July 24, 2009, Friday

- The Summary of last 6 months in Afghanistan -

The 2nd poorest country in the world: Afghanistan

Me few years back! =)

My name is William, and I have been in Afghanistan since January 15, 2009. For last 6 months, I learned what three decades of war could do to a country and its people. Most of the country is in poverty. Children are dirty and left uneducated. More than 70 % of Afghanistan is illiterate. The majority of the country is without electricity, clean water sources, sewer systems, paved roads, and many other modern systems we take granted.

In Afghanistan, medical doctors make around $250 – $300 a month. Imagine what non-skilled individuals make here. Many of these intellectuals and medical doctors, are not satisfied with how much they are making and have abandoned their patients to look for better paying jobs.

Dr. Rafi, my good friend, said that the top 1 % of the brains in Afghanistan attends medical school, but unfortunately Afghanistan cannot keep them in the medical profession that they are trained in. Currently many of them are working with foreign companies, who pay 3-4 times more than they make in their clinics and hospitals, doing something other than practicing medicine. It is very unfortunate and depressing to learn these facts.

Kids from a primary school

A Girl's Primary School: Notice their feet!

Children in Need of a Pair of Decent Shoes

99% of the children I saw wore dollar store flip-flops, and many of the flip-flops were worn out or half torn. And 1 % of children stood in bare feet. When I saw these children, my heart broke down. Just imagine seeing 100% of children in your child’s school wearing dirty, old, and torn flip-flops and some in bare feet. My heart ached and filled with tears. I wanted to cry for these children. I went on my knees and asked God if there was anything I could do for them. I asked Him for his mercy on these children.

Three People I Met: Old man, Zahed, Hameed

An old man's injured toe. He walked 3 days in bare feet.

One day, I met an old man who walked three days in bare feet to get his painful toe treated at our clinic. I did not know how he did it, but our treatment team cleaned him up and treated his injuries before we sent him away. Then, he walked back home in bare feet. Does this make sense to you? It certainly did not to me.

Then there was this young man (I remember his name well, Zahed) who came in to our clinic on three different occasions in 45 days, all due to foot injuries. He, too, could not afford a decent pair of shoes. Many times, we advised him to wear a decent pair of running shoes instead of flip-flops at work; he was a hard labor worker, wearing flip-flops in the field. One time he came in to the clinic, limping because a big nail punctured his left foot. We treated him thoroughly and gave him a pair of used running shoes to wear. He was very happy, but I think we were happier than him to finally see him wearing a decent pair of shoes. Shortly after that, he left to another area for work. A couple months later, I met him on the road, and he looked healthy. I hope he is doing well somewhere.

Then there was this young Afghanistan soldier, Hameed, who shared that he was wearing a pair of miss-matched combat boots; one was 2 sizes lager than the other. ‘What??!!??’ I did not believe what he said, so had him repeat it. He, then, showed me his boots. He was right; one was bigger than the other. I found a pair of used combat boots and gave it to him.

Dr. Rafi and Zahed: We gave Zahed a pair of shoes!!!

We gave Hameed a pair of combat boots.

My Projects: PSNCAC, PSNCAF, PI

Then I started three small projects:
1. Project Shoes-N-Clothes for Afghan Children
2. Project Shoes-N-Clothes for Afghan soldiers
3. Project Illiteracy.

– PHA Update continues –