Went outside the camp not too long ago. Saw the usual suspects. I thought it would be i
mportant to start capturing those images that are in my mind and share them with you all.
The crippled.
Not a common sight in my town back in suburbia. Here it is all too common. Lots of it because of a generation of war. IEDs and the like do a lot of damage on their own. Here's a woman that lost her leg. She crawls (pulls herself) along the city street begging for money. I see her regularly. The next time you are grumbling about how tired you are, put this image in your mind.
Let's change the mood. Some really good guys patrolling the streets on my normal drive outside. In my mind this is the target of the whole "win the hearts and minds" strategy. Get to these guys, guys just like my own back home in suburbia and we win the war. We convince a new generation that th
ere is a better life. These boys (and girls) are out working everyday. Most in the city actually go to school but only for 3 hours a day because they are so crowded that they run them in shifts. Girls in the morning and boys in the afternoon, depending on the grades. I often remark to friends here that mine are not even allowed to walk one mile to school through a safe neighborhood...even my new high-schooler. What a different mindset!
Ok, two more. N
ot sure why, but there are money changers on every corner. There they are carrying wads of Afghanis (name of the currency) just in case somebody is wanting to trade in some other currency. Not sure how they stay in the business since most of us can't go out enough to even spend any Afghanis. We eat, live and sleep back in our concrete camps and bring the vendors to us and we pay in dollars. Too weird. I'll have to get some more background and come back to you on this one.
Lastly, the cell phones are the
bomb! No pun intended, I assure you. One thing we have done for this country over the last 9 years is give them a telecommunications netw
ork that was non-existent in the Taliban years. Now, on every corner you have guys selling the
sim cards for whatever gadget you have, from Nokia to unlocked iPhones. Haven't seen an AT&T store and won't for many years. This guy doesn't need high overhead. He's out on the pavement with me.
More "suspects" to come...
Nothing big about this post. Just a great moment when I went to a friend's house recently to share a meal. We had a few minutes before dinner to play with his puppy. This one loves me, of course. Simba jumped up in my lap, cleaned my face and made my night complete. 
adan that breaks the 30 days of fasting. It's like Christmas in September...or August, or whenever it happens. You see, it follows the lunar cycle and will gradually move over the years. Check out the link attached here. Lots of food, new clothes and gift giving! Exciting time of the year for all Muslims.
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mportant to start capturing those images that are in my mind and share them with you all.
Not a common sight in my town back in suburbia. Here it is all too common. Lots of it because of a generation of war. IEDs and the like do a lot of damage on their own. Here's a woman that lost her leg. She crawls (pulls herself) along the city street begging for money. I see her regularly. The next time you are grumbling about how tired you are, put this image in your mind.
ere is a better life. These boys (and girls) are out working everyday. Most in the city actually go to school but only for 3 hours a day because they are so crowded that they run them in shifts. Girls in the morning and boys in the afternoon, depending on the grades. I often remark to friends here that mine are not even allowed to walk one mile to school through a safe neighborhood...even my new high-schooler. What a different mindset!
ot sure why, but there are money changers on every corner. There they are carrying wads of Afghanis (name of the currency) just in case somebody is wanting to trade in some other currency. Not sure how they stay in the business since most of us can't go out enough to even spend any Afghanis. We eat, live and sleep back in our concrete camps and bring the vendors to us and we pay in dollars. Too weird. I'll have to get some more background and come back to you on this one.
ork that was non-existent in the Taliban years. Now, on every corner you have guys selling the sim cards for whatever gadget you have, from Nokia to unlocked iPhones. Haven't seen an AT&T store and won't for many years. This guy doesn't need high overhead. He's out on the pavement with me.