Kuchis

I'm not trying to be vulgar here, but the Kuchis I am referring to are nomadic, sand people. They reside in their makeshift tents in Ghazni during the summer and move to warmer regions in Eastern Afghanistan such as Khost province during the winter. Sheep herding represents the primary source of income for these Pashtun people. A single sheep can earn them anywhere from 4000-6000 Afghani ($80-$120). A Kuchi family can easily have thirty to forty sheep so you can do the math. It may not appear like much money in US standards, but that is a solid living for an Afghan. Besides selling the sheep, they also sell the wool/cashmere. The PRT has been supporting a project involving Kuchi wool washing as most of the wool is exported to Pakistan for processing. Pakistan then sells the wool/cashmere back to Afghanistan at an inflated price. If we could teach the Kuchis to process their own wool, they could keep that money within Afghanistan.
In this picture I'm hanging out with a couple of Kuchi sheep. Notice the green spray paint on their back for identification. These sheep are famous in that they have a large layer of fat in their butts. The fat cubes are mixed with the meat chunks in a layer of nan (bread) to make a kind of wrap. The fat cubes have the consistency of a gummy bear and taste just like they sound . . . Delicious!