News from Afghanistan
One of Wilson UMC's members, George Calhoun, has just returned from volunteering in Afghanistan. Members of Wilson UMC donated funds to buy coats and shoes for school children that George worked with. Below is a note from George, and a Thank You note George received from Seeds of Hope, and pictures from the latest shoe distribution. There are also links to several dispatches, and pictures received from George while he was still in Afghanistan. Click on any the links below to view these.
May 18, 2008 Shoe Distribution Pictures and Thank You Note
Thank You Note: On behalf of the children of Seeds of Hope School, I would like to thank you for your generous donations towards getting
their shoes this summer. We were able to distribute 126 pairs of shoes, and the children wore wide smiles as they wore them.
In many cases, particularly for the younger students, this was the first pair of new shoes they have ever had. Your partnership
in helping the children know they are cared for is greatly appreciated. Bless you.
Gratefully,
Noemi Maano
Project Coordinator
Note from George: Noemi is the Program Manager of the day school for the orphaned kids we have been supporting since my entry into AFG back in March 2003. The money the church gave to me when I departed last October was used for shoes and coats in December and then for shoes in April or May. (See pictures below.) The school is now called the Seeds of Hope Elementery/Intermediate School.
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April 23, 2008 Dispatch #5
23 April 2008
Dispatch #5
SITREP and brief account of the previous 2 and 23/30th months
FOR: Individuals in pursuit of trivia
As most of you who have received my periodic messages know, I survived the coldest winter on record during the past 40-50 years in this part of Afghanistan. Some 900 people lost their lives in just Herat Province alone. The losses in live-stock were equally destructive. This was my third winter in AFG and I was wholly unprepared for it - clothing wise. I relied upon my experience during the two previous winters which had been relatively mild compared to this one. As one example of the impact of the cold weather upon most of the city residents the water pipes inside most houses froze solid. The pipes in the PAD House did not thaw out until about the middle of February. A real hardship tour - **
A few words about the Helping Hands School and Vocational Training Center in Mazar e- Sharif that has been one of my projects over the past five years. When I became involved in this project in March 2003 I referred to it frequently as the Orphanage - which it was to a certain degree but was in reality a day school for orphaned children. My initial request for funds went to my USMA classmates in Company M-2, 1954 for shoes and coats. The initial response was so generous that we were able to buy new shoes in March and December 2003 as well as new coats for the 2003 winter.
Since the beginning of my requests for shoe and coat funds for these children (80 - 100 of them most of the time) funds have been donated generously by many individuals, Wilson United Methodist Church and groups within the church, and my M-2 classmates. There is always enough to provide each child with the spring and winter type shoes and the winter coats - Thanks to all of you who have given so freely - it is appreciated.
What got me started on this is the restructuring of the school and center and the assumption by the expatriate community for operation and funding of the project. I mentioned this briefly in my Dispatch #4. This organization - Partnership in Academics and Development (PAD) - is now responsible for raising the money for operation of the project and for the day-to-day management although the school, as such, is under the control of the Ministry of Education, National Government. So far this arrangement seems to be working all right - let’s hope it stays that way.
The project has been renamed as the "Seeds of Hope Secondary School". However, we still have a "stove pipe" account in the overall project account which is still designated as the Helping Hands Project. This is to ensure that individuals or groups who donate funds for shoes and coats for the children can be assured their donation is used solely for that purpose and is not just thrown into the general project account. It is also intended to provide management with the name or names of the donors so that proper acknowledgment of the donation can be made (An awkward of saying that but you can get the drift).
Enough said about this project. I spent a week in Mazar the first part of this month working with the school operators to organize their office and accounting system. I believe everything is on-track now.
The end of March I spent several days in Kabul attending a meeting of the PAD hierarchy related to the continuation of all work in Afghanistan. The work in Mazar is going quite well and the expat staff there has seven on-going projects and may start an eighth one. The future of the PAD activity in Herat, however, has never really taken off as intended. This is due to the fact that we have not been able to entice a long-term expatriate team to manage the operation. There are any number of individuals who will come for short terms but only for specific activities and not as general managers. A number of alternatives are under consideration but I do not believe anything concrete will be settled for the next six months or so - Not my problem after 3 May but still my interest if for no other reason than to give advice if so requested regarding the operation.
Now, just some of my random observations:
- The Afghan people never cease to amaze me in many respects. Some of them are generous to a fault while others can provide examples of corruption that would make the old USA Mafia proud. The degree of corruption seems to grow with the stature or position of the individual. A prime example is with the National airline - Ariana. It is so ridden with corruption and inefficiency that there is talk of going private with the whole thing - this, or course, brings howls of protest from the current "management" structure. Will be interesting to see how this turns out.\
- The gap between the well off and the poor in terms of general living conditions is readily apparent and there is no induction that anything is going to change anytime soon - if ever. Housing is one area where the gap is quite apparent. The well-off build these huge, multilevel structures with the high-walled compounds while next to the walls can live people in mud brick "hovels" without running water or electricity. This sort of inequity is not confined to Afghanistan, of course, but it is a condition that I see every day.
- My hat is off to those international expatriates who come here for the long-term and intend to spend most of their lives either here in Afghanistan or some other country still in a third-world status. They must be dedicated to endure some of the conditions with which they must contend - such as housing, schooling for their children, their personal security, the constant search for funding for their projects, contending with national government corruption at all levels - just to identify a few of these conditions. Some of the places in which they live, out in and among the villages, wouldn’t meet minimum criteria for migrant farm workers in the US.
Enough of my soap-box oratory for now. I will be leaving here within the next two weeks as the work I came here to do is finished. I doubt that I will be back although I will miss the company of many of the people I have come to know, both Afghans and internationals. What is next, must wait and see.
One of the things I will miss, and no substitute for it, is the hot bread or "nan" that the security man, the "chaokidar" gets for me in the morning.
So, my friends, this wraps it up for this tour. If the airlines fly as scheduled I will be in the US on or around the 8th of May.
Remember the good times (and some of those times were better than others)!!
George
** But nothing compared to conditions our troops along the Afghan-Pakistan border went through - lest we forget.
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March 15, 2008 Pictures
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George says: This picture is what I call the Command Group - our cook, Sidiqua, the office and facilities manager, Kaleq and the head watchmen, driver, handyman and swing shift watchman, Nagibullia. My hat is what is called a Mossoud Hat named after the man who fought the Russians to a standstill and was murdered two days before our 9-11 disaster. He is regarded as a national hero by most. The wrap on me is a patu, typical afghan wear for the men in cold weather. Both items were gifts to me by some friends in Mazar. |
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George says: This picture was taken during our extremely cold spell while all of the water pipes in the house were frozen. We depended upon the neighbor's well for fresh water which was carried into the house in buckets. In this picture, our cook is doing the actual washing in the courtyard next to the house - cold water, of course. After she made the dishes, etc. as clean as "ColdWater" could get them (that's from a joke that was going around a year or so ago), she took them into the house for rinsing with hot water from a teakettle. The lady standing is our housekeeper (Shafika) - on this particular day she was helping with the noontime dishwashing. The man (Omar) is one of the watchmen used to provide a modicum of security for the place. Fortunately, for all of us this outdoor dishwashing exercise is well behind us now |
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We were able to find some oranges that had not been frozen but were so cold that in some instances we put them on an electric heater to warm them up - not hot, you understand, just warm them up a little. Of course when all of the snow melted and the frozen ground thawed we were faced with seas of mud - again. |
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This particular display shows some action likely to occur during that wild, Asian sport of Bushkashi (not spelled right but you get the idea) where two teams on horseback fight over a headless calf or goat to move the dead body from one end of the field to the other. It is wild and makes an NFL football game look like a bunch of kindergarten kids out in the playyard. The figures appear to be about 125% life size and my estimate is that the top figure is around 50 feet above the ground. |
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March 5, 2008 Activity Summary
5 March 2008
Subject: Activity Summary
For: Anyone who has even a mild interest in what I am doing here
...somewhere the snow covers the hope of spring; somewhere a hill blossoms in green and gold...
These words from Laura’s Song, from the Doctor Zhivago movie, are fairly descriptive of life in this part of the world, and particularly within Herat Province, beginning from the end of December until about three weeks ago.
According to those who have lived around here for any length of time this has been the coldest winter in the last 50 years. Although it was a bit uncomfortable at times and with some inconveniences for those of us living in solid houses it was nothing compared with the suffering of people from the snow and bitter cold in the surrounding villages. The recent figures indicate at least 900 people in the province lost their lives and no telling how many more will be found in isolated areas when all of the snow is gone.
The deaths in the villages were from freezing in most cases, often accompanied by starvation. The loss in livestock will create additional hardships for many others who will never recover. Other casualties from the cold involve loss of hands and feet for some who had only limited or no shelter - shepherds, for example.
There was another group that endured the cold in addition to the civilian population - our troops out on operations along the AFG-Pakistan border. Granted, there was little or no likelihood of any of them starving or freezing to death but combat operations do not stop when the weather turns sour. Not many folks would want to trade places with a soldier on some isolated outpost in the middle of a blizzard no matter what kind of cold weather gear he has. You may find this hard to believe but there are a few folks here, some from the USA no less, who are unaware that we have US troops in Afghanistan!
Spring seems to be approaching now with each day being just a little warmer than the last. We could and may well see a few cold days during March and perhaps even some snow but nothing like January and most of February.
My activities have slowed down since returning to Herat the end of January which gives me time to catch up in my effort to acquire some rudimentary knowledge of the Dari language. I will never be fluent in the language or even be proficient in just the spoken word but I am able to understand a little bit when listening to the watchmen, our cook and our housekeeper. However, my lessons will be interrupted when I go to Mazar for at least a couple of weeks later this month to help set up a new office - related to the Helping Hands project - another opportunity for new adventures with the Afghan airlines.
I had a Red Letter day on the 24th of February when four "care packages" finally caught up with me. Two had been mailed on the 3rd of January and two more on the 23rd and just where they have been all of this time remains a mystery. These were all mailed thru the Army Postal System (APO) which is usually reliable but these four got off of the track somewhere. . A "watch cap" that I really needed during the cold weather was in one of the boxes - maybe next winter.
There is also an Afghan postal system which can be used but there are disadvantages with it regarding packages. First, any package of any size can only be retrieved by payment of a $5.00 fee to the National bank and second, any package that weighs over two kilograms must go through the Customs Office, after the $5.00 tax is paid, of course. I’ve been told that the Customs handlers will unwrap every item in a box and even open sealed boxes of things like candy or food and then just put it all back in the box with no attempt to ensure things do not get broken, bent, soiled or unaccounted for. Some system!
Even though my activities have slowed down a little there is still enough to fill the days in addition to my efforts with the Dari training. Typical days goes something like this - up around 0600 and by 0800 have fixed my breakfast, finished my exercise routine, cleaned up everything and opened my email file. Reading and answering the various messages usually takes from an hour to an hour and a half, interspersed with discussions with the office and facilities manager. We have security briefings on some days which can take a couple of hours and at least weekly discussions with other INGOs. Lunch is around noon and then either in my Dari class or studying the language for the rest of the afternoon. After supper and everything is cleaned up I try to catch some news on the TV from BBC and Aljazeera - no US stations available with our set up. Off to dreamland after that and get ready for another day. This schedule changes drastically, of course, when I go to Mazar on some special project.
I’m away behind on just taking pictures, much less sending any. The office manager and I are going to take a day off around here shortly and just devote it to taking pictures of and visiting some of the more interesting places within the province. There is a whole lot of history associated with this area going back for at least 3000 years. I want to get some detailed shots of some of the more historic and interesting things and places. Will see what I can do about sending some along in a later letter.
Until the next time and thanks to all of you who keep me occupied reading your email jokes, opinions, news, comments and so forth - keeps life interesting.
Remember the good times -
George
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February 4, 2008 Pictures
Read Dispatch #4 below for more info on some of these pictures.
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George says: Taken while I was in Mazar in January right after our first big snow storm - cold, cold day. My Dispatch #4 will give you an idea of the project I was working on in Mazar. |
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George says: Taken at my birthday party in the Indian Restaurant in Mazar e-Sharif. The people present are the members of the PAD (Partnership in Academics and Development) staff in Mazar. This was on the night of 12 January. We’re all bundled up because the restaurant was a bit cool that evening as it is most evenings in the winter. |
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George says: Taken in our PAD facility at lunch time following our Friday fellowship activity. The young woman to my left is an English language instructor from Bolivia who is currently a member of the PAD expat staff. The woman at the end of the table is from Japan and is also a member of the PAD staff - teaches English. She has been in and around Central Asia for several years and is proficient in Japanese, Russian, English and the Dari languages as well as in several dialects. |
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George says: This village is typical of the villages along the highway between Herat and the border with Iran. We had taken one of our members to the border and were returning on a cold, wet day. Happy I was inside the car. |
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February 2, 2008 Dispatch #4
2 February 2008
Dispatch No. 4
SITREP and After Action Report
For: Those who have time on their hands and a bit of idle curiosity
Actually, this is just Dispatch #2 but #2 was to have been prepared in December with #3 being prepared on January. However, since everything I was going to report in December and January will be included in this dispatch I have elected to give it the #4 slot. Thus, I have accounted for the two non-dispatches while maintaining the integrity of my dispatch numbering system - a nifty little technique I learned while working in the Pentagon.
The initial reason for this tour in Afghanistan was to assist in the transition of the Helping Hands School from an Afghanistan based organization responsible for operational control and direction to one in the United States. I referred to this school during my 2003 tour as "The Orphanage" and many of you have contributed to my semi-annual requests for funds to purchase shoes and coats for the children.
The most involved problems in the transition stem from the change from a privately funded and operated school under the Afghan based organization to a school under the control of the public school system (but still privately funded) with the headaches in dealing with the bureaucracy of the public system. So far we have been able to reach tentative agreements with the state or provincial authorities but still need to deal with the National level authorities. I will not be involved in that for which I am thankful.
Thanksgiving was a real pleasure this year. Around 70 folks from the like-minded expat community met at one of the INGO facilities to celebrate the occasion. Each family or group brought something and two of the community‘s leading families brought two 25 pound turkeys from Iran, did all of the cleaning and roasting and then let the rest of us dive in - outstanding.
I intended to go to Mazar for Christmas but my flight was diverted to carry passengers to Mecca so spent the day here in Herat. One of the other women (from Bolivia) who is with PAD and a couple from China who are part of our Friday celebration group enjoyed a Christmas Day dinner consisting of Chinese and Bolivian cuisine, different but enjoyable. I finally left for Mazar on the 27th and stayed there on another new project for most of the month of January.
Shortly after I arrived in November I was informed of a PAD project to develop another learning center in Mazar e-Sharif. The concept for the center was a live-in facility for the instructors, with classrooms for English language training and computer instruction. This center was a bit more ambitious, however, than the centers I developed previously in that the main facility would be the instructors’ residence with accommodations for both male and female, married and/or single. As planned, the first group of seven people would live in the facility for about six months with another group to follow for approximately a year long stay.
Around mid-December I went to Mazar for a briefing on the details of the project and to inspect two candidate buildings. My inspection revealed that one was entirely too small and that the other was unfit for use in its present condition - observations based upon my experience in surveying facilities while working for Higginbotham/Briggs & Associates. I returned to Herat with the understanding that the owner of the final candidate building would be informed of the deficiencies and told they must be corrected before PAD would lease it.
After Christmas, when I returned to Mazar, the building deficiencies had been corrected but the building had not been leased so I could start work on it. Not only that, but I was also informed that the designated Projected Manager would leave on the 15th for a conference ("boondoggle" in my estimation) in Paris. Further, it would be ideal to have the building ready for occupancy when the Project Manager left since he would bring the other members of the first resident instructor team with him upon his return. It would be using the word loosely to say that the schedule was tight!
I will spare everyone from the details involved in finishing my part of the work as well as from an account of the problems we encountered. To give you some idea of what we did, just imagine going into an empty building without so much as a bar of soap in it, with some significant changes to be made and with no prior preparations to line up the skilled tradesmen needed to complete the work - like, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, masons and even a locksmith. Everything in the way of personal property that went into the building had to be located, purchased and transported to the site. And then the snow and bitter cold started. There were times when it was difficult to maintain a sense of humor.
Fortunately, in all of this work I had the service of a young local man who knows his way around Mazar having built his father’s house a few years ago. He has also worked with other NGOs on construction projects so he had a "repertoire" of reliable craftsmen and he is proficient in the English language. I could not have finished the work without him. We did not finish by the 15th - it was not possible to have done so under ideal conditions but it was finished before the first resident team arrived - I called it finished and returned to Herat on the 27th. I thought it was cold in Mazar but nothing like it was and is in Herat.
And so ends the month of January 2008. Now, back to my efforts to gain a little knowledge of the local version of the Dari language -
Remember the good times -
George
January 28, 2008
or
"Getting there is half the fun"
Those "fortunate few" (Sort of reminds you of that band of brothers line from Shakespeare’s Henry the V, doesn’t it?), who read my 15 November dispatch may remember that my recent adventures with the Airlines of Afghanistan began with my flight out of Dubai, UAE, onboard KAM Airline’s old 727 three burner, which I now refer to with a certain amount of nostalgia as D-M AFB, Row 350 Looking back, I believe there is a certain amount of logic involved in using these "bone yard" refugees for hostile area service. Case in point - I watched a KAM 727 in much the same condition as my old Row 350 refuge depart for the Baghdad International Airport - not your normal vacation destination.>/p>
There are three "scheduled" air carriers that provide intra-Afghanistan service. The first, and the oldest, is Ariana, the National airline which flies, or so it seems, mostly airplanes the Russians left when they departed the country in 1989. However, the country does have one or two Airbus model leased aircraft. I flew on one of these to Frankfort at the end of my 2005-2006 tour. I’ve been told, however, that Ariana is no longer permitted to fly in German airspace - more about Ariana a little later on.
PAMIR AIRWAYS - AFGHANISTAN’S NEWEST
My reintroduction to Afghan airlines began on November 13th on a flight from Kabul to Herat with Pamir Airways whose motto is, "Fly with Confidence". The picture on my ticket folder was of a sleek, modern product of the Boeing Company, like a 757, outbound on a crystal clear day with snow covered mountains far below. Surely, this would be a ride to remember. With an 1100 hours departure time there was no particular rush to get to the airport - Kabul traffic does not permit rushing anyway. Once there, it was delightful to find new benches in the waiting area, paint on the walls of fairly recent vintage and lights that actually worked. That was the good news.>/p>
The scheduled departure time came and went. KAM Air and Ariana flights to Herat came and went but nothing from Pamir Air except for the man with a Pamir ID badge who came through around 1300 passing out sandwiches and soft drinks - a positive indication it was going to be a long afternoon. Finally, around 1600 a little excitement in the waiting room - Pamir had landed - Oh, the joy! When it rolled into sight though it was no 757, no way, just an old 737 but it did have the newer engines on it, not the old vacuum cleaner model - be thankful for little things. A half hour or so later the plane had been turned around and we were all set to go.
My seat, per the boarding pass, was near the front of the plane which, as it turned out was irrelevant in view of what actually took place. Inside the plane we were greeted by a surly individual who kept repeating, "Move to the rear", which was an oxymoron as those first on the plane sat in the first seats available irrespective of seat assignments. A couple of hard-nosed flight attendants who acted as though they resented people in general and the passengers in particular didn’t help anything - definitely not a passenger friendly cabin crew. Eventually, we made it to Herat some six hours late - not unlike some flights I have encountered in other parts of the world, including the US. Lesson learned though is don’t believe the Pamir Airline ads - they do not have any Boeing 757s.
KAM AIR -
My next encounter with the country’s airline service involved KAM Air for a flight from Herat to Mazar e-Sharif. Initial call was at 0700 to determine whether the plane would fly that day - no answer, but no surprise as the individual on the other end of the line never answers. The first call is, most likely, just a wake up. A call at 0800 gave us a 0930 "be at the airport" time. A departure time was not provided as no one knew with any degree of certainty when or whether an airplane would actually arrive.
The airport check in procedures have not changed over the years. First, park just off of the highway and decide whether you will need one of the little boys who are pushing wheel borrows to haul luggage to the initial processing building. The driver, however, carried my bag so I saved the 50 cent wheel borrow cartage fee. He told me to wait outside and disappeared into the building. When he reappeared some 20+ minutes later we went through the next processing building for baggage screening, passed the screening test, put my bag on a truck for eventual movement to the airplane and then walked the quarter-mile or so to the terminal building. The driver bid (bade?) farewell at that point and I was on my own.
Inside the terminal not much was new since the last time I was there (about 18 months ago) except for more wire enclosed chutes for crowd control (similar to the chutes used by some ranchers for branding cattle). I found a seat and settled down for the departure time announcement - electronic arrival and departure monitors are still a fantasy in this part of the world. Here, announcements are by voice and through a circulation process among the passengers - all of which is in the local Dari language only.
Throughout the morning a flight from the Ariana airline landed and loaded its passengers, a couple of C-130’s flew in and taxied to the military ramp and some stray UN aircraft wandered through but no KAM Air. Noontime came and went and still no KAM Air - and no indication from the crowd that a KAM Air flight arrival was imminent. Some speculation the flight would be cancelled all together was cause for temporary concern but fortunately it was just speculation - just something to stir up the crowd, I suppose.
Around 1300 there was some excitement within the crowd which caused folks to start filling the cattle, I mean passenger chutes. I intended to join them when an older gentleman indicated I should sit in a seat beside him - good move, as nothing else happened for about the next 30 minutes. Finally, some five hours after I arrived the KAM Air flight arrived. This event led to further maneuvering in the passenger chutes. A policeman at the exit end of the chute used a unique personnel control procedure on any man who tried to buck the line by rapping that individual across the shoulders with a stick - an effective deterrent to line bucking.
As with my flight on Pamir Air, the boarding pass vs. seat assignments bears only a casual relationship with where one will actually sit. In discussing this matter with others there is a certain amount of agreement that airline agents use the seat numbers to see whether the plane is full or not. If the agent has numbers left over the plane needs more passengers but if he does not have enough numbers then someone won’t go - probably the last folks in the line. Hard to argue with a process that works.
During the six hours between my arrival at the airport and my departure at least three items were added to my store of trivial information. First, any flight that gets you to your destination on the same day it was scheduled should be regarded as a plus - whether the plane leaves on time or several hours late. Second, the boarding pass - seat assignment process I experienced in Kabul is not unique to Pamir Air and, third, if one of the old hands suggest you sit and take the load off of your feet he probably knows something about waiting room protocol that will stand you in good stead at some future date - possibly at a time when you least expect it.
ARIANA AIR - AFGHNISTAN’S OWN
Ah, Ariana Air, only the gods know what keeps it airborne and I suspect even the gods are perplexed at times. There are stories of Ariana’s arrival at a destination where credit for fuel was denied. To continue the flight, crewmembers "passed the hat" within the passenger compartment for fuel purchase contributions. Not your usual way of managing an airline but, what the heck, it worked.
The next leg of my Afghanistan airlines adventure was on a flight to Herat from Mazar e-Sharif. My arrival at the airport caused me to wonder whether I would actually get on an airplane that day - hundreds of folks of all ages, physical conditions and baggage loads were swamping the place. Not to worry - they were all passengers for a special flight to Mecca. A soldier engaged in maintaining an orderly flow of people seemed intent on getting me into the line bound for Mecca. I do not know whether he was just trying to be helpful or whether he was looking for a way to get rid of me as I have heard that in Mecca a Gentile is subject to "stoning" - not the destination experience one would take if given a choice.
Eventually, the Mecca pilgrimage passengers boarded a chartered airplane. It took off and those of us left assumed, not with any logical reason for doing so, that our Ariana flight would be in shortly. Wrong again. Instead, we non-Mecca passengers moved into a tent near the terminal building. I was surprised there were so few of us because airplanes going anywhere in this part of the world are usually full.
Around 1700, some six hours after I arrived at the airport, we moved from our tent to the adjoining tarmac. A collective sigh of relief went through the crowd. It was now an even bet that an airplane would arrive, that we would get on it and that we would get to Herat that very day. Sure enough, one did - not your usual "bone yard" refugee but one the Russians left behind, an old high wing, twin fan, Tupolov (or something like that) just big enough to haul the 50 or so of us huddled outside in the evening chill. I’ve ridden on these before and passenger comfort is never a priority consideration.
By now, the sun was rapidly moving to a position whereby it would bring light to the western hemisphere. I had heard, somewhere during my Central Asia travels, that commercial aircraft flights into the Herat airport at night are discouraged if not actually prohibited. The pilot may also have been aware of this bit of trivia because once on the active runway it was full throttle and away we went as though he had a down wind takeoff in mind - not so. In all likelihood he just wanted to get to the takeoff end as quickly as possible, get turned around and get out of there while we still had some daylight. Good thinking!
So, off we go into the gathering gloom, up to where there was plenty of sunshine. I got the impression the pilot was attempting to keep up with the sun, and the attendant daylight, as he did not make any appreciable change in the power setting from climb to cruise when we leveled off somewhere around 25,000 feet, or so he said. If that was the idea, it was an exercise in futility as the tiny lights which began to appear in the villages far below indicated that down on the ground darkness was closing in.
Around an hour and a half after take-off we began our descent. The guy up front seemed determined to get us on the ground while he could still see it as there was only a slight decrease in the air speed when he dropped the landing gear (always a comforting sound and feeling when traveling by air). We crossed the end of the runway before he cut the power but were still going, "like a rocket-sled on rails" with the runway lights disappearing behind us at an alarming rate.
Then, three events occurred simultaneously - touchdown, engines (propellers?) into the reverse thrust mode and a violent swerve to the left when a tire on the left side blew out. I figured we were about to begin an urban renewal project on the mud brick village outside the airport boundary. However, our guardian angel was watching over us this time as the pilot maintained control of the airplane and finally got it stopped, assisted, undoubtedly, by prayers of thanks from some before running out of paved runway.
And so, my friends, this is not to discourage travel by air in Afghanistan as, in most instances, it is the preferred mode between major cities - unless, you are a member of one of the various armed forces now in-country and prepared to engage in mortal combat with unfriendly folks who dispute control over certain areas. Whether by land or air though, just remember -
December 6, 2007 Pictures
Pictures of the kids at the Helping Hands School in Mazar, Afghanistan who received new coats and shoes courtesy of a donation from WUMC.
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November 15, 2007 Dispatch #1
Headquarters, in the Field (or something like that - sounds impressive)
Herat, Afghanistan
Dispatch Number 1
15 November 2007
Subject: Status Report
To: All who have an interest in my arrival in The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Although it took the best parts of three days to get here I finally arrived and have caught up on my rest and sleep. This is a great new facility that the PAD organization has moved into and it has all of the features one could ask for when looking for an academic type building with the capability to accommodate live-in expat staff and students. Pictures later ---
To summarize, I left Denver around noon on the 9th with JFK as my destination. It was a 5 hour layover at JFK. We left there around 8:00 pm (2000 hrs) headed for Dubai some 15 hours away. Travel was by one of the new Boeing 777 series of aircraft which hold about 1492 people - at least that is what it felt like. We were encouraged to stay in our seats except for absolute necessity and then not to congregate around the toilets or kitchens. This is something one endures - no other word for it.
Finally, we arrived in Dubai around 2000 on the 10th with the connecting flight to Kabul, AFG, requiring close to an 11 hour wait - 0700 the next morning on 11 Nov. Fortunately, the Dubai airport never closes down so the wait was tolerable or most likely I was numb by that time to all surroundings. Finally, after moving to another terminal we were all ready to continue our voyage via KAM Air (The firm, group or company that owns this particular airline does not publish a list of the officers or the source of the funds).
Out to the airplane, an old Boeing 727 - three burner. For a moment I thought I saw something through the paint like "D-M AFB, Row 350" but the early morning light was bad so it may have been just an illusion. It didn’t do anything to enhance my feeling of security when I was waiting to enter the plane to notice that the pilot was thumbing through the Operators Manual - not really, more than likely just a magazine.
Off we go, relatively on time, headed generally north over Iran, southern AFG and some of the most desolate terrain one can imagine. Why anyone would want to fight over this ground is a mystery. It is all one color - drab - but in various shades of drab. We began our let down in the Kabul airport and everything seemed to be going well when the pilot poured the coals to the plane and off we go again (The visibility due to a sand storm was practically nil at this time). Not a confidence builder as the Kabul airport is surrounded by mountains reaching up to 15,000 feet high. Shortly thereafter the pilot told us the visibility was poor (not new news at this point) but he was going to try it again - no indication from him as to what he had in mind if the second attempt was a bust - still working on Plan B I suppose. Fortunately, all went well on the second attempt - for which all aboard were thankful.
Welcome to Kabul and some pleasant surprises at some of the changes that have taken place. The interior of the terminal still has a ways to go to make it passenger friendly but one does not stumble over broken concrete floors any longer and the lighting is a big improvement. In the long term, this old terminal will be just for domestic use and the international arrivals will use a new terminal which is under construction - no opening date as yet.
My POC was there to meet me and took charge of the luggage which served two purposes - I didn’t need to carry it and he scared off all of the locals who were quick to offer their services in getting things to our auto. The trip to the guest house was just like old times - thousands of people and vehicles all wanting to go to somewhere, anywhere except where they were. Nothing much changed, noise, dust, dirt, traffic jams but no sweltering heat at this time of year. A safe arrival at the guest house, a quick lunch and then to sleep for the next 14 or so hours.
That’s enough for right now. Will continue this breath taking saga in a few days.
Regards to all -
George