NY Super Saturday!

Last weekend I got a very LARGE shipment of donations from a church group in New York.  They held a Super Saturday event where youth and leaders from multiple congregations united their efforts to collect, knit, sew, and package literally hundreds of items for the people here.

  Knitting hats is serious business for these teenagers, as you can see...

  Don't let anyone tell you quilting isn't manly, especially if you're doing it to meet girls.

This will keep someone warm through the winter!

This must not have been the first time this group has done something like this, because they had the process down cold:  Assembly lines, work stations, numbered boxes with item quantities, packed neatly and tightly.  UPS has nothing on these guys!

Next time you despair about the young generation, remember that there are young people like these who will do things that will amaze us.

Thanks guys!  I'm waiting for the last of your boxes to arrive this weekend.  After that, they will go to the clinic here on base, and the Women's Shelter and Orphanage in Ghazni.  Happy New Year! ("Remember who you are!" HA!)

Matt

Choor! Choor!

As we toted the boxes into the clinic today, the kids started chanting, "choor! choor!" as we filed past.  Once we got inside, I asked the doctor what this meant.  Apparently, when you are ready for the situation to turn into complete mayhem, this is the word you use, since it means something like "free-for-all," "take as much as you like," or "the pinata has just burst open, every mob the candy while stepping over the people in front of you!"  So the kids were trying to get us to say this word so they could take the whole bag of lollipops.

This is Melissa trying to keep people under control while handing out candy.  Even the older men were jockeying for position to catch the pieces that fell to the ground.

Most of the donations we brought today were for winter (it was 19 F last night): lotion for cracked skin, hats, gloves, sweaters, coats, and shoes.  We can never keep shoes, everyone needs them.  If they are two sizes too big or too small, they will a move like Cinderella's sister: cram their foot in, show you it fits, and take the shoes.  Dr. Arfan is trying on some shoes also:

This mother brought her boys with her and asked if they could pick out a pair of shoes. 

 The older boy got a pair of very nice Nikes sent by Leslie and Jim from NY.  The younger one got some warm hiking boots.  They were very grateful, since most people cannot afford quality shoes- they usually wear what we would refer to as slippers or house shoes.   They were so grateful even Mom posed for a "thumbs up" -not something you would usually see an Afghan woman do.

Thanks for the donations, everyone. We'll make this last month of ODB really count!

Overheard in an Afghan Clinic

As the Afghan medical system progresses towards self-sustainment, the rules have changed for me a little.  I'm not allowed to treat patients as their doctor, but I can help in other ways.  So on Saturday I asked the Afghan doctor what I could do to help him get through all 60 patients he had to see that day.  He asked me to prepare little bags of common medications for him. 

There is no pharmacy in the clinic. Medications are kept on the shelves in his 4ft x 8ft office, which you can see in the background.  I took this picture to show that some Afghans have red hair, fair skin, and blue eyes, like this little boy and his sister enjoying lollipops.

As I'm preparing the packets, two young girls are waiting for their brother to be seen by the doctor.  They are watching me curiously, so I smile at them at say "Salaam."  A combination of Afghan culture and my being very manly and intimidating causes them to look away shyly.  I don't need a translator to understand their conversation:

Why is that American dude wearing a red cross and a gun at the same time? 

Shh!  Don't stare at him, it's rude.

I wasn't staring...[looks away, ten seconds later]

I said stop staring!

I wasn't!  [ten seconds later] "What?  I was looking at...something else..."

  I would guess they are about 8 and 12 years old.  Sometime around age 12 or so, Afghan girls stop playing with boys and begin covering their faces around men.

The bench in the background was being used by an American humanitarian worker to interview patients in the clinic to get an idea of what the local medical needs are.    I can't help but listen to the translator's words, since we are all in one small room.  Here is an example of one of the interviews, I thought you all might be interested in the answers as well:

How old are you?

-Probably more than 30 (most Afghans do not track their age into adulthood)

Why did you come to the clinic today?

-To get medicine for my child.  He has a fever and is coughing.

If you couldn't come here, where would you go?

-I couldn't afford to get medicines any place else.  They are free here, so I come here.

Isn't there some way to get medicines?

-If I had to, I would talk to all the women in my village and ask them to share their medicine with me (this is good-hearted but problematic from a medical standpoint.  Painkillers, antibiotics, antacids are all just "American medicines" that are often handed out to one's circle of friends upon stepping out of the clinic)

Did your children get vaccines?

-Yes.  At a free clinic like this one.  (This answer made me happy.  I know some of you anti-vaccinators are disappointed :) )

Do you work outside of the home?

-Yes, when there is work I do as much as I can to earn money.  I clean houses, wash dishes, and prepare food as a day laborer.  But it is rare to be able to find work.

Did you go to school?

-No, there are no schools for the Hazari.  (Hazari are an ethnic tribe, traditionally farmers anand day laborers, on the fringes of civilization because of their Asian ancestry.  My interpreter, who is Tajik, later told me, "you will never find in all of Afghanistan a Hazari begging for handouts.  They are hard, hard workers and always find jobs)

What do you usually eat for food?

-Whatever we can.  If there are beans, we eat beans.  Sometimes there are potatoes or squash.  We eat whatever is there at the time.

How old were you when you got married?

-About 15

How old were you when you had your first child?

-The same

Did you and you husband plan the children, or did they just come naturally? (This struck both me and the interpreter as a silly question.  I assumed she was required to follow a standard questionnaire)

-Of course they just came naturally

How many children did you give birth to?

-Seven

Did any of them die because of sickness?

-[sobbing]

(I was taught in my "cultural awareness" class that Afghan parents are accustomed to losing children and it doesn't bother them as much as it bothers us.  As a parent of four children, one whom was born too early to survive, this struck me as garbage the moment I heard it.  I was also taught that I should keep my distance from women and not interact with them directly.  Well, I guess that's two things I disagree with.  I knew it would be wrong to put my arm around her, but I had to at least give her a tissue.)

-Yes, I lost two children. [sobbing].  Please don't ask me their ages.

From here, the interviewer could tell it was time to stop the survey, and the conversation turned to lighter things like her beautifully embroidered housecoat and the handsomeness of her sons.  Soon her turn to see the doctor arrived, and her sons got medicines and lollipops as well as some winter clothes.  So when people ask me, "don't you worry about people coming to the clinic just so they can get free stuff and sell it!?"  I think of people like this lady, just doing what she can to take care of her sons.  I know she loves them as much as I love mine.

  Thanks for all of the donations, we gave away a lot today.

Dear Washington

Dear Friends who sent toys "With Love From Washington,"

Thanks again for the donations of toys and school supplies.  In the middle of November, the stuffed animals and coloring books went to Ghazni City Orphanage in eastern Afghanistan.  They were given to the children by the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), made up of Army, Navy, and Air Force military members.  Their mission is to build roads, schools, waterways and other important projects for Afghanistan.

  The Texas Agribusiness Development Team (ADT) also joined in.  They help teach Afghan farmers how to use water efficiently, develop soil, and care for food crops.  They even planted a small garden at the orphanage.

  Afghanistan has a lot of orphans because of all the years of fighting here.  It is still a very dangerous palce.  Even the orphanage has to be surrounded by barbed wire to keep the children safe.

 These buildings are their home as well as their school.

  Part of the reason behind these missions is to show the children that Americans are not the enemy, and that we want them to have a better future.

  For me, the best reason is just to see kids with happy looks on their faces.

  The orphanage director wants to thank everyone in Washington who sent items to Ghazni.  She is very grateful for all that you have sent!

There even more photos of the kids online on PicasaWeb, available to everyone:
https://picasaweb.google.com/101354529361885204071/GhazniCityOrphanageMission16nov2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCNGNktOO8pPGaA#

If you want to read more about PRT and their projects, visit:
http://prtghazni.blogspot.com/
http://blogs.usda.gov/2010/12/23/playground-brings-smiles-to-afghan-orphans/
http://www.rc-east.com/regional-command-east-news-mainmenu-401/2504-launch-of-ghazni-city-hospital-and-orphanage-brings-hope-to-afghans.html

Getting Olivia'd

I've been so touched and inspired by others' generosity that I wanted to share a couple of stories. A few weeks ago as I was leaving early in the morning to go workout I found this on my doorstep.

A huge box of donations left anonymously on my doorstep for ODB. Inside the box were razors, soaps, feminine hygiene stuff, toothpastes, toothbrushes and other hygiene supplies. In the bag were women's clothes and blankets. I wondered who the kind soul was that left this. I only found out when she came again the next night and I accidentally "caught" her. She knocked so quietly that had I not been standing close to the door I probably wouldn't have heard her.  She was dropping off a few more items she had collected.  This extremely thoughtful act was done by a single-mom I go to church with. Honestly she isn't someone I know well, nor did I have any idea she was collecting stuff for ODB. But very quietly, without seeking any sort of acknowledgement, for the past several weeks she would throw a couple of extra things in her shopping cart for Afghan women and children, and the military personnel.

Then yesterday I received two more large bags of stuff.

These came from one of my very active, very independent neighbors who would (justifiably) be offended if the only word I used to describe her was "widowed". She has been very busy knitting hats of all sizes, and sewing baby blankets for the Afghans. In addition she bought a lot of warm blankets, wash clothes, gloves, and coloring books to donate.

I knew it before, but it has certainly been reiterated, I have some very cool neighbors!

--Becky