Kabul Blue

After passing by the de-mining facility at the base of the hill, a dusty, table top, plateau spreads out before you, and above the City. We're in Teppe Maranjan which is thought to be the oldest continually inhabited part Kabul, and the site of the mausoleum of King Nadir Shah, and his family before and after his assassination in 1933.

It's a significant site for the people of Kabul: fought over by the Taliban and Mujaheddin during the 1990s, today it is the gathering place for families on a Friday afternoon. Here you can buy, and fly a brightly coloured kite, or have a pony ride on any one of a dozen decorated ponies, or buy chai from dozens of young boys running from one customer to another with a thermous full of green tea. The site of a large kite festival during Nauruz (New Year, which was last week) - today there are only a dozen or so, but it is still early they tell me, later the place will be packed as people, ponies and kites fight for space.

Down below, and in the distance, the green of the (Olympic) Stadium has a game of cricket in action. An ancient (destroyed) fortress, now home to international forces dominates the landscape, as does a white "unmanned airship" anchored to the ground as it's sister flies the skies above Kabul, watching.

As I drive through the city, signs of past war are evident; high, razor wired walls patrolled by soldiers in full gear are numerous; police road blocks and checks are constant - but the people are friendly, open and welcoming. It's quiet in Kabul this morning, it's Friday, but soon the gatherings will start as families and friends meet together in the parks and mosques.

On Chicken Street shop keepers are selling Afghan carpets, for only $10,000 and all kinds of other souvenirs. One of my overwhelming impressions is that there is a lot of blue! Lapis Lazuli is mined in Afghanistan and it is everywhere. The famous Herat Glass is coloured by it, lumps of it, polished and raw decorate shop windows, all kinds jewelry and containers are made from it, and of course the mosques are tiled in it. (Kabul too has a blue mosque.)

It's a city of blue, of dust, of mountains and 5 million people - people who in the main are just hoping and praying for peace and a future. (Simplistic I know!) Afghanistan is a beautiful country.

Kabul - I'm Here

I created a new record today - my domestic, Herat to Kabul flight was only an hour late, which makes it "on time".

Like many countries getting into, and out of, the airport is quite an adventure. It starts by travelling the most dangerous road in Herat, in my case and mostly, uneventfully but then the fun starts. Thanks to an Afghan team mate I sat in the car, on the side of the road, while he checked me in - only one problem - I din't know he was doing it and he didn't check my luggage on. But I knew no different, just assumed I did it when I eventually got in the terminal.

So, checked in we headed for the secure entry, we were scanned, searched and yelled at by security who then noticed a VIP sticker on the dash board. So in we went, to an empty airport complex - driving innocently before a soldier ran from out the bushes and flagged us down. But we were permitted to go on another 50 meters before I was asked to get out and drag my luggage into the building, where I was shown to a seat. One at a time we were shown to the xray machine and our luggage was scanned. No one else seemed to have luggage but even at the machine I was not told I should have checked luggage.

Pointed to a seat, still no one said what is this over-sized luggage. By the time we walked out onto the tarmac to get on the plane people were so concerned about the Minister of the Interior being on our flight that it was too late. So I lugged my luggage onboard, and they stowed it in a toilet and closed it. The flight was on time because of the VIP, and at the other end I didn't have to wait for the carousel.

Life is never dull! 

Last Impressions (Herat)

Tonight is my last in Herat, tomorrow afternoon I head to Kabul for a few days where I will catch up with some funding partners and do some schmoozing and some public relations (or is that the same thing?) before heading back home.

It has been quite a journey. I have had the privilege of working alongside some amazing people. People whose every day lives contain stress and uncertainty - yet they seem not to allow their lives to be defined by these negatives, but rather by resilience, by hope and by determination.

I met an influential Mullah that supports our Street Children and HIV/AIDS programs: a tall, distinguished man with a startling white turban and beard, who offered to be of assistance in any way he can. Behaviour change, education and community transformation will not happen here without the support of the Mullah - and our team have worked hard to gain their trust and support.

I met the Deputy Governor of Herat - a man with an open, friendly demeanor who gave us his time to help celebrate the children who were graduating from the Street Children project. But more importantly than giving us his time, he gave time to the children. He went to all 7 classes and spent time talking with these kids who are the poorest of the poor, he made them laugh, and listened to their stories.

I sat with the leader of a refugee camp. An articulate passionate man who was fired up to get whatever he could, from whoever he could for the 30,000 people under his care. I listened to a 15 year old girl who has been trained in STIs, HIV/AIDS and is now a peer educator in the refugee camp. She doesn't have enough time to meet with all the women and girls that want to learn.

I talked with one doctor who gives her time free to consult with women and girls who have been sexually abused, and I walked with a second doctor who works with drug using men and sees his work as his prayer.

These (and more) are amazing people who give their time and talents in service of others. It has been a privilege to meet them and I honour them tonight.

The Blue Mosque

At 121 meters in length, and with the dominant lapis lazuli (blue) tiled walls and minarets, the Blue Mosque in Herat is quite a spectacular landmark.

The grounds on which the Mosque stands are quite extensive and are composed of a number of individual grassed and low walled areas. Central to this area is a minaret that stands atop a mass tomb, a memorial to the casualties of one of the many wars that Herat has experienced.

But what stood out to me was not the cannon that stood beside the memorial, or the massive edifice of the mosque in the foreground, but the many people that were gathered on the grassed areas. Some were asleep, a few groups sat in circles studying, families were having a picnic, children ran and played, men sat quietly, their mouths silently reciting the 99 attributes of God with the assistance of their prayer beads (called subha - meaning "to exhalt"). This was a community area, a safe place, and a place where anyone was welcome.

People come and go all day, the doors to the mosque remain open until the early hours of the morning. Students sit in the numerous alcoves within the quietness of the mosque courtyard, their text books spread before them. Father's were explaining the architecture, and reading the words of the Qur'an that are written in tiles on all the surfaces of the buildings.

What impressed me was that in the middle of this chaotic, busy, noisy town is a refreshing oasis - a place of prayer, a place of learning and sharing, a place of resting, acceptance and safety, a place for anyone, at any time.

We all need these kind of places and these moments of grace: for a few minutes today I was glad to be able to escape the chaos of Afghanistan and sit in silence and solitude, bathed in a strange blue light reflecting off the tiled walls - and imagine God.

Masha'Allah: God Has Willed It

Today we saw the difference 9 months, a little hope and a lot of love and acceptance can make. When the Street Kids project started last year the staff went onto the streets and spoke with parents of children between 7 and 10 years of age who were working to help make ends meet in the household.

They invited 100 of these children to be part of a new pilot program that, in partnership with the Afghan Government's Ministry of Education, aims to give working children a chance to have the same advantage that any other child calls a right.

After classes in literacy and numeracy, training in life skills and health checks they sat a Year 3 school admission test: 93 of them passed! This afternoon we had the privilege, with the Deputy Governor of Herat and a number of other important people of celebrating their success.

Nine months ago a little boy crept into the building with his Dad, he was shy, he was dirty and he was frightened. He was coming for his first interview with a counselor and after a while of ice breaking, he was asked what he hoped to be when he grew up. He laughed - what a ridiculous question to ask a street kid - he knew that like his Dad this was his life, this was all there was.

The counselor persisted and asked him to dream; eventually he bowed his head into his chest, stared tentatively at his feet and mumbled, "I want to be a poet". He waited to be laughed at, but the counselor raised his head, looked into his eyes, and said "Will you let us help you be a poet".

Today the same little boy stood at the front, clean and healthy, dressed in a nice uniform, his head held high, his eyes looking at unseen words, his actions rehearsed but strong, and, with impressive lungs sung a Dari poem in front of a couple of dozen 'important people'. The counselor that met him that first day looked away with tears in her eyes. The boy finished, smiled at his audience - and took a deep breath. Masha'Alla.

Our vision for every child, life in all its fullness; 

Our prayer for every heart, the will to make it so. 

Masha'Allah is an Arabic phrase that expresses appreciation, joy, praise or thankfulness for an event or person; it's an acknowledgement that all good things come from God.

Maslakh Refugee Camp

Maslakh Housing, NOT Ruins

On the road to Iran, just a few kilometres outside of Herat, just beyond the vibrant blue house of "the 4 brothers" (known smugglers), lies a suite of derelict, pastel coloured buildings. They stand out for a couple of reasons: they are a striking contrast to the vast nothingness of the desert that lies beyond, and they are known as Maslakh, the slaughterhouse. 

Before the Taliban era, this was the site of perhaps the busiest abattoir in Afghanistan – but in the last year of the Taliban, about 11 years ago it became famous for something else. Around it grew the largest refugee camp in the world with reportedly 350,000 people living in horrible conditions. Refugees from drought, ethnic violence and civil war the people came from all over the west and north to the relative safety of Herat.

Today there are only 30,000 people in the camp. As you look to the right of the road (travelling towards Iran) you see in the distance a magnificent, rugged, mountain range reaching into the clouds and from the base of these mountains to the road the desert is littered with the remains of adobe constructions that housed and protected a multitude of frightened people.

I couldn’t help staring in awe at the mountain ranges and wondering about the words of Psalm 121; “I look to the [mountains] where does my help come from?” and contrasting those words, which roll so easily off the tongue, with the life reality of the refugees that slept beneath them.

The children have nowhere to play in this desert, the teenagers and young adults have no jobs to hope for. The school is an old clinic with 7 rooms, (each about 15m2). There is an enrolment of 3,000 lucky children, (there’s no room for the other 3,000) and an average class size of 90; the boys in the morning and the girls in the afternoon.

Many of the children from 8 years old up work on the streets in the city, or make adobe bricks, to help their families survive. Most of the men and teenage boys go into the city looking for day work. But the parents would give up the extra income for school.

In the near future we hope to do something to help the children. Simplistically: our goal is to implement a project that will bring community based schooling to the kids that are currently missing out. We plan to train local school graduates, boys and girls, and engage existing teachers in the community and equip them to run “home” based schools. Parallel to this we are going to look to deliver literacy classes for adults.

When you look at the extent of the camp, and consider the number of people, this sounds like a drop in the ocean – but, in a desert, at least it’s water!

We Live in a VUCA World

I had the chance to do some research today and by accident came across a new thought; to me anyway. It is the idea that we live in a VUCA world. For those that don’t know, VUCA is term that comes from military vocabulary, appearing in the 1990s it has since been introduced into the realm of strategic leadership and adopted by corporations worldwide.

A VUCA world is one defined by:

• Volatility: change is guaranteed, our world is fast paced, dynamic, catalytic
• Uncertainty: a lack of predictability, the potential for surprise, and a sense of awareness
• Complexity: describes the innumerable ideas, confounding issues, chaos and confusion
• Ambiguity: reflects the haziness of truth or reality, the mixed meanings, the potential for misreading

These elements present a worldview from which organisations build their management, vision, purpose and strategy. But you would have to agree that whilst it may be realistic it is also pretty discouraging. If that is the world leaders see and respond to, it is no wonder that leadership is often defensive, controlling, manipulative and reactionary.

Kevin Roberts, (CEO of Saachi & Saachi) envisions a different superVUCA world. He redefines the elements and suggests what I think is a much more positive, exciting and empowering worldview, and one that challenges leaders to be creative. (His labels, my definitions.)

• Vibrant: an exciting mosaic of energetic, animated, multi-cultural and multi-sensory overload
• Unreal: ‘real’ is contextually defined, it is informed (only in part) by instant information and imagination, it is incredible and weird
• Crazy: unstructured, flexi-bounded, messy, chaotic, fun, foolish and wild
• Astounding: surprising, joyful, amazing and wonderful

Our job as leaders is to expand and celebrate the impossible with truth, joy and inclusion. Robert’s suggests that to be a superVUCA leader requires that we forget about the NEW and we embrace the NOW. “Welcome to the Age of NOW” he says, “the time of power to the people, of 6.8 billion “screenagers” who are always-on, instantly-demanding, immediately-sharing, if we feel loved!”

The superVUCA world demands leaders understand that the age of the Modern, the NEW, is gone. NOW is the era that must inform our leadership. (The following table (adapted from Roberts) contrasts the characteristics that define the different leaders.) We need NOW leaders – please. 

 

ERA OF NEW	AGE OF NOW
Attention	Participation
Inform	Inspire
Interruption	Interaction
Return on Investment	Return on Involvement
Local	Global
Counting Numbers	Creating Movements

“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – 

is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause.” 

(Vince Lombardi: ESPN Coach of the Century) 

Entertain the Interruption

The Mobile Church was on again and about 20 of us sat together on large colorful cushions, (toshak) that lined the room. The young woman that led us introduced us to a short film, made in Australia called, The Lost Thing (based on a book by Shaun Tan).

It's a 15 minute animation about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collecting bottle-tops at a beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by everyone else, who barely notice it’s presence. Each is unhelpful in their own way; strangers, friends, parents are all unwilling to entertain this uninvited interruption to day-to-day life. In spite of his better judgement, the boy feels sorry for this hapless creature, and attempts to find out where it belongs.

There are so many lessons that could be drawn from the film, but the one that stood out to me was the moment when the boy decided to be in relationship with the creature and the hope that decision birthed in them both.

I have been in a number of places and circumstances where hope has been in short supply, Afghanistan is the latest of them. And in all these places people (including me) have designed wonderful projects to mitigate disaster, to build capacity, to rehabilitate water supplies, to build latrines, to teach health practices, to ensure food security and revitalise economies. And all these things are wonderful.

But, the moment that changes a person: that makes us decide to fight, to build, to learn, to change, is that moment when another person touches us, the moment when another person shows us we are not alone, the moment when when we decide that it is worth hoping - that it is worth forming a relationship.

The moment that people decide that the interruptions to the day-to-day are probably God's moments of hope and grace - foundation stones of relationship - that's the moment that makes the theoretical development model transformational.

Bringing Hope to Drought Stricken Children

The prolonged lack of rain and resultant shortage of water in western Afghanistan over the past couple of rain seasons has triggered stress and livelihood shock in the farming communities of Badghis district. Because of this ongoing drought, farmers have had to delay planting seasons each year, but the continued low rainfall during the growing season of 2011 meant that the majority of the wheat crop failed. This failure has had a devastating effect on the people and one which threatens to impact on the communities for years to come.

A need assessment survey conducted in July 2011 identified a number of concerns, including:

• water sources are drying out
• there is a decline in school attendance because children are needing to contribute to the family income by working so that they can eat
• there is a high infant mortality and morbidity rate: (in Afghanistan), more than 40% of child deaths are due to diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection
• water sources are unprotected and contain unsafe water
• people do not know how, and are not purifying unsafe water

 In order to break the negative impacts of these annual droughts, existing natural water sources need to be protected, well-placed water catchments need to be built and irrigation structures need to be enhanced.

But establishing new potable water infrastructure will not improve health indicators without complementary behaviour change training. Working at a grass-root level through Afghan health workers it is hoped that we can encourage preventive health measures by integrating hand washing and hygiene practices, promoting exclusive breast-feeding, and introducing water purification treatments.

The people of Badghis province are primarily agrarian; for centuries their communities have been dependent upon agriculture. By diversifying these community’s sources of income through the introduction of new cash crops and income generating activities, it is hoped that their level of food security can be enhanced.

This community-based approach: (partnering with existing community management structures, identifying and building on existing human and social capacity) seeks to address the malnutrition and promote healthy behaviours by enabling families to sustain the rescue of malnourished children at home by identifying affordable, acceptable, effective and sustainable practices that are already used by at-risk people and that do not conflict with local culture.

By these initiatives, we are aiming to participate in the recovery and stabilization of rural communities in Badghis, halt the increase of child mortality, diversify the crops and increase the household incomes, introduce risk reduction mechanisms, and bring hope to people suffering from the effects of prolonged and recurrent drought.

Encouraging, Empowering, Equipping Leadership

There go the people: 

I must follow them for I am their Leader. 

(Alexandre Ledru-Rollin)

I watched an example of (what I thought was) excellent leadership in action this morning, and found myself wishing that I had always experienced leadership like it.

It was in the context of a tough session where a new strategy and operating model was being announced. People knew it was coming and they had their own ideas, and fears of what it meant for them: would they have a job tomorrow, how was what they knew, what they had become comfortable with, going to change.

Into this anxious crowd walked the boss; a white haired, friendly looking, extroverted Yank. He started by making fun of himself and in moments had most laughing (except the one severe looking guy whose look would have curdled milk at a thousand paces), and that's not always easy to do when you are working across cultures. I watched the people in the room (the changes don't directly impact on me) as the Yank sold a tough new operating model and a more focused strategy - and he took the people with him. Two hours later as he finished his concluding remarks they stood and applauded him as he bowed and curtsied.

I have been trying to identify some of what he did and I have come up with the following list which is by no means exhaustive, but I think they are all characteristics of a person I will follow, even when it might hurt.

• Trust - There is no doubt he's the boss. He's been around a while and during that time has built a relationship of trust. His people trust him because they have seen a man of integrity
• Integrity - He does what he says, and says what he does. He has not given people any reason to doubt that he is honest in all his dealings, he has earned the teams respect
• Respect - people respect him, they have not always liked his decisions, but because they know they can trust him and see his heart, they respect him, and they follow him, because they know he is their advocate
• Advocate - His boss is the international leader, but today in his words, and by his actions he made it clear that his job was to fight for this team, these people: that meant giving them all the details he had so that they were as fully informed as they possibly could be. "After all", he said, "its your country, your office, your futures, not his, and I am trusting you to keep the information to those that need to know". He left no secrets
• No Secrets - one, if not the most destructive elements in a team, is secrets. If information is power then secrets are 'smart bombs'. (Every one accepts that there is information that cannot, or is not ready to be shared with everybody, but when it has the power to impact others then surely it is their right to know.) Today people felt that they had been told the truth.
• Truth - The boss outlined why things were changing, he spoke about things that were working and things that weren't - he pulled no punches - he told us how the new was going to affect us and he apologised for leadership decisions that had not worked
• Humility - He did not pretend that he had always got it right, and he was willing to say sorry, and all of this happened with moments of laughter, with fun - yet no one denied the seriousness of the message
• Fun - you don't have to be an extrovert, (I should know) but you do have to be able to step outside yourself and laugh; at yourself, at your mistakes, and with others as they follow you
• Leader - the last of my observations, (there's more but this rant will do), was that people were following him, willingly - even though they know this is going to be tough they all signed  up to follow.

I think that what I saw today was a man that is really in leadership to serve. He is here to give himself for his team so that together they might just transform the lives of children and communities in Afghanistan.

People are governed only by serving them;

the rule is without exception.

(V. Cousin)

Nowruz 1391

Happy New Year, or Nowruz! It is now the year 1391 (Iranian Calendar). A calendar believed to have been created by Zoroaster, it is used in a number of countries in this region. Nowruz marks the first day of spring, the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, usually March 21 or a day either side. So today, in Afghanistan was a public holiday.

So I thought I'd have a day off from "serious blogging" too and instead just tell you a little bit about my day.

I woke early, because it was cold! Now, I know for you Canadians this isn't cold, but they tell me that it was about -5 overnight, but the wond chill factor took it a few degrees colder, (it's spring, it's warming up). My bedroom is in a big, old, two storey house, the windows don't seal properly, and you can hear the wind squeezing through the gaps. I sleep under two very heavy, thick blankets that make it impossible to move once you're under them.

A few days ago (allegedly) the Taliban blew up a section of the oil pipeline from Turkmenistan which is Herat's supply, and the fuel for their electricity generators. So we are having increasingly frequent electricity cuts. So no heaters, no lights, no hot water, no internet. The house generator roars to life outside my room at about 6:00am. But this is a good thing because then the world starts to warm up. (Apparently the power limiting will continue for a while.)

Anyway, I'm up; I get breakfast and I'm off by one of a number of different routes to the office by about 8:00am. Depending on the day's activities, I'll start with a security update, and I'll spend time with staff in the office or visit a project in the field. I'll try and keep up with emails and drink some tea. And if it's like yesterday, I'll try stay out of the cold wind.

There's a 6:00pm curfew, so it's back into the team house and working from the house office, or having a drink and chatting with the programme team until we get our dinner at about 8:00pm. It gets dark about 7:00pm and that's about when the power went off tonight. But this time the big generator needs a rest! So the small one is fired up, but we can't run heaters on it. So tonight it might be an extra blanket.

And that's my day. Fascinating and exciting isn't it? :)

Reclaiming Childhood

The streets of Herat, as with many cities around the world, are the workplace of a lot of desperate children from 4 or 5 years old upwards. Little boys and girls work all day scavenging for plastics and tins, selling lollies, cleaning shoes, washing cars and assisting mechanics and truck drivers.

Many families see no other option: if Mum and Dad are unskilled, sick or disabled then the children work or there is no food, no medicine; if there is no Mum and Dad and children live with elderly grandparents or relatives then they work; if Mum is alone, then they work.

I’m not sure that it matters which culture you live in, what you believe or what income you have, a parent does not want to send their young child out to work. No father wants to see his children deprived. No mother wants her child to be hungry. But life circumstances can sometimes gang up against you and force you to entertain ‘sub-prime’ options.

Over the past year 100 boys and girls between 7-10 years have been attending the Herat Support for Street Children Centre with the approval and support of the carers. Divided into 2 groups, 50 girls in the morning, and 50 boys in the afternoon, they receive basic education that will equip them for school entry, (83% of them passed their school entry exams), they have classes on health, hygiene, personal safety and child rights. During the 10 months the children are with us they have two health checks and any necessary health intervention, and with their families they receive personal counselling.

At the same time one of their parents is either equipped to earn an income or sent to a vocational training course. The hope is that the majority of families will have a significant increase in household income that is not reliant on street child income.

Today I was shown into each of the three classrooms to a chorus of little girls greeting me with huge shy smiles and a sing-song “As-Salaam alaikum”, (they didn’t laugh too much when I returned the greeting) they showed me some of the work they had been doing then invited me to join them for a lunch of Afghan bread and sabsi.

Next week, 100 children will graduate from the Centre and will be presented with a School starter kit before they walk into a government school for the first time. By the beginning of May another 100 children will have been selected and the year will start again, at this stage we have funding to transform the lives of 300 children and their families.

Zindajan, Herat

Zindajan is like no other village I have ever seen, and I wish I could do it justice in this limited attempt at a description. (You can see some of the photos in the slide show.)

I’m sure it will make little sense, but today I felt like a time traveller: appearing out of a sand storm that had reduced our visibility to not more than ten meters, Zindajan suddenly materialised in front of me, as if it had risen from the miles of endless desert. Sand coloured buildings, with flat and domed roofs, narrow streets lined one side with winter barren almond trees, arched doorways leading down into dark homes, overflowing irrigation channels filled with snow melt, vicious winds plunging the temperature and not a person in sight.

I was in the village to meet with the village Health Shura (leadership committee) and to talk with them about the Water Sanitation & Health (WASH) project that is being implemented in theirs, and a number of other villages in the district.

Designed to contribute towards improving the health status of children aged 0-5 years in 285 villages, the project partners are educating parents and children about hygiene and health issues, water purification and storage, water source rehabilitation and security and supplying training and material to enable families to build a pit latrine (550 in all).

A major cause of morbidity in these rural Afghani communities is diarrhoea, caused (in the main) by unsafe water and hygiene practices. But it’s no good just building latrines, people need to understand why age old cultural practices such as open defecation are causing sickness and to want to change their behaviour, and then to be given the equipment and knowledge to make changes.

A vital part of this project (and most work in Afghanistan) is garnering the support of, and partnering with the existing community leadership structures – especially the village Mullah. The Mullah is probably the most powerful influence in any community and through his Friday lesson and other teaching opportunities he has an unrivalled in to the lives and behaviour of the members of his community. So a great deal of time is spent winning and educating the Mullah.

This has happened in Zindajan: today as I sat with the Mullah, the female and male Shura leaders, the Community Health Workers (CHW) and the project managers, I listened to stories of how the simple lessons of hand washing, water purifying from a $0.50 sachet and latrine construction all are coming together in this community to bring resilience and healthy children.

And I heard that most important (I believe) of all lessons repeated again: “We trust you because you have done, and are doing, what you promised; and you have stayed, you have been amongst us!”

The method of sustainability in Zindajan (for this initiative) is behaviour change: but the secret to success is: Relationships of Trust - built on respect for the other regardless of religion and race, gender and status - framed within a deep sensitivity to and acceptance of culture.

Citadels and Weddings

About 2,300 years ago Alexander the Great came to Herat and laid the foundations for what today is known as the Citadel of Alexander, Herat Citadel or Qala Iktyaruddin. Over the years a number of different conquering armies have used it and in the 1950s some bright military spark decided that it was too damages so started to demolish it to use the material for buildings elsewhere. He was soon dispatched, and the site was protected.

Over the past few years UNESCO, partnering with a number of donors, has undertaken the work of restoring this amazing Citadel. Sitting on top a man made hill in the middle of Old Herat City, it dominates the landscape and provides an amazing vantage point from which to see the City.

At over 250m in length and 70m wide and with some of it towers rising 60m above the ground, it is an awesome sight. Beautifully restored, amazingly clean and eerily quiet it stands in stark contrast to the chaotic liveliness of the bazaars, workshops, mosques and houses that surround it on all sides.

I had the opportunity to get out and visit the Citadel this morning, and with the help of a security friend get a backstage pass that allowed us to climb to the top of the towers, and to see areas that are still to be restored.

From the top of the tower I had a 360deg view of the city of Herat. Sand/mud houses spread out below us, with satellite dishes on their flat roofs; the famous Blue Mosque rose in the distance, one lone green tree stood in defiance. It was quite an amazing site.

In the distance, through the haze I could make out the Herat Minarets from which we had just travelled. At one time these were the focal points of a huge mosque complex, but today, out of the dozen or so there are only 5 left. Damaged badly, despite their UNESCO listing, they still manage to grab your attention. At the foot of one of the minarets young boys were using the dirt and natural divots as a BMX track, the excavated corridors and tunnels near another have become the local hangout for the hashish smokers, and at night – let’s just say this is a place you don’t want to be.

Standing next to the “leaning minaret” stands the amazing Mausoleum of Queen Goharshad who ruled in these parts in the 1400s. The original blue tile work still decorates some of the surfaces of the minarets and tomb. It is quite an amazing feeling to stand in these places that have dominated a people for over 2,000 years.

And, then just when we were ready to relax, we headed off as guests to a wedding. I sat with (what they tell me) was about 1,000 other men, the women were somewhere else in the building (don’t ask where) and we at goat, chicken, rice and bread to the accompaniment of very loud Afghan music and men dancing. The groom made an entrance and was walked around the room, and then left to have a meal with his new wife, and as soon as the food was done everyone left.

Quite an amazing day!

Mobile Church

Today was the Sabbath, in Afghanistan anyway and I had the opportunity to meet with a small group of Christians here in Herat.

Obviously, security is an issue for all internationals in Afghanistan and there are a number of measures taken to do all that can be done to make sure that people are safe. Office routes and times are varied, VHF radios become attachments and the phonetic alphabet, including call signs, becomes common language.

Around the city small groups of people meet covertly: a Mobile Church, a Mobile Bar and who knows what else. The location rotates and can change at the last moment. The details are known only by the members, and confirmation that the group will meet is kept fluid. But this morning, the first day of the weekend – all the call signs aligned and a few of us travelled out to a large house, surrounded by a 15’, razor wire topped, concrete wall in the city to meet for worship and fellowship.

Behind the wall was a very old, large, typically Herat, house. In the Persian/Tajik style it had high ceilings, large corridors and thick mud brick walls that hold the heat, or the cold. A beautifully lush green grass square drew the focus of the back yard. The compound walls were lined by blossoming almond trees heavy with scent and bees, the sky was amazingly blue and clear and the sun hot. Spring in Herat is beautiful!

I sat with a group of 12 people; two Mennonites from Memphis, a couple of Southern Baptists, a Methodist from the UK, a Presbyterian from Glasgow, a couple of AOG from California, and a Salvo from Melbourne. Together, surrounded by the beauty of God’s work, we sat on cushions on the floor, in a closed room, so that the sound would not carry. We sang “How great is our God” and other songs of worship before being led in a study of Psalm 19 by a young Dr, a woman, a Mennonite (who would not be allowed to lead Bible study at home).

An amazingly unique opportunity: the anti-cultural dynamics; the diversity of nationality, denomination, agency; the secure environment and the presence of taboo gender roles (not just in an Afghan, but a U.S. Mennonite context) all made me think that this was just a small part of what God wants the church to look like.

A group of misfits, meeting together to be encouraged and equipped to go out into a hostile environment to serve, accept and love all people, even some who are openly hostile, and by their actions attempt to partner in the work of building strong, safe and supportive relationships. Sound familiar, interesting, scary, mad or attractive?

The Silk Road: a Road of Despair

Herat City is a registered UNESCO historical site: one of the cities on the ancient Silk Road that joined east and west. Today some of the original mud walls of the old City can still be seen just beyond the main roads. In sight of these ancient walls that protected the inhabitants and ran alongside the international lifeline that enabled migration, diversity and trade - lies a three story building that caters for some of the most insidious and life destroying evils of modern trade and migration.

Only 45 minutes East of Herat is the Iranian border and it is across this border - into and out of Afghanistan - that drugs and people are bought and sold. Men are drawn into 'grass is greener' Iran looking for work, desperate for ways to support families, but many of them find drugs and practice unsafe sex. Some contract STIs or HIV/AIDS and return home where they infect wives; which in turn impacts on children.

At the Drop-In Centre males who are HIV positive and drug users find a place where they are accepted and cared for. A day care facility that is open 7 days a week, it provides shower and laundry facilities, needle swap programs, sewing and art classes as well as limited medical care for up to 60 men.

The Centre is nothing like the care centres you see in the minority world, there is little about it that is appealing, but despite this, men come from all over the district to attend here because, as one man said to me, "I feel safe here and I trust the men that work here".

It is in some ways quite a depressing place, but in response to my question to one of the staff of why he worked here, he said; "this is my prayer".

Five minutes away, in a back alley, there is another three story building that caters for women between the ages of 15-45 who have been infected by STIs, sex workers and pregnant Mums. They come here "because they do not feel judged" and because, for the most part they are not welcome, or catered for any where else.

As I walked into the health care clinic and there was a mad rush of women covering their heads with blue hijab and children hiding behind their mums, (before their curiosity got the better of them). Here in a bright room, women receive medical care, counselling, teaching, some vocational training and education. Soon, on the floor above, a kindergarten will commence which will cater for their children, and other children from the high risk community surrounding the clinic.

"If only one woman knows she is respected and is cared for, then this centre is worth it", said the Doctor in charge. The chances that this clinic has a long life are very slim, but in the meantime, women are having their dignity restored, and they have other professional women that fight for them.

Improving Survival & Well-being of Afghan Boys and Girls

In a back Alley of Herat, not too far from the hospital there's a large old three storey house with a very high wall topped with razor wire, and a number of other security measures. This, for the last ten years, has been the headquarters for a staff of about 70 people doing their best to "improve survival and well-being of Afghan boys and girls by building foundations for a better future for Afghan children and their communities".

Part of my role here is to monitor projects funded through the Australian Government's, Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). This portfolio is relatively small, but in this country and amongst the Afghan people these interventions can literally be the difference between life and death, or surviving and living well. We work in the areas of livelihoods, health (in particular STI, HIV/AIDS), education and child survival.

So, in the next few days I will be meeting with the staff that manage four programs in particular. These are:

1. Herat WASH: a Water, Sanitation and Health project that aims to improve the health status of children between 0-5 years through training in sanitation and health practices, water sources rehabilitation and latrine construction
2. Street Children Centre: a Child Protection, Child Rescue project that has established a safe place for (street) working children to be accepted and loved! Over three years, three sessions of 100 children will receive basic education that will prepare them for mainstream schooling as well as provide psychological counselling, health checks and education and life skills. At the same time caregivers will receive "parenting" training and vocational training to help raise their income.
3. Badghis Sustainable Livelihoods: a food security and livelihoods project that hopes to recover and stabilise rural livelihoods in Badghis where people are impacted by prolonged drought. Using a human capacity building (HCD) method of empowerment and mapping we aim to create certainty in water supply for survival during inevitable drought and natural disaster.
4. Beekeeping in Badghis: a women's empowerment and livelihoods project that aims to engage women in sustainable, culturally acceptable, income generation. Building on the success of a previous project Beekeeping will broaden it's focus to engage the whole family in this viable business with the hope of improving the self-determination of women and improving the economy of the family and community.

Other exciting projects in Afghanistan include a project that is changing the lives of people with HIV/AIDS, and their children; an education project that aims to train youth (15-25), young women to be teachers, and young men in relevant vocations; and Establishing Early Childhood Space (ECCD) that provides a safe place for pre-schoolers to receive basic education and health care.

There are some exciting things happening here in Afghanistan: in a very fragile and disadvantaged context children's lives are being transformed; drug users are being detoxed, educated and offered viable options; women are having their dignity restored, or built, they are being empowered and educated; and families are finding ways to safeguard their water source and establish systems for disaster risk reduction (DRR).

In the next few days I have the privilege of listening to people tell me their stories: whether they are staff telling me why they work in this field, or beneficiaries telling me how good, or bad, the project is - for a little while I get to see (even in such a shallow way) into another world, and another life.

51 Hours Later

Like the 'mythological' Bonnie Doon, Herat appeared suddenly when we descended below the dense white, snow laden clouds; there, from within the cold wet fog, Herat appeared. 54 hours after leaving Parkville, I arrived in the Western Afghan city that 25 years ago today (14 March) was bombed by the Soviets.

But, on the way I was reminded of some of the cultural differences that exist betwen me and my hosts. Like, proxemics; personal space - the expectation of it is non-existent here. For some one who likes his space, I had to remind myself to breathe and adapt! The absence of women; on a plane of 300 people there would maybe have been 20 women and girls and there was little sign of women on the streets on the drive into town. And don't expect orderly embarkation or seat assignment; but that's the fun part of the process - after the strict order of Dubai it took a few minutes to adjust - but adjust you do, or get swept along.

So, arrived an hour late, found my luggage on the overloaded 1 tonne truck that drove the baggage out into the carpark where a swarm of young boys with wheelbarrows fought the owners of the bags to "assist you sir, for 1 dollar, sir", and drove through a number of police and military checkpoints, to find our way to a very large, secure compound where I will be based for the next few weeks.

My travelling companion, Bandit, (you might just see him in the picture) and I have travelled all over the world together, but not to a place as cold as this; we usually do the hot places of the globe - so our winter adventure begins.

To Afghanistan (and Back)

The latest adventure has begun. I am heading into Afghanistan for a short visit during which I will work with the World Vision Afghanistan team based in Herat, western Afghanistan. During my time I will have the privilege of working with the team to (1) facilitate workshops on project writing, design and reporting, as well as conducting training in child-focused development and participation, (2) hold discussions with the leadership team about strategy and vision, (3) monitor three projects that are focused on street kids, women's empowerment and food security and livelihoods. (More about that later.)

But at the moment, I am in Dubai. I have a 23 hour lay-over so I have booked into a hotel in the City and after some sleep have ridden the Dubai Metro having a bit of a look around. I went to the Mall of Dubai, a soulless, huge shopping centre, one of those ubiquitous arcades where you could have been anywhere in the world - if you could ignore the huge aquarium in the centre, the worlds largest fountain display, the waterfall, the Gold Souk and of course, the imposing Burj Khalifa - the tallest tower in the world. All very impressive.

As I travelled above the ground in air conditioned comfort, I watched the amazing diversity fly past. Huge towers of glass and metal compete to win the prize of most unusual, and most exclusive. Whilst in the shadows of these giants is white desert sand, densely packed apartment blocks, mosques and a perpetual haze that hangs low over the city. Out of this haze and in the distance emerged another icon of the Emirate, the Burj Al Arab, the world's most luxurious hotel.

So, after a quick look around, I head back to the airport for the flight into Kabul and on to Herat.