Some were a little more eager than others. Robb, for example, had so much energy he decided to join several of our male Afghan hosts who have banded together to do "sporting" every morning at sunrise in hopes of reducing the size of their "graveyards of chickens." One event Robb took part in was running laps around the Guest House. (Did I mention this was at sunrise... 4:12 a.m.?) And although Robb did his best, he – in the tradition of Scott Nickel before him – kept alive our losing streak in FCC vs. Afghan foot races. If you're keeping score at home that would be Afghans 2, Flatirons 0. But it was great fun for we bleary eyed spectators as well as all the participants.
After breakfast we piled in our transport vehicles and headed to Barek Aub. As we drove north out of Kabul we began to notice more new construction, improved roads, and even the thousands of roadside trees that had been planted within the last two years were growing taller and looking healthier. We couldn't help but wonder if that same developmental growth would be evident in Barek Aub, too.
When we arrived at BA we first visited the Basic Health Clinic, built in 2008. The clinic has been fully functional for some time now and there were lines of people from Barek Aub, a nearby village, and even a few Kuchi (nomads) waiting to be seen. In all my previous visits I've never seen the clinic so active and being so "used" – a really good thing.
We then took a walk down the hill to the school and were met along the way by a couple dozen children who had already finished their classes for the day. Several of the kids were familiar faces while many were new, but all were excited to see their friends from the USA. We poked our heads in on several classes still in session and were surprised by the behavior of the kids – actually paying attention to their teachers! The government-supplied teachers have been replaced over the months by teachers from Barek Aub and the surrounding area and they've taken a much greater interest in the welfare of the kids... and it really shows.
Another extremely gratifying change is seeing the beginning of construction of the boundary wall around the school. The wall will serve a dual purpose – to protect the kids and also to put men of Barek Aub to work. And best of all, this is all financed by the proceeds from the sale of the knitted caps, socks, and gloves which were sold at FCC last December. This is tue micro-enterprise at work in Barek Aub! Through donations a group of widows from BA were hired to knit the caps, socks, and gloves which put money in their pockets and into the BA economy. Then those beautiful and surprisingly trendy caps, socks, and gloves were sold here at FCC and the proceeds were used to pay a group of BA men to build the boundary wall through a Food For Work program – everybody wins!
We then made a stop at the well and pump house – the original project at Barek Aub funded by FCC. It was extremely gratifying to see the water project, which fills a 73,000 gallon reservoir filled to capacity twice each day, meeting the needs of so many people. It is definitely a time for joy, but not for celebration without pause. They may have enough to drink, but need so much more to grow crops or provide grazing land for livestock, both of which which could play a large role in Barek Aub's goal of self-sustainability.
We made one last stop before leaving Barek Aub and that was to the home of one of the widows living in the village. The women from our team went inside the house to chat with the widow and her recently married daughter while the men from the team stayed out in the courtyard chatting with the widow's brother and admiring the crops in his garden. These weren't "meetings" or anything like that - just simple relationship building. I don't think anything particularly profound was discussed by anyone in either group, but they just might have been the most important conversations of the day.
Then it was back to the guest house for a brief rest and some personal time before a quick trip for some souvenir shopping.
But on the way to dinner tonight I was reminded of a key ingredient in the makeup of the Afghan people and it once again reminded me that I really need to reexamine my own preconceived notions and beliefs about people living in poverty. This reminder came in the form of a flat tire... ours! As we were driving to dinner we discovered that one of the tires on our vehicle had suffered a slow leak. Our driver pulled over and within 5 minutes a tire repairman had inspected and plugged our leaking tire, refilled it with air, and we were back on the road. All without us ever even getting out of the car or being raised on a jack! Did we just happen to pull over next to the only tire repairman who makes house calls in Kabul? Nope... there are hundreds if not thousands of them throughout the city! It was a very simple but clear reminder that Afghans are amazingly resourceful people. They are dying to work and be productive and simply need the means to get back on their feet.
We had a wonderful time together at dinner and are calling it quits for the night. General strength and health of the group is good except for LaNae who is fighting her way through a nasty sinus infection and could use your prayers.
Thank you for your continued support. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!
--Bob
