Kabul Happenings - Day 1

A lot can really happen in 24 hours…so far in addition to surviving Kabul traffic (no small feat in of itself) due to local expertise and TRUE driving skill (us Southern Californians can learn a thing or two here!) … we narrowly missed children, bicycles, goats, sheep, and numerous other obstacles on our way around town, we’ve attended meetings and tours of hospitals and a local Rotary meeting...and have successfully made it to our home away from home for the next week in Jalalabad – and ALL our gear made it. But first about Kabul… what an experience in so many ways (broken down cab story upon request). While picking up some satellite gear purchased from Kabul Net, I was left in the car while Ishaq and Pete went to pay, and was immediately surrounded by children. They say they are professional beggars, so I shouldn’t cave and give, but professional or not I can only take so much of “Please Madam, Please Madam, Please” while I type on a blackberry worth more than most of these kids will see in a year. There’s the one precious little boy who kept throwing the Kleenex he was selling through the open window, the one who tapped on the window for a solid 5 minutes then started imitating a chicken and I just couldn’t help laughing, and the two little girls who chased after our car… I guess I’m just going to add that to the budget. Pete’s actually not much better, although his breaking point is the mothers holding their babies in the middle of the road.

Back to the purpose of our trip … get some “ground truth” on the healthcare “system” in Afghanistan and look for opportunities where telemedicine capabilities can be applied and leveraged. After visits to the soon-to-open privately funded Afshar Hospital and Acomet Hospital (affiliated with Kabul University) … the possibilities are endless – they are committed to healthcare, technology, education and building local capability and capacity, and have movers and shakers at the helm to put it mildly. Lot of synergy here and information to report.
Tomorrow, we’re off to meetings in Jalalabad… although on no particular schedule, because that’s the way it works.

One last quick bit… we were most honored on Saturday night to attend the Kabul Rotary Club meeting, where Dost Mohammad won the prestigious Rotary International Paul Harris Award for his dedicated leadership. More on Rotary and the work they’ve been doing here later (we owe all the smooth trip and connections to them for a start). If you’re interested in joining or providing support to the Kabul Rotary Club, contact Dost at domohammad@mtn.com.af.

Pictures: Picking up the sat dish; @ Acomet Hospital with Kathleen Rafiq and Dr. Goforth; @ Afshar Hospital with Dr. Goforth, Dr. Tim Fader and Dr. Nayeem.