I had the opportunity to assist one of my Sergeants today in a humanitarian aid project she was assigned. The National Director of Daycares and Orphanages has the main office in Kabul with facilities throughout the city and the rest of the country. The director was a woman and my Sergeant, being the only female in the office, was chosen as the project point of contact in keeping with traditional male/female business relationships here. She asked me to assist her in helping run this project from a experience perspective.
After a good meeting of discussing the director's wants and needs for the program and our explaining what we were able to provide at present and what we would take back to the office to consider alternate funding sources, we all drank chi tea and small chocolates. Throughout the Middle East, guests are always entertained with refreshments, which are typically chi tea and some form of a small snack. The tea is usually served near boiling hot and is customarily sipped after agreements are reached. Hospitality is a very important concept in the Middle East.
With the end of the meeting, we received a list of all the government run orphanages/daycares in the Kabul area. After which, we took a tour of the orphanage/daycare they had on site that serviced the central area of Kabul to view the conditions, staffing, and supplies. It was dark and barren by most Western standards. But it was obvious from the amount of women there running the facility, the children were still well cared for with the limited means they had available.
It was as if we had walked into an orphanage from the late 19th to early 20th century. Yes, they had electricity, but very few lights and only a couple fans to make use of it. There were no places for the children to sleep as they all slept on the floor, the lucky ones on smal mats. There were few toys and books, and the institution also served as a school of sorts with educational material all over the walls in Dari, the most common language. One child who wasn't afraid to shake my hand came up to me and said hi. I gave him a piece of gum, and he looked thrilled. With the prodding of his nannies, he told me "/tasha coor/", which means "thank you" in Dari.
In the U.S. Military, I'm used to accomplishing missions with less than optimal resources. At times, we improvise and others, we make use of the limited resources available, because we know failure is not an option. These women taking care of the children I saw today are dedicated individuals who make do with the limited support the Afghan Government can provide and still manage to make sure every child is cared for.
Our unit intends to make humanitarian drops to the ones most in need of supplies throughout the next year until we redeploy. If you would like to donate to our humanitarian drive for clothing, shoes, hygiene products, toys, diapers, etc, for children between the ages of 2-12, please email me and I can give you specifics and an address to ship donated items. Thank you.
More to follow.
After a good meeting of discussing the director's wants and needs for the program and our explaining what we were able to provide at present and what we would take back to the office to consider alternate funding sources, we all drank chi tea and small chocolates. Throughout the Middle East, guests are always entertained with refreshments, which are typically chi tea and some form of a small snack. The tea is usually served near boiling hot and is customarily sipped after agreements are reached. Hospitality is a very important concept in the Middle East.
With the end of the meeting, we received a list of all the government run orphanages/daycares in the Kabul area. After which, we took a tour of the orphanage/daycare they had on site that serviced the central area of Kabul to view the conditions, staffing, and supplies. It was dark and barren by most Western standards. But it was obvious from the amount of women there running the facility, the children were still well cared for with the limited means they had available.
It was as if we had walked into an orphanage from the late 19th to early 20th century. Yes, they had electricity, but very few lights and only a couple fans to make use of it. There were no places for the children to sleep as they all slept on the floor, the lucky ones on smal mats. There were few toys and books, and the institution also served as a school of sorts with educational material all over the walls in Dari, the most common language. One child who wasn't afraid to shake my hand came up to me and said hi. I gave him a piece of gum, and he looked thrilled. With the prodding of his nannies, he told me "/tasha coor/", which means "thank you" in Dari.
In the U.S. Military, I'm used to accomplishing missions with less than optimal resources. At times, we improvise and others, we make use of the limited resources available, because we know failure is not an option. These women taking care of the children I saw today are dedicated individuals who make do with the limited support the Afghan Government can provide and still manage to make sure every child is cared for.Our unit intends to make humanitarian drops to the ones most in need of supplies throughout the next year until we redeploy. If you would like to donate to our humanitarian drive for clothing, shoes, hygiene products, toys, diapers, etc, for children between the ages of 2-12, please email me and I can give you specifics and an address to ship donated items. Thank you.
More to follow.
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