"heightened alert" ... but not "up to code."

There is a "heightened alert" - not sure what colour that would be - this weekend in our local neighbourhoods of Wazir and Taimani. Lots of intel about plans for a compound attack. I am the warden at RAMPUP East Guest House #2 for tomorrow AM's “compound attack” drill. Got my pots and pans ready to run through the house rousing people from their rooms and shepherding them onto the roof. Once counted they will be ferried across to Guest House #1 on the newly constructed inter guesthouse bridge.

The bridge is a tasteful thing - artistic bamboo designed to "not draw attention to the compound." It has a colourful history too. RAMPUP’s engineering and security departments battled for months to have their respective designs selected. In the end the low-cost rapid-deploy option from security was the winner. Lots of bad blood over that one - fortunately we have no engineers in Guest House #2 who might try to upset the drill protocol by refusing to cross the bridge.

It is after all not "up to code."

The tide is turning

In the spring of 2007 USAID’s Social Services Division held a farewell party for its much respected director Dr Jim Sarn. His loyal and creative staff assembled a cover band to play his favourite tunes at the event. With Tom Petty's "Won't back down" we paid tribute to Jim's principled approach to work, but it was U2's "The tide is turning" - accompanied by the International School of Kabul Choir - that really celebrated Dr. Sarn's belief that change was possible.

The tide is about to take a dramatic turn in Afghanistan. This weekend major funding cuts will likely be announced concerning $250M of municipal governance programs - all five could be shut down very soon. The impact of the March2011 Congress mandated reduction of $1.4B in USAID's Afghanistan budget is finally being felt on the ground - even Hillary is rumoured to have received a bit of a bruising in the House last week.

US retreat from the war in Afghanistan is being driven by domestic economics and the rapidly growing political currency of withdrawal. Meanwhile the moral outrage will continue to ebb and flow fueled by royal heists of public funds and civilian collateral damage in the unwinnable guerrilla war. How can we lever the good investments made - in such areas as education and health - without feeling obliged to stick around and "protect" them?

I believe there is still a place in the world for aid - collaborative assistance. But the industry needs to take a resounding swing away from the mega project whose most important yard stick is the “burn rate” of Congressionally allocated funds.

Non verbal SIgns

I finally tracked down my music teacher from 2007 ... cruised music street in old Kabul and met his brother minding the new studio ... demolition is creeping in and history being squeezed out ... I wonder what happened to the guy who made my rabob?

Ustad Mucktar and I have a much stronger common musical language – Hindustani solfege - than we did four years ago ... we are managing with minimal verbal translation. In fact i am forced to listen to the notes much more carefully ... to hear the tune less intellectually ... to find the culturally unique beat

I probably need to adopt that attitude a little more liberally in these troubled times. My expectations of people at work are much too high – tied perhaps unfairly to the excessive price tag of the project I am working on.

And at the end of the day ... well I am responsible to men I will never meet.

Compliance and Creativity

I spent much of the day evaluating bids on a translation “Request for Quotes’. There were fewer bids that expected and each was missing something essential so I had to get creative to be compliant. I thought fondly back to the days of the Ex-Taliban Employee Waivers that I used to prepare for visa applications.

The game here is not that hard to play.



Gotta be careful though not to flash too much colour on the grey landscape.

Tourist Spot Talk

It is helpful to get new perspective - or ancient - from time to time. Had a nice visit with friends at our Embassy recently and there was some invigorating ex-Afghanistan talk. Like good tourism spots ... I promised not to say more than that.

Someday soon they will be talking about Bamyian in the same breath.



Oh yes tourism will spoil the place a little ... It might get crowded again with pilgrims in great humility before the easy to conjure up Buddha. It may be difficult to get a great cliffside view of the valley from the Roof of Bamyian Hotel ... but every room has its charm. And I’m sure Tourism Bamyian has some other great suggstions.

Visitors will be helping to fund and shape the tourism leg of the economic development strategy of Afghanistan’s most compelling province. Bamyian is one of the great crossroads of ancient history only a fraction of which has been uncovered.

Ensure that you make plenty of time to just sit … and stare … and honour …

Less cruising around

I don’t know this nan man. Or any nan men for that matter – no more cruising around the neighbourhood like in the good old days.

Not even in Kabul. I moved here in 2006 for security reasons ... and prowled safely back then.

Nonetheless this nan man had a friendly message. From the beleaguered regional capital of Gardez 80 K south east of Kabul. It was safe to drive on that road back in March – like most recent winters.

What might peace look like Afghanistan?

Expendable "Pet Rocks"

Sometimes we get to see the real Afghanistan. To meet face to face with the "community beneficiaries." Sitting with a group of women in a literacy classroom last fall in Balkh was a helpful reminder of why I am here.

But the pressures to ignore the uncomfortable reality of Afghan women are increasing. USAID's policy is shifting to wider priorities and as a result "Gender issues are going to have to take a back seat ... those pet rocks in our rucksack are wearing us down." The Karzai government is rolling back pro-feminist reforms - including emasculating the safe house system for abused women. And the Taliban ... sly devils that they are ... are circulating rumours that they do not really have a problem with education as long as it is segregated. Of course nothing is official until the horse trading - the rumoured peace talks - actually take place. What we do know is that the violence against schools is unabated - there were more 500 attacks last year killing 170 and injuring three times that many.

Excuse me for a moment.

Share the Road

The narrow and increasingly busy thoroughfares of downtown Kabul are nonetheless exemplary for the courtesy with which folks share the road.

Sometimes we need to take the time to look back in order to notice such things.

Getting to the Park

I have no plans in the works for a trip north to Mazar i Sharif on this mission. Nor has there been a UNAMA style bombing and mob slaughter in the recent news to disturb my moral sensibilities. No - I am just glancing through some photos of my recent history in this country. And stopping at the Blue Mosque ... the Shrine of Hazrat Ali and perhaps the tomb of some relative of the prophet.

It’s magic and spirituality are unambiguous.



I have been lucky in seeking out such places. Pilgrimage sites and retreats. Cold stone floors and warm butter tea in Himalayan monasteries. All night chanting in Tamil Nadu temples. The Christian sanctuary on the river at home in LaPêche.

I like a nice park too - with pigeons dancers and their elegant aeronautics. I think about kicking up my heels – but I have yet to fly.

Going Up

Everything is going up here in Kabul.

The price of precious alcohol. The fecal count in the air. The high rises in Shara i Naw.

And the cost of war.

Like tracking down Bin Laden. He was a very evil man – motivated but not distracted by vanity. Nor fanaticism. We paid a lot to get him. A high price in human lives and tainted relations and exploited fears.

Was it worth?

Ask Obama.

War brings change – or at least revolution is often violent. The loss of life in the current civil disobedience in North Africa and Syria is horrific – but it has set a standard for sacrifice. And transparency.

The cost of war is much less visible in Afghanistan. One has to look well beyond the preppy school boys.

Keeping the Promise ... to the hen ladies

Sometimes in development we do get to stay connected to the change process that we ostensibly work for. Today I visited a 2010 client and saw the dry run of their "keeping the promise" presentation to the funder USAID. The presentation will highlight the significant systemic and programmatic changes they have made in response to my rather critical evaluation of their integrated literacy and microfinance project.

They will demonstrate how they have managed to turn some liabilities into assets. The Community Bank for example was introduced too early and in a too complex lending role. It is being transformed into a deposit mechanism for external capital investment -a seven million dollar Japanese contribution is waiting at the gates.

This may be change we may be able to believe in.

Maybe.

Because it is change rooted in greater reality. And in openness to discussion of new risks - like loan delinquency.

They are ready to make the pitch.

Such discussions about change are helpful to have with ourselves from time to time. Do we believe in the personal change we are trying to make? What is holding us up? A little semi-rigorous analysis goes along way.

Once you have determined that there are no trees within 50 kilometres you can confidently rule out charcoal making as a viable home business. And the widely endorsed Kabul-e platitude that there are “not enough fresh chickens” is enough information to justify unreserved micro lending to hen ladies.

At least in the short term.

Expect Delays

Well the elections in Afghanistan are over but we can expect delays .....



We know and we don't.


Trouble ahead ..


trouble behind.

It is the third day of Ramadan - perhaps each of you is undertaking your unique spiritual fast.

Life is currently about consultation and creativity for me - an important reflection time after the passing of so many loved ones this spring.

You might see how this playsout in


the Last Lost Sister (of Alice Munro),and

IamtheWallahRUs

Peace and love to sisters and brothers all

A proliferation of Porc

Last day of the second annual Piggyback Fringe Festival in our lovely Wakefield. Great crowds, enormous talent, a poliferation of pork, and frenzied blogging by Theatre Wakefield Scriptwriter in Residence Scott Hebert Daly. Photo thanks to Piggyback Fringe

Full Presence - Full Appreciation

Started reading Parker Palmer’s A Hidden Wholiness. One of his central premises is the need to integrate our requirement for solitude with that of community. He eloquently rationalizes their connection by redefining both positions.

Solitude means never living apart from one’s self. Not necessarily away from others all the time – not the absence of other people – but rather full presence with ourselves.

Community means connection with others. Not face-to-face or constant dialogue – but rather the full appreciation of the relationship with others.

Palmer describes the "circle of trust" as a framework for this integration. Where participants are encouraged to “sit there in the woods”. To be there as each requires. I identified with his analogy to sitting with the dying – a humble yet so rich symbiosis.

She Flies On

The long vigil is over - Mom took her last breath this afternoon.

Thanks to all the friends that joined us during those 11 days at the Civic. Precious to share the memories and the tears.

And you nurses are wonderful.

Prayers Flying

Does prayer have an impact? One school of thought argues strongly that prayer can directly impact the prayed for. But petitions for divine intervention in Afghanistan for example can quite rightly be viewed with some skepticism. I feel strongly that prayer definitely benefits the one who prays. As a Christian I believe in dialogue with God. And the process is as important as the destination. Hence the power of the prayer flag - beckoning nature to spread our plea. Fly one today for Cindy Fritsch who died earlier this week in a diving accident in Cozumel.

Celebrate the defeat

Le Gouvernement du Québec is debating its participation in - even its acknowledgement of - this summer's 250th anniversary celebration of the battle of the Plains of Abraham. The Péquistes are of course horrified and territorial - heh it was the French Army that was defeated so what has that to do with us. Jean Charest's Liberals are attempting to avoid the issue by asserting that the Government of Canada is responsible for the fête - the Plains are after all a National Park.

I like the straightforward assertion by ADQ MP Éric Caire that the Battle is part of our undeniable history - and that only those that have been truly colonized would refuse to celebrate the event. Those of you who are fans of the comic strip character Astérix will love Mr. Caire's allusion to the much celebrated Battle of Alésia in 52 BC when the Romans defeated the Gauls - the international renown Astérix is based on the defeated (and later executed) Gaul leader Vercingétorix.

http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/01/23/228870.html?fe=5951&fp=246595&fr=128699

Whose story?

Loss of autonomy, theft of identity - security is increasingly a virtual issue. How auditable is our daily life on the Internet? Le Monde reports the recent publication by the Parisian periodical Le Tigre of its first Google biography - "grâce a toutes les traces - les milles details" left by a young employee of a French architectural firm.

http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2009/01/17/un-internaute-piege-par-ses-traces-sur-la-toile_1143123_651865.html#xtor=EPR-32280155&ens_id=824668

Observers have remarked on it as a further confusion of public and private spaces - such as video surveillance privatizing public space, and the Facebooks publicizing private space. Others label it a group exhibitionism, and mutual narcism.

Whose story is our life anyway?

Do no Harm or feel the Pain

Continuing to ponder the ethics of my work - what should I expect to achieve and at what cost? Mary Anderson's famous treatise on the interaction between aid and conflict - "Do No Harm" - recounts how people chose even criminal actions in the pursuit of justice. Humble, small incremental changes in a few lives within a framework of honesty and caring is probably the most realistic expectation I should have.

Nonetheless I still idealize that we could measure our impact in the feelings and experiences of those with whom we work. Perhaps "feel the pain" is the "do no harm" analogy - a bottom line without which we do not have permission to operate. A young woman at Mirwais Girls School in Kandahar Afghanistan - one of 15 victims of a recent acid attack - is succinct in her analysis of the perpetrators. "The people who did this do not feel the pain of others."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/world/asia/14kandahar.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Luxury of SIN

My mom was assessed last week by le Centre Local de Santé Communautaire - the gate keepers for admission to Québec's assisted living facilities. It was a very friendly process - too many questions perhaps but providing a pretty honest picture to all concerned. Well I did have to go home and find my mother's Social Insurance Number to complete the paperwork.

The Canadian health system - its personnel and institutions - have served my family well in the recent years that we have felt the impact of Alzheimer's. Will I have the same luxury to look forward to in my aging?