Seeing death for the first time...

We read about death, hear people speak about death, we conjure feelings about death through movies, plays and funerals but last night, I saw a man facing death and none of my previous experiences prepared me for this. He wasn't a man that I knew, or had ever even met in person yet this man's lifeless body represented every Soldier, Marine, Airman, and Sailor from across over 42 nations who have died while supporting a cause bigger than themselves here in Afghanistan. He died away from all of his family, away from his best buddies, away from his mother country. One life more has transcended from this world of the living, this world checkered with violence, domination, ignorance, intolerance, and injustice. And when he is laid to rest, what does this mean to you, me and the rest of the world? Does his death improve the conditions in Afghanistan? Does his death urge more International soldiers to fight against the enemies of Afghanistan?
As I sit here and ponder the value of this soldiers life compared to the Afghans that we are here to protect, thoughts of sadness and hopelessness fill my mind. We are all human beings, all worthy of dignity, respect and the right to live a peaceful life...as the death tally continues to grow on all sides, Taliban, Afghan forces, International forces, Pakistan forces, insurgents, criminals and innocent civilians, when will it all come to an end?

As I'm typing this, my colleague here at the Afghan Government Media and Information Center just informed me that suicide bombers are here in Kabul again...this time a the National bank down the street, at the President's Palace and near the Ministry of Finance and Justice. A year ago when I first arrived here in Kabul, there was a similar attack in Feb 09 on the Ministry of Finance and Justice and I felt a warm streak of panic but now, I hear the gun fire in the distance and walk back in to the office to continue my work. Now, we have heard that several attacks are occurring in diff places in Kabul. We want to leave GMIC now but the roads are blocked off. I just heard another explosion and our building shook from the blast. Why, oh why, do they want to harm and kill innocent people here? This experience is one of many I have lived through since Jan 2009 here in Kabul and now, as I prepare to leave in a few weeks, what is the future for my colleagues? They have lived through this since the first day of their lives and many of them say to me, "Staci, this is what must happen for us to see progress," and, "Senseless killing by Pakistanis and ignorant Afghans will continue until we wipe them all out."
The people fighting against the Afghan Government, against the Intl. military and civilians working here, often see all of us as the enemy as we see them. Their point of view is to "wipe us out" as well. Until we work harder to prevent human misery rather than avenge it (Mrs. Roosevelt) and until we put our own prejudices and judgments aside, the death tally will continue to rise, on all sides...there has to be a profound reason that so many people have taken up arms against the Afghan government and their international partners. Let's listen closely to why the fighter's hate us, why they want us to leave, why they are against the Afghan Government, why they believe Internationals are bringing demise to the Afghan culture, the Pashtun culture, the Muslim culture, the Islamic religion. We need to step up and have a peaceful dialogue with these opposition factions and find out what they want Afghanistan to be to include the rights of the people, the level of outside influence to their culture/religion, the level of international support, and what PEACE means to them.
The enemies fighting against the Afghan Government and their International partners often conduct their attacks, whether suicide vehicle, suicide bomber, hidden bombs under the ground, indirect fire in an attempt to make a statement to the world that they want International forces to leave Afghanistan (some don't even consider this area as Afghanistan) and they want us to stop negatively influencing their culture with the extremely unmoral behaviors of America and other developed countries. Should we blame them? America is partly to blame for sure as are other countries but a bigger proponent is the MEDIA. TBContinued...

Bringing Cheer over the Holidays:)

It's December and I can't believe almost a whole year of my life has been spent here in Afghanistan. Some people are begging to go home at this point in their deployment, many are ready to sneak on to the next plane leaving but not me. I miss my family and want to come home but there's a part of me that now belongs here, that wants to continue this mission b/c it is important to the Afghans and the rest of the world. As Christmas draws near, the care packages are arriving and we've delivered our first boxes full of toys and warm coats to children at a local orphanage here in Kabul. This is my second trip here and many of the children remembered me!! As we opened the boxes of barbie dolls, tonka trucks, spiderman masks, potato heads and frisbees, the once bare room with only rugs on the dirty floors filled with laughter and vibrance. These children are just your little ones at home. But, they don't get to go home to a mommy or daddy when the sun goes down. This building they live in is home. They all thanked us for the great gifts and as we were leaving the ladies working there asked for help with buying firewood for the winter. I was concerned that they did not have electricty but that was not the case. They have power but can't afford the bill if they turn on the heat so they use a wood burning stove to keep all the kids warm at night in one room of the house. Don't worry, I'll cover the cost of the firewood...less than a night out to dinner and a movie with the family.

So, it's time for bed and I'm thankful for having the chance to help these children and tomorrow, I'll look for more ways to bring a smile to more faces here in Afghanistan. Won't you try it as well at home? If feels great:)

As the holidays approach

As the holidays approach and I hear chatter about sending and receiving gifts, my thoughts quickly drift to the children of Afghanistan. These children, many without a warm blanket or pillow, really are the ones who need a gift or two. We are so fortunate to have a warm home to sleep in during the winter, running water and a kitchen filled with choices beyond the scope of what many Afghans will ever see or taste. So, this Christmas, lets think more like Jesus Christ and find a way to give to the needy, whether it be a new winter cap to a homeless man living in Colorado, making care packages of food at your local shelter, offering a lonely person in to your home for a home cooked meal, giving time out of your life for someone who really needs it as a teacher, mentor or a coach. I want to turn Christmas in to a time where we re-learn how to give of ourselves to better society, improve the world through kind acts instead of blank stares, homes filled with possessions that will only fill with dust once we're gone, a heart that is wasted on a few instead of the expanse of the world that needs love. This Christmas, I will spend with orphans, with refugees, with people who deserve a better life. Make a difference now before you close your eyes for one last time..I promise it feels amazing for both people involved. Tis the season...

Germans in the North...and Swedes and Finns

Traveling from one corner of Afghanistan to the other opens your eyes up to a new culture, not only a new Afghan culture but also a new International culture. It's amazing how diverse our military forces are here in Afghanistan. As I stepped on to a plane in Kabul headed towards Mazar-e-Shariff, I quickly realized that I was on a German aircraft with German pilots and mostly German soldiers. Very clean and orderly aircraft, as was the military based headed by the Germans as we arrived. Before staying in Mazar-e-Shariff, we flew on to Kunduz Province. I was asked to fly in the cockpit with the 3 crew and I did with pleasure:) They shot off a few flairs during the flight and pointed out different parts of the country as it drifted by. Such beauty in Afghanistan, pure, untouched magnificence of landscape. Once we landed it was off to the Provisional Reconstruction Team (PRT) base for a meeting, dinner and a nice walk back to our lodging. The next day we packed up and flew back to RC North HQ in Mazar-e-Shariff for meetings but we also enjoyed meeting new people along the way. Our next stop was at the PRT in Mazar where the Swedish and Finnish provide construction and development support to 4 Afghan Provinces. During the visit, there was a celebration for two new shops in the bazaar they have on base. Both were women-owned shops and of course I shopped a little. Both women were smiling with pure joy for having these new businesses and I could feel their happiness as people entered the shop and as they departed.
Our adventure back to the RC North HQ was fun...we headed back with the Swedish drivers in uparmored jeeps and the road felt like we were driving on a gigantic washboard!! Fun, fun:) And it sounded as if something was about to fall off the vehicle but we didn't question it b/c they knew the way. We also enjoyed a bit of a German tradition: Oktoberfest! There was a gathering of over 100 people at a large dance hall and the music was loud, the people were laughing and the food was great - Bavarian pretzels and mustard, sauerkraut, turkey legs and lots of sausage. Yummmmmy.

Made it back to Kabul safely, glad to escape to Europe for a few days!!

Kabul's King and Queen's Palaces

I didn't realize that the former King and Queen of Afghanistan had there own separate palaces...they are within sight of each other but still a good 1.5 miles away. Both buildings are damaged from the Taliban's wonderful destruction rampage across Afghanistan in the 90's. Despite their appearance up close, they sit in a very beautiful part of Kabul, nestled in valleys between rolling hills and wide-arched mountains. And the flowers are truly amazing here and at most locations here in Afghanistan. Discovered the rose's origin is here in Afghanistan and boy do they grow in some of the most interesting places...
We took a few hours to walk up to an old Russian Officer's club that was also near the palaces and from the top of the club we could see for miles over the gorgeous landscape.
Enjoy the photos and let them tell the rest of the story:)

Western Afghanistan Herat is home to the Italian and Spanish forces

With over 42 countries currently serving in Afghanistan, I was excited to visit RC West in Herat which is home to majority of the Italian and Spanish military forces. It was almost as if I had stepped off the plane in Naples, Italy as I was welcomed by the Italian Air Force, not to mention the VIP seat I had from Kabul to Herat...sat in the cockpit with the Italian pilots:) From the coffee breaks to the wonderful, authentic Italian meals, the only missing items were a glass of red wine, fine music and the ocean waves rolling in. Now the base is segregated by country: Spaniards on one side and the Italians on the other...but they do work together during the week. As I stepped over to the Spanish side of the base, there were mysteriously large metal containers that looked very similar to the containers used to brew beer. A brewery in Afghanistan? Could it be? Hopeful wishing but they ended up being used for water storage...or so they say. Other items of note included the wonderful tour I had of the city of Herat. I believe that Herat is more beautiful than Kabul b/c there are more trees, less smog in the air and the women dress in colorful burkas and scarves. During the tour of city, which included to Italian journalists, we visited a new Pediatric Hospital, the Herat Governor's office, a woman's detention center (more details to follow on this) and a holy mosque to speak to a religious mullah. The hospital was simply amazing, rooms large enough to give patients some privacy, equipment and medicene that can treat 100s of children at a time and a staff of caring Afghan and Intl Doctors, nurses and assistants. I'll expand on the women's detention center in a future blog.
By the end of this visit to Herat Province, I realized how challenging our mission is to support the Afghans. Challenges to include differing languages among the NATO nations, differing viewpoints on how each country views their military/civilian support to Afghanistan - many european countries tell their national publics that their soldiers are conducting "Peacekeeping" operations while others say, "Reconstruction and Development." Other challenges we face are the decentralized nature of our joint/global military and civilian presence in Afghanistan. Synchronization is vital to ensuring we are not duplicating efforts and to increase our ability to create a sustainable socio-economic environment for the current and future people of Afghanistan. Yet, we often see each country's defense department placing additional regulations on their nation's forces, thereby limiting their ability to fully support the counterinsurgency objectives of the commander of all forces in Afghanisan.
I'll expand on this in greater detail soon..take care all

Trying to catch up...

Working with GMIC has been great...see the picture of most of us at a social dinner with Afghan Media. The dinner gave us an opportunity to meet new journalists, share a good meal and enjoy outside of the workplace. Great meal...especially after a day of fasting!!

I also traveled to Jalalabad, Khost and Kandahar again in Aug/Sept 09. 99% of my travel in Afghanistan has been via helocopters or fixed wing aircraft. We only use ground transport for short trips b/c of IED threats on the roads.

Staci does find a little time to meet new people and relax. My new roomate, Capt Regina Gillis, is quite a character so we share plenty of laughs.

Buenos Noches for now.