina Syed, a business woman, with her two daughters Sana, 3, and Hirah, 2, at her home and business, the Gandamack Lodge Hotel. She also rents armored cars, runs a farming business, a travel agency, and a bedding shop. She is married to Peter Jouvenal, a former soldier, journalist, and Westerner who has lived in Afghanistan for 20 years. She experienced first hand how terrifying the Taliban could be. She says, "I opened up the Chadri (mesh front of the burkha) to see a tea-cup and suddenly from the back, a Taliban soldier came with a big stick, shouting at me. If you get beaten by a Taliban, you could die. I made myself look as old and bad as possible because if they (the Taliban) saw you looking even a bit beautiful, they could come to your house and take you as one of their wives. For me, kidnapping is a big problem." (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)