The Afghanistan way - Day 5

Today, day 5, we went to MK hospital again, to find that our supplies have still not arrived. As I have been told, such is Afghanistan. There is not much else we can do until the cryostat is fixed. There are also a few electrical issues. We need voltage converters and long power strips that will support our American plugs. We did finally get the stains & paraffin wax.

Happy to have supplies

We have a breast biopsy in formalin from the public hospital on standby, though judging by the history it sounds like we might even be able to make the diagnosis based on gross appearance, or by examining the patient. If we can’t get things working soon, they will need to ship it to Pakistan.

In the meantime, we had some delicious chai latte and chocolate cookies while we met with Almas. He invited us to go to the Education Faculty this afternoon to participate in a GCEP skype conference call.

We returned to the office for lunch since there wasn’t much to do at the hospital. Kim & I once again ate with the females. One is 27 and “engaged” to be married soon. Technically, they are already married, for visa purposes. Her husband is Afghan, but lives in the UK. Once her visa goes through, he will come here and they will have a traditional Afghan wedding. Then she will move to the UK with him. It was not an arranged marriage – she met him through a coworker. She is quite a remarkable woman. She speaks five languages: very good English, Dari, Pashtu, Arabic & Persian. She has an MBA from Pakistan and is extremely excited to leave here and start a new life.

It was an amazing opportunity to get some cultural exposure. Her story is very typical. Her father has two wives, so she has two mothers and many siblings. The men in her family, including her only brother , did not support her about getting an education. Her brother used to beat her, but she still says she loves him. The family bond here is amazing.

The food was very good too.

After lunch we literally drove across the street in our armored car to the Education Faculty. There were clusters of children, sitting out in the yard learning. There were desks and chairs on top of the school buildings. It was just like described in the books.

We walked into the building, and there were about 20 high school girls and IT trainers sitting in a computer lab. The lab was started by the La Jolla rotary club as part of the Global Community Exchange Program (GCEP). It allows high school students in Afghanistan to connect with students in the USA. They also have weekly Skype conferences. This week they were talking with two female soldiers & a woman from the State Department from a nearby military base.

Before the conference, the lead IT trainer - a woman getting her BBA at the local university – had us introduce ourselves to the girls. We were sitting on the side of the room. As I spoke, all of the girls turned their heads to stare with a smile on their face. The genuine enthusiasm and excitement I could feel radiating from them was amazing. They sort of gasped in awe when I said I had a master’s degree and worked as a Pathologists’ Assistant. We asked them what projects they would like to become involved in, if they had any ideas. They were kind of shy at first, but eventually spoke up that they would like real English classes in their schools. Many children are not allowed to take private lessons, especially girls, so they have to learn any way they can. They understand English “is an economic language,” and are so eager to better their conversational skills. Honestly, I am in awe of them, because I only speak one language, and have a hard enough time with Spanish let alone Dari or Pashtu.

One of the girls passed us a notebook and asked if we could write her a note, including something about ourselves. “I just love Americans!” It was so cute. They were very appreciative that we came to talk with them, even though we mostly sat and watched them answer questions asked by the military women.

Another of the girls, when asked by us what she wanted to be, told us she liked economics and would like to do business. However, her family said she must be a doctor or they will not pay for her education. She does not like patients. After the conference, I took her aside and suggested she look into pathology if she has to study medicine. We'll see where that goes.

A few women from a local radio station also attended the conference call. They arrived gracefully in their burqas, it was quite a treat to see them. The radio station is for women, by women, which is an amazing thing in this country of men. Their part of the interview was in Pashtu, and I didn't understand much of it at all.

The afternoon really was the saving grace of the day. It was a wonderful experience to interact with some female students. Later in the week I will hopefully be doing a short lecture at the medical school. Better get working on that...

School at Education Faculty

Skype conference call with State Dept & military personnel


GCEP girls and trainers

For dinner, we went to another DAI guesthouse, dubbed the "opium mansion." It was big & ornate, with a bit of a disco feel. We met a bunch of new (to me) people who have been here for a few weeks or a few years. There are some really intelligent people over here. At times I have a little W&M deja-vu. After dinner, we went over to the famous Taj guesthouse and met many more intelligent, inspiring people. Unlike the dinner guesthouse, and the one I'm staying at, the Taj is "outside the wire." Most of the people staying here have the ability and freedom to go into more dangerous areas & more places within the city.

Art was a little worried that it would be disappointing, but the Taj lived up to it's hype. I enjoyed hearing about what projects everyone is involved with, and also how people came to Afghanistan in the first place. And then a really wise woman told me: Sometimes, the question "what is my job here?" is best answered "You're another beating heart on the ground here".