We were also very happy (and not just a little bit surprised) to see Mullah Majinoon – a man I remember from last June as a very imposing figure – join us and begin serving tea to everyone in the room! He was smiling from ear to ear, mixing with everyone warmly and openly. He even got so caught up in the excitement of the occasion that he asked to be measured for a school uniform, and BobC quickly took him up on it!
But as happy an occasion as it was for all of us, after the boys removed their coats and I began to take measurements of their shoulders and chest, it was painfully evident that these kids are still a long way from being healthy. Collar bones, shoulder blades, and ribs protrude prominently through their shirts as a sobering reminder that they haven’t had a solid meal in months. There is still a lot of work to be done in Barek Aub.
All too soon it was time to leave the camp for the last time and head back to Kabul. It is always hard to leave these wonderful people behind and tears are plentiful, but I noticed this time that there is far less hopelessness in their eyes… they know we (the Flatirons “clan”) will return again… and again… and again until Barek Aub goes from “surviving” to “thriving.”
We had an early afternoon appointment in Karta Se at the International School of Kabul, which meant we didn’t have time to head to the guest house for lunch so our host treated us to street kebabs on Chicken Street – unanimously proclaimed the best food we’ve had on the entire trip. We heard after lunch that street kebabs have been known to launch a case of “the Kabul diet,” but so far no one has been afflicted (that I know of).
Before touring ISK, we first met with Susan and Curt at Silk Road Solutions and heard about exciting long term economic development plans in Kabul and throughout Afghanistan. We then got a tour of the ISK facility which is a fully accredited American language school (which Tracee helped launch almost 10 years ago) serving the educational needs of more than 250 students from around the world in the heart of Kabul.
One of the joys of staying at our host organization's guest house is the variety of guests that occasionally drop by and tonight was no exception. One of the teachers Tracee used to work with at ISK is Debbie and she, her husband, and 4 kids were able to join us for dinner tonight. It was fascinating hearing about the work they’ve been doing in Afghanistan for the past 18 years and their thoughts about Afghanistan’s future. The family recently built a lodge guest house in the mountains outside Istalef that we’re hoping to visit tomorrow when we go to Istalef to visit their medical clinic and see the rebuilding and development work our partner organization has been doing there since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
After dinner our host had one of his cravings and ran to the store and brought back an assortment of ice cream treats for everyone that really hit the spot before bedtime, which it is right now so I’m going to sign off and send this before our Internet connection crashes again.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Kabul and we’re looking forward to visiting Istalef and seeing the progress that has been made there.
God bless you all for your faithfulness and support.
--Bob
BobT measuring one of the boys for his uniform while “TaliDan” records the information.
