Songbooks Travel to Sheberghan

Sheberghan is located in the northwest corner of Afghanistan, northwest of Mazar-e-Sharif, very near the Turkmenistan border. One of SOLA’s students, Kudooz, came up to me about a week ago and asked if he could, “PLEASE, Ms Louise,” have 80 songbooks for his mother’s elementary school. I have only about 100 songbooks left, but I couldn’t turn him down. He told his mother about the project and she had immediately asked Kudooz to find out if her school could receive books. I was amazed at Kudooz's willingness to hand deliver them as soon as I gave my approval.

The trip to Sheberghan is arduous. It’s about 300 miles from Kabul and the bus trip takes 12-14 hours. Kodooz left Kabul around 3:00am and finally arrived at his home in the late afternoon. He did ask me if I wanted to go along but I declined! I think of myself as a hardy sort but somehow that trip seemed a bit more than I could tackle.

I’ve posted a few photos from his trip. I was delighted to see from the photos that the teachers were really using the songbook to teach basic reading skills. You can see, particularly if you click on the photo and enlarge it, that the letters of the alphabet are written up on the board. Kudooz reported that they sang the Alphabet Song and then went to the board and identified the letters. This pleased me no end.
(Kudooz is the handsome young man in the photos with the bright purple shirt!)

When Kudooz returned he presented me not only with a camera full of pictures but with a very official "thank you" certificate, elaboratively written in Dari and English, bordered in gold and green with official stamped seals in all four corners and signed with a signature of great flourish! I’m learning that the Afghans don’t take the gesture of saying thank you lightly. This certificate deserves to be framed.

My time here is rapidly passing. I have only about ten days left and I head home. I can't believe I've been here almost 2 months. It's been an incredibly rewarding experience and one I will not forget.

It is still somewhat uncertain, because we’ve yet to get the final visa approval, but the plan is that I will take little Khaleda back with me. She’ll be met in DC, where we first land from Dubai, and taken by her host family to Charlotte, NC. The SOLACE group has arranged for her to receive treatments for her disease, Thalasemmia, which is, as I understand it, a severe lack of iron. It is fatal if untreated. Her treatments could take from one-two years. SOLACE miraculously arranges for doctors to provide all their services free. Arranging all of this has required a couple of trips to the U.S. Embassy. One of those included Khaleda’s parents. Both are sweet and gentle people, terribly grateful to have someone helping heal their very sick daughter. Her mother, with her burqa pulled up off her face, sat quietly in the backseat of the car as we drove to the Consulate Office. Perhaps I was projecting how I would feel parting with my daughter for a year, but I felt compelled for most of the car ride to convince her that I really was a good person, a mother, a grandmother and I would take good care of her daughter on the plane! She just smiled tenderly and thanked me for all we were doing to help Khaleda.

I’m reminded daily how complicated it is to live here. There are so many problems, many of them seemingly insurmountable that it is easy to get off track. I need to daily remind myself what I can and cannot do. Stay focused is my motto!

By the end of this week I hope to have met with the CEO of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and Vaheed. I’ll report in on the status of the second songbook. The prospects of producing that are quite good at this point.

Thank you all again for your moral and financial support, for taking time to follow along and for allowing Afghanistan and the Afghan people to become a small part of your life.

The Faces of the Children

There is nothing so precious as the children in this country. They hold the hope for the future. Now that I've mastered uploading a slideshow I can actually share many more photos with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I find these children completely irresistable.

On another note, today I was reminded of how tenuous it all is here. A student from SOLA arrived this morning distraught, reporting that four men tried to kidnap his brother yesterday in his village a hour or so outside of Kabul. It was a terrifying experience and one that brings the situation here very close to home. It was Taliban related. Their strategy is to kidnap someone, ask a very high ransom, (often $100,000+) which is most often paid, and the funds support the local Taliban.

There is a great amount of conversation here about Karzai's role and what will happen next. The women I teach, in particular, greatly worry that if the United States pulls back they will be left to return to a life that is now unthinkable. It is very clear that it will be the women who will suffer, as before, the most.

Winter is coming. Snow is on the mountains, the mornings and evening temperatures drop drastically. For many here who struggle through the winter without heat, the saving grace is the warm sun the daily heats up the body and soul.

As always, thank you for your suport throughout this Afghan journey.

Scenes from the Wood Bazaar

Dear All,
It's Friday here, the day of rest, so I have been working hard to figure out how to share photos from the bazaar with you. After much consternation, I think I've managed to accomplish the task!

A couple of days ago, Rauf, Meena and I headed to the nearby wood bazaar to purchase enough wood for the winter at the orphanage. Rauf got out to make the arrangements. Meena and I stayed in the car and I enjoyed photographing the local scene. As it turns out, Afghan men love to have the picture taken so I didn't feel I was intruding! The one slide of a man pushing a cart is carrying a rather large load of peanuts! He manages, as many do, to walk miles without spilling a one! As you can see, at the end of this slide show, after the photo of the truck delivering the wood into a small window which goes to the basement, there are pictures of some of the children. They were delighted we had returned and thrilled with the soccer balls and crayons we brought along.

It's quite obvious to me that these children and the Small Heaven Orphanage will hold a place dear to my heart for quite a long time.

Ali Baba Song - Small Heaven Orphanage

Salaam. This little video shows the children at the Small Heaven Orphanage singing their "favorite" song - Ali Baba. As it turns out, Ali Baba was also the favorite of the children I worked with years ago. It's similar to our Old McDonald song. Ali Baba has a garden and in his garden he has all sorts of animals - a dog, goat, duck, cat, all of whom say things. By the way, ducks in Dari say gheck, gheck, gheck! But finally, and the punchline of this song, the last thing he has in the garden is a rabbit, who just doesn't say anything at all!

I hope you enjoy watching this.

Thanks to Rebecca who "talked" me through how to upload a video on the blog. And many thanks (Tashakor besyar ziyad) to all of you who have sent in a donation for printing more songbooks. We're moving closer to the printing goal. All very exciting.

Small Heaven Orphanage visit

Yesterday Rauf, Meena (both SOLA students) and I headed off to visit the Small Heaven Orphanage in the nearby Karte Char neighborhood. This orphanage received songbooks about a year and a half ago. In fact, a photo of children from this same orphanage is in the introduction section of the English version of the songbook.

This is a government-run orphanage so by definition lacks funds and is run on a shoestring. We were greeted by the Director of the Orphanage , Nazita who took us upstairs to meet the children. As we climbed the stairs of a very stark, concrete building, I could hear the children exuberantly singing the Alphabet Song. We entered the room and there were about 20 children, ages 5-12, sitting on the floor, each with a songbook, happily singing away with the cassette tape.

I sat down on the floor and joined them and quickly realized they knew every song and many of them were taking their finger and reading the lyrics. This gave me great pleasure since I’ve been hoping that the children would be able to use the songbooks as a basic reader and indeed it seems they are.

I purposely chose a site to visit where the children already had the songbooks for awhile because I felt it was important to find out just how the songbooks were being put to use, if at all, after so long. We sat on the floor and I listened to them go through song after song, enjoying each one. I asked them which ones they liked best and which they could sing all by themselves, without the cassette to accompany them. It was great fun to hear from them and many volunteered to get up and sing by themselves! We have some delightful video.

The American woman who teaches ASL at SOLA had given us a big box of hats, mitts and gloves that someone had sent her so we ended our visit by passing those out, each child wrapping themselves up. As you can see by the photo, it looks like they are expecting a veritable blizzard any minute!

As we left, Nazita thanked us profusely. She also mentioned that the government had told her that there wasn’t enough for wood so there would be no heat for the winter. She said she’d have to shut down the orphanage for 3 months and send the children away. I’m not quite sure where they go – perhaps to a relative or perhaps on the street. (Sometimes the children in the orphanage are there because the mother or father have died and the extended family can’t take care of them.)

In any case, on the way home I asked Rauf how much it would cost to buy wood for 3 months ($200) and I told him I’d take care of it. He nodded in approval. We will deliver the wood in a few days along with some crayons and other school supplies I brought with me. We also bought 3 soccer balls today. There didn’t seem to be any toys around at all and given how much fun the kids here have had playing ball, it seemed like a good idea. Those children gave me a great deal of joy yesterday. Giving them some warmth in the winter seemed like a small gift in return.

Big news! I just heard that Vaheed (the musician I worked with on the songbook project) is coming to Kabul on Nov. 17th. This is great news for me. He works closely with the Aga Khan Cultural Trust. I met with their CEO last Thursday and he seems very interested in helping fund a 2nd songbook. Aga Khan’s focus is cultural preservation so it's a good match,not to mention they are great admirers of Vaheed's work. I count my lucky stars daily that he is part of the project. I contacted Aga Khan initially six years ago but nothing panned out. Now it seems the timing is much better. The project is well-established and they are very impressed with the fact that the books are now completely produced in Kabul. Vaheed has already collected other traditional songs from several ethnic groups so creating a 2nd songbook should not be too complicated. We can record the songs this time in Kabul. I’m hoping to squeeze in one or two planning meetings with them before I head home.

I’m still hoping to be able to begin the process of printing the next 5000 songbooks before I leave. We’re close to meeting our goal. I suggest this with some trepidation BUT….if any of you feel so inclined to support this next printing OR know others who might, I’d be most grateful. Any donation goes a long way. It's easy Just go on the songbook website – http://www.afghansongbook.org/

That’s the easiest way to donate. AND if you have any ideas of other funding sources or fundraising ideas, I’m delighted to receive that information too. That would be GREAT! Each songbook costs $5.00/ea which includes the entire package – songbook, CD, cassette tape and packaging and some minimal distribution costs. The cost of supplying the 30 songbooks to a place like the Small Heaven Orphange is $150.00. Not a lot in our lives but A LOT in theirs. It makes a huge difference in their lives.

Thanks again for your interest and support for this project and this blog! It’s been great fun writing up the posts and I've appreciated your comments and questions. It’s hard for me to believe how the time has flown by here. Each day has provided new insights for me and I continue to be inspired and moved by the Afghan people.

Safia's Poetry - Speaking from the Heart

Safia is in my class here at SOLA. She recently shared this powerful I Am Poem with me. It has since been published on the Afghan Women's Writing Project website - http://www.awwproject.wordpress.com/ I've also included her poem, Winter in Kandahar which I find to be beautifully written. When I first met Safia she was shy and unsure of her ability to write, and in particular to write poetry. I am so pleased to see what has emerged. I'm incredibly proud of her. I encourage you to go on the AWWP website and read more! Since Sofia speaks about her experience growing up in Afghanistan, I have added a few scenes from Kabul to this blog. If you click on the image you can get a closer look.

I Am From...................
I am the daughter of a land in south central Asia
The daughter of the strong and hospitable people of Afghanistan
I belong to a nation which suffered three bloody decades in war
Which left us millions of orphans and widows
I am from those Afghans who migrated as refugees to our neighbor’s land
And returned homeland after a long voyage to find our identity
I belong to a loveable family with parents, five brothers and two sisters
I am from parents who come from south and west Afghanistan
Parents who had different ways of life since childhood
But after meeting, compromised and loved each other
I am from a kind, courageous and hard-working mother
Who protects us from the ills of society
Who teaches us the value of honesty, faith, and education
I grew up with siblings who held pen and paper instead of toys or kites
Who have been heroes in my life and good examples of success
I am from my eldest sister, who is like my second mother, caring, generous, and helpful
I am from young Afghan women with goals and desires
A woman who is educated, independent, and makes her own decisions
A woman with a friendly, softhearted nature
And a strong belief in Allah and His creatures
Enthusiastic about exploring cultures and lifestyles
Eager to travel the world to meet people and places
A woman who feels the pain of other deprived and vulnerable women
And wants to support them
Who dreams of Afghanistan as a peaceful place
No bomb explosions or suicide attacks, killing us like flies
No fear of walking to school and work, as if we’re entering hell
I imagine Afghans holding pens as weapons
Women walking in the gleam of education instead of the dark shadow of illiteracy
Children reading books with shining faces instead of begging and picking trash
I am from women with dreams and wishes
I am an energetic, optimistic, and responsible woman praying for a better Afghanistan
A woman wearing a green scarf as a flag
Protecting myself against winds that can take away my identity and homeland again
I am an Afghan woman from green mountains, wanting unity and peace for Afghanistan.

Winter School Days in Kandahar
The arrival of winter reminds me of those rainy days when I was going to school
Sleepless from the cold nights and the tup-tup sound of raindrops leaking from the roof
Cold air through the broken windows waking me up from my warm bed
Each morning my mother making me hot tea and naan (bread) with her kind, soft hands
Walking in my burqa through the long, narrow streets of our neighborhood
Holding my blowing burqa tightly to cover my school uniform from unwanted views
Folding it around myself to warm up my cold hands and red running nose
Bundling up my white pants and burqa to jump over puddles across a broken bridge
Cheering in my heart like an Olympic champion for succeeding in crossing the broken bridge
My burqa flying in the wind like small birds learning to fly in the sky
Slipping and getting my school uniform and shoes muddy before reaching the bus station
Pleased to arrive at school, like a lost bird returning to the nest after a long voyage
Being punished by the school’s monitors for being late and wearing a messy uniform
Those freezing classrooms with hollow windows and doors giving me flu and fever
Finding raindrops on each page of my books, like the shabnam (dew drops) Spring brings to leaves and flowers
The cracked benches like rocks freezing in the mountain
Snuggling with my friends and classmates to warm each other against the cold
Praying for sunshine to melt our frozen muscles
The arrival of winter giving us a lesson on how to be strong against hardship
The end of winter giving us a blossom of hope for Spring

The Sweetness of Pomegranates

Suddenly it’s November. The night air is colder. The days are shorter. There’s a morning chill in the air. Pomegranates are in season. I’ve been here a month and I’m finding myself wondering how the days have passed so quickly.

I would be telling a lie if I said it was easy to live here. There are many things that make it difficult, particularly for a Westerner and for a woman. I must constantly be careful of what I eat and avoid fresh vegetables and fruit when I eat out, for fear they have not been washed in “good” water. I had one serious intestinal upset and would really like to avoid another. When we drive around Kabul, the dust in the air is thick. Sometimes I can really feel it in my eyes and in my lungs. I’ve adjusted to a life of living within the compound walls except when I go out in the car. For me, a person who exercises fairly judiciously, this has, at times, not been easy. But I’ve come to accept the situation and know it is temporary. Oddly enough, I have less freedom than the young Afghan women I teach. This is due to the high security warnings for Americans. It is really highly recommended that we keep a low profile – and that means not roaming the bazaar, as much as I’m tempted to do so!

Each time we head into town in our old Russian jeep, we have to cross over a large section of the road that’s being repaired. It’s about 50 feet across. The first time we drove across it, it was soft dirt. For a newcomer like myself, I thought we’d never make it. But we did. We wobbled and slid around but by gunning it we could not only get across but gain enough speed to merge into the oncoming traffic and turn left, I might add. A few days later, the road became a large ditch which we then had to drive down into and up the other side. I was again quite sure we were done for, but no – we made it across. The next trip out the ditch was filled with large boulders of dirt, making the going down and coming up the other side even more challenging. Yesterday, the ditch was filled with large rocks. I wasn’t sure the jeep could make it, bouncing around on such an uneven surface. BUT….today it was smooth, level and paved.

It occurred to me today that this road repair is a perfect metaphor for living in Afghanistan. Every day presents a new challenge. And each time we manage to traverse this patch of road, we are pleased. We think we’ve mastered it. BUT…soon it’s changed and we are subjected to an entirely new challenge which we face and somehow, by some manner of miracles, we master. AND just when it seems everything is in place and we can breathe easily, it’s changed again.

A good example – the election! Just four days ago, all the talk was about the election. Everyone seemed resigned that even though Karzai would win there would be a runoff election. There were questions: Would there be demonstrations? Would people really be able or want to get out and vote a second time? Would the Taliban sabotage the process? Then suddenly, Abdullah Abdullah backed out. Then there was more speculation. Would the election be put off until spring? Would this surprise event cause other bad reactions and more demonstrations? Before we had much time to figure it out, two things happened. Karzai was suddenly approved to be President by the court (not a surprise since the head guy is his good friend) AND there was an announcement that Afghanistan was having a H1N1 flu epidemic and all schools were closed for 3 weeks! The advice the Peace Corps issued us long ago seems to hold true today – Be Flexible!

Some of us cynics wondered if the closure was an election closure or flu closure. Closing the University certainly kept any demonstrations from happening. And it is true, the flu, H1N1 or some other variety, seems to be rampant. Several students who come to SOLA are sick. I brought a large quantity of EmergenC with me, so we’ve been passing that out along with Ibuprofin and lots of advice on washing hands, covering your mouth when you cough, etc.. Just for the record, there doesn’t seem to be a thermometer in Kabul. We aren’t sure if that is because Afghans don’t use them OR everyone needed one and bought every last one. In any case, after great searching, none was found.

The University students I teach are actually quite upset about the forced school closure. They were all about to go into exams. Now it is unclear when their semester will end, if at all. Many of my students are claiming that the school closure is another example of how uninterested Karzai really is in strengthening education in this country. You can see that there is not much support for Karzai. When you ask the students if they thought he would win, they answer, “Of course.” If you then ask them, will things change, they quickly respond, “Of course not.”

I met with a small group of my women students today and asked them, if they could write Karzai a letter and ask for one thing, what would it be. The overwhelming response was education. Education and particularly education for women is on the top of their list. Educating girls in this country is, for them, essential and the only way they imagine the situation will improve for everyone. One student talked today about an image she recently witnessed on her last trip home to Mazar-e-Sharif, an image she says, she can’t get out of her mind. She noticed, as she walked down the street in front of the mosque, a line of about 15 women, all seated on the ground, covered in burqas, selling loaves of nan. All these women, most likely widows, were desperately trying to care for their families, keep their children fed, and guarantee a roof over their head, and were doing that by selling nan, nan they had most likely made themselves and sells for about .20/each. For Shugufa, these women are the symbol of what must change. The rights of women must be addressed. Young girls must be educated and their education needs to be seen as a valuable. . Girls must not reach puberty and be sold off in marriage. They must be treated as equals in Afghan society. Their voice must be heard.

After a lively and passionate discussion, we decided that their next assignment was not to write Karzai a letter but rather to create what in their mind would be the “ideal Afghan woman.” Who would she be? What qualities would she have? What would she care about? We all agreed that young Afghan girls have so few role models so they have decided to create that model, a model perhaps they can live into. That’s next weeks assignment. You’ll have to wait for the next blog to see what they come up with!

The sweetness of pomengranates. Ah…yes, I’ve never tasted pomegranates quite like these. The sweetness stays with you for a long while. And there is, indeed, a sweetness of being here. Despite the hardship, the worry of getting sick, the concern for security, and now an anxiousness of catching the flu bug, the Afghan people hold a sweetness like the pomengrantes here; one I’ve rarely experienced. There is something, almost intangible, that is so endearing. Maybe it’s a child holding on dearly to his father’s hand, or maybe it’s the soldier in the street that smiles and returns the Salaam Alekum that you’ve just offered him. Maybe it’s the bus full of people, that when you stop and let them turn left in front of you – which you actually can’t avoid anyway without being run over, they all wave and smile at you as if you’d done them the biggest favor ever. I know it’s that solider in Kunduz that decided he wasn’t going to inspect my luggage because I was helping the children in his village. And it most certainly was the excited, rambuctious greeting, accompanied by a large welcome home sign that I received upon returning home from Kunduz after being away only two days from my students here at SOLA. There is an appreciation and kindness, a graciousness and humbleness that tugs at your heartstrings. Perhaps it is why, even after 40 years of being away, I’m back. Whatever it is, I’m glad I’m here to remember how sweet it is. I’m sure it will stay with me a long time.