Where does one begin??

... I don’t really know, sooo much to say. Firstly, I was greatly saddened by the news that my work colleague, Mike Hines of Whitehorse, lost his battle with cancer a few days ago. Mike was awesome, despite his cancer and the battle, he seemed so full of life, always a smile and a positive outlook, almost knowing that he was going to beat the cancer. I remember so clearly him saying goodbye to me, shaking my hand, saying he was envious of what I was about to do here, no matter how dangerous it might be, for life is short. Mike, I truly hope you’re in a better place now and may you now rest in peace.

As for this place, well, I have been to many places and seen a lot of sights, but this is different, this place North Afghanistan is so incredible and in sooo many ways. The poverty is real, not only can one see it, but one can smell and taste it. And I will never come to terms with the oppression against woman, despite the fact it is “culture”. Not one single woman in this city of mud and bricks reveals themselves. They all are either wearing a full length blue or white burka, a few times I see a black one. Often, these covered women are holding the hand of their children. However, young girls are not wearing the burkas, only head scarves. I feel sorry for them and can only imagine the life ahead of them. Sadly, this morning, I saw a woman in a white burka being beaten in the streets with a stick, she was laying on the dirt sidewalk, with her arms up to try and protect her self from the lashes. The driver told us, the husband was beating her but we will never know why. I wanted to stop the car and stop the lashes, but that would have been so foolish of me. I my heart sank as we drove by her and did nothing. Here, children are put to work, performing many jobs; tailors, bread makers, garbage pickers, bike repair, packers, street sellers, riding cart and donkey, breaking rock, etc, etc. These are the very poor, very dirty, mated hair, black hands and faces. Also, it is common to see very young, like 2 and 3 year olds walking around without parents and often playing together in the open drainage ditches, which are essentially open sewers. It is common to see young girls filling the ever so common yellow 10 L plastic jerry cans from the ditches and yes, I have confirmed that many actually drink this same water. The lack of drinking water is observed everywhere, however these people are fortunate that there is some water, because once summer arrives in March, the situation will become worse if the rains do not come. There are 2 public wells in the town and they have gone dry last summer as the water table declines from over use and no recharge from the rain or snow melt. There is also a major shortage of food here. Many people line up for bread, which cost 10 cents a piece. The few water points in the city, have line ups and it is always children who fetch the water. The river that runs through town is very low. Many livestock have since starved and all crops have failed. The World Food Program (WFP) is here, but they are known to be crooked. So much to say, but limited time to get all down, as the electricity is only on for 5 hours a day. I have taken some amazing photos here in the north and once I down load them I will post... stay tuned.