Been awhile since I’ve been able to write an update, but now back in the U.S. – despite the strong desire to stay in Afghanistan longer. Looking forward to the return trips! I’m going to commit the next few weeks… maybe longer, because it will really take that long to document some of the great efforts and projects we saw in our short time in Afghanistan. We were only on the ground for 8 whirlwind days, but it’s incredible how many amazing people we met dedicated to making a positive difference in Afghanistan and beyond – and how exportable some of these ideas and projects are to other areas.
First up, I have to begin to tell the story of the Pens for Peace effort. We randomly got involved after some of the logistics got a little challenging… not that we’re a logistics company (at all), but you get a reputation for tenacity and getting it done, and add that “philanthropy” piece – and sometimes it catches up to you. So how did the program start? It started when Chris Corsten (at the time, a Captain in the US Army) first came through the streets of Nangarhar Province in 2005. Kids would line the streets and use a form of sign language to “sign” that they wanted the troops to give them pens and paper – they’d realized that the incoming forces had these “precious commodities” and a heart for the kids (who seriously couldn’t?). Chris happened to mention this to his mom back in his small hometown in Wisconsin. Before he knew it, his mom was shipping boxes of pens for Chris and other members of the military to distribute that she’d managed to pull together with her friends and others she engaged.
That continued for some time, and then a call from Chris to Bill McCready in Reno, NV following Chris’ participation in one of Bill’s online investment trainings took the “program” to the next level. One thing led to another in the conversation, and it turned out that Bill was also a veteran of the U.S. military, having done several tours in Vietnam. Bill, enroute to a Rotary meeting, mentioned “well if there is anything I/we can do…” (aha! Famous words – right?!) – And in that moment, Pens for Peace was born as Bill and the Reno Rotary Club kept a steady supply of pens flowing to Chris in Afghanistan.
Chris soon became known to the local children as “Captain Kalam”… meaning “Captain Pen” in Pashto, and as he would walk into his office or to the villages he would visit, they would hold out their hands and call out to him. Having witnessed the “entourage” that one can get as you walk through villages, I can only imagine the following he had and how each cry of Captain Kalam must’ve brought a smile to his face, as well as tugged at the heart strings.
About 9 months ago the program got a boost by the donation of two massive PALLETS of pens (equates to about 100,000 pens) in Reno, NV. As you can imagine, the financial costs and international shipping logistics of getting these into Afghanistan - and to Nangarhar in particular - were major challenges… not to mention the fact that it is generally always preferable to “buy in country” (or in affected areas) – money helps stimulate the local economy which can help spur additional development. After numerous dead-ends, the challenge was thrown out to us during a late night email exchange with Dave Warner, MD PhD (Mindtel, LLC) that went something like “Kim meet Chris, Ken and Bill… they have pens for kids… trouble getting them here… need in time for spring surge… do what you can… synergize at will.” This was of course following these news stories… As you can see, we had no choice:
ABC News Newsbroadcast (Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGdk9JwZWzY;
ABC News Story (Text/Photos): http://abcnews.go.com/WN/popup?id=6639064
So we synergized : ) And after a few more dead ends, and visits to the High Sierra Industries Warehouse in Reno where the pens were (great organization as well that employees adults with disabilities… google it), and thanks to a donation from the Woodard Family Foundation in Eugene, OR (you really gotta love the Gamma Phi sorority connections and lifelong friends always willing to support your latest adventures and undertakings)… the pens are making their way into Afghanistan in a steady stream of 5 large APO (Army Post Office) boxes every few days (we figure they'll all be there by early May - there's 675 boxes total). I also managed to fit about 1,500+ pens into a bag as part of my checked luggage; of which we dropped ~700 of them at the La Jolla School for the girls there. The rest of that bag will likely end up in the hands of the kids at the villages by the Kabul River. All told, the pens averaged out to a very reasonable $.02/pen and are high quality that the kids love – which is the core mission. Photos to come soon.
One person, seeing a need, engaging others and making a positive impact. To some, pens may seem a small thing and something we take for granted, but sometimes it’s the smallest gestures that can make the biggest difference.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
"Progress"
Today we went to the Teaching Hospital associated with Nangarhar University – operated by the Ministry of Education (versus the Ministry of Health, as is the Public Hospital). Words cannot express the great tragedy of this place… this is not a rural hospital or clinic located in an unsecured area, where maybe you could understand and offer SOME explanation of the condition (of the TEACHING hospital no less); but instead it is located in the middle of Jalalabad, so there are no excuses in my humble opinion. We’ve seen some bad places in our travels, and this is by far one of the saddest stories. There were points at which I would have been hard pressed to speak, and Pete pushed us to get out of a few rooms a little more quickly for the same reason.
The 240-bed hospital sees more than 400-500 outpatients per day and handles 50-60 new admissions each day. I’m not sure if that includes the people sitting outside the hospital with IV bags hung from trees?
Each wing has a name plate that denotes the NGO or governmental agency (from all over the world) that have donated, and then later left the hospital, and its director, to try to continue to keep it funded and running… which is difficult to put it mildly and explains in a lot of ways the lack of affect we saw in his face – good people all over trying to make a difference and beaten down by a system that has failed them. The doctors and staff were recently (again) not paid for months and only just started to see some of their salary and pay come through… hence the tendency for all the private clinics.
There is no money for even cleaning supplies. As we walked into the pediatric ward, there was a pool of blood on the floor of the waiting room swarming with flies. 30 minutes later as we walked out someone was using a squeegee and bucket, of what we’ll at least hope was clean water, to wash it into the drain located in the middle of the ward entrance hallway, where a burqa-clad woman holding onto the hand of her barefoot toddler happened to be walking through at the same time.
I have to wonder (among so many other things) what message and “teaching” is really being done here – or can be done here at this time? We’ve certainly seen the possibilities elsewhere, and how a little can go a long way. Now it’s time to cut through the bureaucracy and make it happen. Lives are at stake in more ways than one.
Unbeknownst to us prior to our tour, this was the same hospital that was visited in 2006 by Dr. Dave Warner… I had seen the pictures and saw the piece aired on CBS News… you tell me, which pictures are from today and which are from 2006…. http://projects.mindtel.com/2006/0506.jbad-06/nu-hospital/
Like I said earlier, the children get me every time.
The 240-bed hospital sees more than 400-500 outpatients per day and handles 50-60 new admissions each day. I’m not sure if that includes the people sitting outside the hospital with IV bags hung from trees?
Each wing has a name plate that denotes the NGO or governmental agency (from all over the world) that have donated, and then later left the hospital, and its director, to try to continue to keep it funded and running… which is difficult to put it mildly and explains in a lot of ways the lack of affect we saw in his face – good people all over trying to make a difference and beaten down by a system that has failed them. The doctors and staff were recently (again) not paid for months and only just started to see some of their salary and pay come through… hence the tendency for all the private clinics.
There is no money for even cleaning supplies. As we walked into the pediatric ward, there was a pool of blood on the floor of the waiting room swarming with flies. 30 minutes later as we walked out someone was using a squeegee and bucket, of what we’ll at least hope was clean water, to wash it into the drain located in the middle of the ward entrance hallway, where a burqa-clad woman holding onto the hand of her barefoot toddler happened to be walking through at the same time.
I have to wonder (among so many other things) what message and “teaching” is really being done here – or can be done here at this time? We’ve certainly seen the possibilities elsewhere, and how a little can go a long way. Now it’s time to cut through the bureaucracy and make it happen. Lives are at stake in more ways than one.
Unbeknownst to us prior to our tour, this was the same hospital that was visited in 2006 by Dr. Dave Warner… I had seen the pictures and saw the piece aired on CBS News… you tell me, which pictures are from today and which are from 2006…. http://projects.mindtel.com/2006/0506.jbad-06/nu-hospital/
Like I said earlier, the children get me every time.
April 2, 2009
So we’ve officially been on the road for a short 7 days now, yet it feels both as if a lifetime has gone by and also that it has flashed by in second, too – a mad whirlwind of meetings/site visits, chai (tea), equipment testing, new friends and new experiences. Today we visited the PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) to continue connecting all the dots. As we walked in, Sabaghul (age 3) and her father were talking with a local very talented doctor/cultural specialist Dr. X (not putting names in writing) and Capt. Millis, in charge of medical for the U.S. Army at the PRT. What a story this was, and I know we only got half of it… turns out that as Capt. Millis rotated in, he was asked to find this little 3 year-old girl with a heart defect (transposition of great vessels) that the previous rotation had encountered, but lost track of due to the movement of the family.
Well, they found her and were able to link her with the Gift of Life program out of New York, which is paying for her to have another surgery in the coming weeks in Peshawar. Not the original surgery as planned given that she is exceptionally small for her age (she looks to be the size of a 1-year old), but should grant her more time to get stronger. Post-surgical care will be done by the PRT-U.S. Army medical team. Yet another perfect example of how telemedicine can be used effectively to improve overall care and reduce complications, given that everyone would have the same records and information; however, this case will likely just need to stand as an example of the need and potential value, versus an actual case due to some of the political considerations.
After Sabaghul and her father left, we were able to get some additional ground truth on the healthcare system here, and it still keeps coming back to the same things no matter who we hear it from – the great need for additional training and education to build the local capability and capacity – especially in the rural areas where power is available for 1-2 hours/day. The tendency for “drop and run” as I’m going to call it, and no lasting support, REAL education and plan for sustainability on all the “donations of X,Y,Z”, is just staggering.
After that, it was back to the Fab Lab/Taj for Pete to set up the fixed satellite, which finally made it here from Kabul. Happy to report it is now installed, and getting great bandwidth that we can use to dedicate for medical comms. While he did that, I tagged along with Steve and Fary to the La Jolla School (named because of the Sister-City Sponsorship through Rotary) just on the outskirts of city proper. I’ve heard about the school for over 7 years and was excited to finally see it. Nearly 5,000 students grace the steps in 2 shifts – older boys in the morning; girls and younger boys in the afternoon. It does need some repairs following the October 2008 earthquake in Pakistan, which Steve and Fary carefully documented for action. We got to look in on some of the classes, and after a while again, the kids warmed up to us and expected us to go to each classroom. The vast majority of older girls still hurriedly pull their headscarves around themselves to shield themselves from the men as they enter the room. A smile and wave from Fary and I and they do seem to relax a bit – but only just. When it was just Fary and I in the computer lab with the girls, however, they were remarkably freer (but still reserved). Standing back and observing, I did notice that as Fary walked around to each workstation to see the work they were doing, and offered high praise, the next girls down the line, strove to do the same thing and elicit the same praise.
Well, they found her and were able to link her with the Gift of Life program out of New York, which is paying for her to have another surgery in the coming weeks in Peshawar. Not the original surgery as planned given that she is exceptionally small for her age (she looks to be the size of a 1-year old), but should grant her more time to get stronger. Post-surgical care will be done by the PRT-U.S. Army medical team. Yet another perfect example of how telemedicine can be used effectively to improve overall care and reduce complications, given that everyone would have the same records and information; however, this case will likely just need to stand as an example of the need and potential value, versus an actual case due to some of the political considerations.
After Sabaghul and her father left, we were able to get some additional ground truth on the healthcare system here, and it still keeps coming back to the same things no matter who we hear it from – the great need for additional training and education to build the local capability and capacity – especially in the rural areas where power is available for 1-2 hours/day. The tendency for “drop and run” as I’m going to call it, and no lasting support, REAL education and plan for sustainability on all the “donations of X,Y,Z”, is just staggering.
After that, it was back to the Fab Lab/Taj for Pete to set up the fixed satellite, which finally made it here from Kabul. Happy to report it is now installed, and getting great bandwidth that we can use to dedicate for medical comms. While he did that, I tagged along with Steve and Fary to the La Jolla School (named because of the Sister-City Sponsorship through Rotary) just on the outskirts of city proper. I’ve heard about the school for over 7 years and was excited to finally see it. Nearly 5,000 students grace the steps in 2 shifts – older boys in the morning; girls and younger boys in the afternoon. It does need some repairs following the October 2008 earthquake in Pakistan, which Steve and Fary carefully documented for action. We got to look in on some of the classes, and after a while again, the kids warmed up to us and expected us to go to each classroom. The vast majority of older girls still hurriedly pull their headscarves around themselves to shield themselves from the men as they enter the room. A smile and wave from Fary and I and they do seem to relax a bit – but only just. When it was just Fary and I in the computer lab with the girls, however, they were remarkably freer (but still reserved). Standing back and observing, I did notice that as Fary walked around to each workstation to see the work they were doing, and offered high praise, the next girls down the line, strove to do the same thing and elicit the same praise.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Jalalabad Adventures Continued... Ultrasound Training & Visit to the Kabul River
So much for the “established program”!… day instead of great spontaneity, starting with an early call to Pete from Dr. Pardes, the Public Health Director for Nangarhar Province, asking that he come back to the Public Hospital by 10AM to demo the 3.5MhZ portable USB ultrasound that we brought along to a group of 20-30 doctors/staff. While there, they actually used the ultrasound to do a demo exam on a child who had been admitted for abdominal pain. Perhaps the greatest take-away though is the hunger and thirst for knowledge and training. That’s the lesson we’ve certainly learned in the past and want to repeat here in Afghanistan… LOCAL sustainability matters, and that boils down in so many ways to training and education.
Following the demo, a crew from the Taj/Fab Lab/Rotary/Synergy Strike Force “surged” to the local Kuchi village down by the Kabul River, where the building of a bridge across the river is in the works… project led and guided by the Jalalabad-San Diego Sister City program out of the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club (google it). It may be an engineering feat, but it’s a bridge of another sort too…
While the “adults” discussed the bridge and the opportunities/issues, the “kids” got to play… and play we did. Having had this project, among others in the area, in the works for a number of years, the kids are real camera hams – once they warm up. No girls down by the river, but a crowd of boys. It took a bit for them to warm up to Adriana (George Mason U. grad student in Stability Ops) and I, but once they did… wow. We were surrounded with requests for pictures with us, without us, and always, always… to show them the pictures. So much fun and we were laughing a lot. One little boy very much wanted me to take his picture with the notepad I was carrying… and he was adamant that the picture be just him (no small feat because the camera draws an instant crowd of posers). Again… a hunger and thirst for knowledge that we would do well to feed. Maybe medical school and career in telemedicine is in his future?
For a 30 second video from the Kabul River go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDxBAlXSKGA
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