Sent for Carpets ...

Friday, July 31st

Kabul, Afghanistan

For security reasons, we are stuck here on the compound. So I asked the guards to drive to Ganjina and pick up the two carpets I had on hold. What do you think?

I'll Take These Guys

Thursday, July 30th

Kabul, Afghanistan

As the only woman on my project team I had sort of expected, perhaps delusionally, that my colleagues might be looking out for me here. I sort of imagined a kind of chivalry from them. They are an extremely nice bunch. But whenever we have a meeting in downtown Kabul my Brooks Brothers suit-clad colleagues dash out of the jeep faster than you can count to three. They form a sort of impenetrable clump while scurrying into the building - leaving me out on the street struggling with my head covering and holding all the documents. The Afghan bodyguards are also usually scratching their heads when they see the blur of gabardine dash away from the jeep. I mean how weird is this? Here we are rolling out programs to empower Afghan women, provide healthcare to Afghan women ... and basically inferring that most Afghan men are animals. And here I am shoved in the back seat of a jeep with my bodyguard while all my male colleagues ignore me. I imagine they are probably nervous - trying to act like this entire life of machine guns, bodyguards & burkas is somehow normal. My Afghan guard, Zia treats me like a friend and a lady. So when the colleagues flee the jeep I always have Zia. But still, it's weird.

Today we are on high alert for suicide bombers. Our compound Security Manager, Mike is a drunk. He sent me a cryptic email saying I should be on high alert for a " Female BBIED". Huh?? What on earth is that? Babe-in-a-Burka? He refused to tell me. Mike just snarls at me or sits like a totem pole when I ask him anything. On my last day here I intend to call him a jack-ass. But for now I need to figure out how to survive this fool. Mercifully I also have a new detail of ISAF (International Special Forces) and a friend in Washington D.C. who calmly explained BBIED means body born improvised explosive devise. Lovely.

Well at least I have a clear explanation. These three ISAF guys: Steve, Mack & Mike are very nice and very big. Huge in fact. But despite their hulking physique - they are absolute gentlemen. They treat me and Zia with respect. God only knows what they think of our security manager.

Meanwhile the Brooks Brothers brigade is figuring out how to go to the mens'-only golf course in Kabul tomorrow. Mike the security manager made up some bullshit briefing about how the western part of the city was off limits - except the Kabul golf course - and ordered me to stay on the compound and cook. If you hear of an American casualty from a frying pan to the head injury don't be surprised.

I remain impressed and humbled with how the U.S. troops are always so professional and respectful. If the Beltway Bandits had a fraction of the professional commitment of the U.S. military we'd be making headway. I personally think most Afghan men are nice. I think they like to see officers and gentlemen. But then again, it's late on Thursday night and I'm pooped and I have to figure out what to cook. Pigs- In- A- Blanket I think.

Today at Ganjina

Wednesday, July 28th

Kabul, Afghanistan

Today I am at the halfway point in my project. I finished my draft, submitted it to USAID and then went off to meet with someone at The World Bank. It was liberating to go off in a small, un-armored car with just a driver and a body guard ... and not a caravan of guns. I pulled into the World bank compound, which is beautifully manicured, and for the first time in three weeks, was able to stand outside in the warm summer sun ... feeling the breeze on my hair and listening to birds. I felt like a liberated hostage. I didn't want to leave.

Instead of returning back to the compound after my meeting I asked my driver to take me to Ganjina.

Ganjina is a beautiful craft center tucked away in Kabul. We drove to the gate - went through the usual check for bombs under the car and were ushered into a magnificent garden ... roses, fish ponds, canaries, pine trees and a wonderful grapevine orchard - all leading into a 200 year old building that serves as a showroom for wonderful handmade fashions and crafts. I went inside and tried on sumptuous silk clothes. My bodyguard tagged along ... and seemed to be enjoying himself. He's quite the fashionista. Honestly, he helped me pick out fabric for a wonderful jacket ...and then I selected the silk for embroidery. We left the driver snoozing under the grapes ... with my camera. He took this photo.

It was nice to feel normal today.

KIND HANDS - STRONG VILLAGE

Tuesday, July 28th
Kabul, Afghanistan

... In life there is male and female. You need both to make a balanced world. If the right hand is man and the left hand is women - then Afghanistan has had it's left hand tied behind it's back. The right hand can't do everything. It thinks it can - but it can't. It can't even wash itself. In fact without allowing the left and right hands to swing freely the whole body is off balance. So the left hand needs to come out and be whole and free - to let the broken right hand repair itself ...

My young colleague Khan Mohammed Poya approached me the other day with an idea for forming a non-profit organization dedicated to ending domestic violence and promoting respect toward women. He feels as an Afghan man, that unless young men are taught to respect women - that all the 'gender' projects in the world will be meaningless. He wants to have a camp where boys between the age of 8-14 (an impressionable age in any culture) will come together to learn about tolerance, respect and leadership. He loves the "SEEDS OF PEACE" program and wants to so something like to promote respect towards girls and women. So he asked for my help.

I drafted a Delphic outline for what a not-for-profit organization might do ... with a mission statement. But then I asked my sister to think of a good name. She and Poya have been communicating on-line for the last three days. The finally agreed on the name KIND HANDS - STRONG VILLAGE.

Poya and his friend Omer are thrilled about this. They went out today and registered the company as an NGO and have created a board of directors and are organizing meetings with medical doctors, teachers and other stakeholders. I am so impressed with them. Thank you Poya ... for getting your idea out!

Let's make this happen!

White Hats

Monday, July 27th

Kabul, Afghanistan

Taliban turban. Need I say more?

Malnutrition Means Many Things

July 26, 2009

Kabul, Afghanistan

In Afghanistan today one out of every four children dies before they reach five years of age. These are the worst health indicators ever recorded. Most mothers are malnourished and therefor cannot produce breast milk. Salt is not iodized. There is very little access to fresh fruits and vegetables in most of the country. To roll out a vaccination program here requires three times the normal dosage of vaccines because nobody has a strong immune system.

Yet strangely childhood obesity is on the rise. Obese children are still usually malnourished here. However there is a program through Save the Children-USA and various NGO's - to educate children on healthy eating and hygiene. A little magazine called PARVAS is disseminated to children throughout the country. These children take the magazine home and read it to their parents - and together they are all learning to read.

How strange that Childhood Obesity is happening everywhere in the world.

Figuring Out Who the Bad Guy Is.

Thursday, July 23rd

Kabul, Afghanistan

Meeting with the coordinator of the provisional reconstruction teams for USAID today was a bit disheartening. The rift between the U.S. Military and USAID is so thick you can cut it with a knife. As metaphors prevail, it turns out there is a quiet little Afghan organization trying to get the message out to villages about how not to be afraid of U.S. and Afghan military. The little brochure they produced is simply called "COMMANDOS." It is a low-literacy brochure that describes how to work with military to root out the Taliban.

I wish there were a little brochure designed for USAID and The U.S. Military to figure out how to get along.