I had a feeling this would be our toughest day yet, but I had no idea we'd find ourselves on quite such a roller coaster ride of emotion.

 

Our day started with a tour of the new Kabul Hopeful Hearts School For Street Kids.  This is a school designed to help children who are forced to earn a living for their families on the streets of Kabul, rummaging through dumps and refuse piles for anything they can find to sell for even a few pennies.  Since they’re constantly on the street they have no time for school and without an education or vocational training they have little to no chance of escaping the cycle of illiteracy and poverty.

 

The goal of the school is to teach these kids how to read and write Dari, give them some hygiene training and basic life skills, and give them accelerated educational training to get them to the point where they can be integrated into the public school system at their age level where they frequently excel.  The school also provides them a hot nourishing meal, something they NEVER get on the streets or at home.

 

The school opened in 2009 with 49 students and they now have 220 kids enrolled in 5 different class sessions.  They recently moved into a new building where they have ample classroom space for that many kids (and more) and even a small yard for exercise.  The classroom walls are brightly painted and well decorated – an environment very conducive for learning.

 

We were privileged to sit in on all three classes in the morning, hearing the kids recite their lessons and even singing a couple songs for us.  They are all VERY proud of their lesson books, are extremely well mannered, and literally hang on every word coming out of their teacher’s mouth.

 

 

An IDP camp is a unique place.  Technically it is a temporary home for refugees (Internally Displaced Persons) returning to their home country until they can find permanent residence.  There are 38 IDP camps scattered around Kabul that house several hundred thousands of people who cannot find permanent homes.  They are located on otherwise unoccupied pieces of land, often squeezed between buildings.  You can drive right past some of the smaller camps and not even know it.

 

But the moment you pull up to one and get out of your vehicle, you know in an instant where you are.  People begin to gather as word spreads of the arrival of our three SUV’s and they all begin staring… at you.  The ground is covered with a hodgepodge of raggedy tents packed together like sardines, only not nearly as orderly.  There is no power, no water, and no sanitation.  The variety of smells defies description, but as I noted last year, the one thing I didn’t smell was food.

 

But the most memorable thing I always come away with is the look of utter desperation in everyone’s eyes.  Spend any time at an IDP camp and that look will haunt you for a long, long time.

 

Today we visited the Kabul Mondaray IDP Camp near the center of the city.  We came prepared to distribute clothing and school supplies to 40 families, but before we were even halfway done it was apparent there are closer to 200 families living there now.  And many have been living there for years, not months.

 

There were a few anxious moments as the crowd that had gathered realized we didn’t have nearly enough for everyone, but other than some arguments among a few of the adult leaders and some skirmishes among the children for the last few pencils and notebooks (can you imagine American kids fighting for school supplies?) the majority of the crowd remained orderly.  Several of them thanked us profusely.  Most simply took the bagged items and left as quickly as they could.

 

We were in and out in about 40 minutes, but it seemed like hours.  Most people will never witness that level of poverty in their lifetime… it’s certainly something none of us have ever seen before or will ever forget.

 

Every member of the team was deeply affected by what we had experienced so we cancelled our plans to return to the Kabul School in the afternoon in order to have an impromptu debrief session to work through the myriad feelings we’re all experiencing.  This team is all people from Flatirons so you can imagine how gritty and honest the sharing was.  Several were still too upset to talk about it hours later.  No amount of training or briefings can truly prepare you for what we witnessed.  There is still a lot of processing to be done.

 

A comment I heard from more than one person was that they were thankful for the experience because it had finally put a context to the word “poverty” in a unique and profound way.

 

It also makes us even more thankful for the amazing progress made in Barek Aub since the residents were “rescued” from a very similar IDP camp in Kabul only four years ago.

 

Please join us in praying for the health and safety for the people of the Mondaray IDP camp.  Also for wisdom and motivation for the Kabul government that they would relocate them to land where they can at least try to begin a new life for their families.  And lastly for an organization to partner with them, like the one that partners with the people of Barek Aub, so they will know they don’t have to go through this struggle alone.

 

I’m sorry this update didn’t end as happily as it began.  But that’s how our day went and we are so thankful to have YOU to go through it with us.

 

God bless you for your support and prayers.  We couldn’t make this journey without you.

 

--Bob