We left at 6:00 am in a Morningstar van with Muhammad Gul driving us. We picked up Dr. Rafiq at his home on the southeast side of Kabul, then headed north to the Jalabad Road to head east, down through the Kabul gorge to Sorobi. The road was well-paved all the way - two lanes. We followed the river so the scenery was at times breath-taking. Traffic wasn't too heavy, just a few of the famous Pakistani trucks with their detailed colorful pictures all over the truck cab and bodies. Some even have elaborate decorations on the front. When we arrived at Sorobi about one and a half hours later the river spread out into a lake - a reservoir really because apparently there is a dam just beyond. The more hardy vehicle from Jegdalek drove up to meet us there, and we left Muhammad Gul with our van while we headed across a wash south. The road was quite narrow, the vista was primarily a plain with some ridges occasionally. A bit bumpy but in better condition than the roads up north! The driver knew the road well, so we made good time. Saw our first camels by the camps of the Kuchis, the nomadic tribe of the Pushtuns - a bit like gypsies - who were obviously beginning to pack up to move further south for the winter.
We could see the community center from a distance, two very nice buildings - one white, the other made of stone (apparently they used the rock from a previous building on the site which had been destroyed by the Soviets.) Just outside the entrance to the compound (marked by a low rock wall all around) stands a police station. On the left of the road, someone is building a very tall rock wall compound which is to contain the home of a wealthy person. As we enter, on our right is the drill rig, working away to dig a new well for the center. There was a sort of bleachers to the south and several police officers were sitting, watching the work. A small building is on our left, intended to be the chawkidor or guard station, currently being used for storage. Then up the hill to the left is the medical center. Today it is full of Kuchis, the women entering the door on the west side, the men on the south side. The clinic is organized very much like the other two we had visited. The doctor's office is filled with women and children - it seems they go in for group visits! Brian got quite a nice video of it while Dr. Rafiq is explaining what issues have brought in the various women. A couple of the babies have herniated umbilicuses which are fixed by the simple expedient of putting a coin-like object on top of it and binding around the waist. After a time, it becomes an "innie". No surgery is needed. The kuchi women wear very brightly colored clothes with scarves, no burqas. Their skin is quite dark. Some of the older women were very short but there were a couple who were about as tall as Brian. One teenage girl took a liking to me and followed me as we moved to other parts of the clinic. She had refused to let Brian take a picture of her, handing the child she was carrying to me so it could be photographed. But later, she stood right next to me while Dr. Rafiq took a picture at the women's entrance.
The education building is a little higher to the south and faces west. There was a policeman sitting in the shade on the north side and just to the left was a foxhole in the ground where three police officers spend each night guarding the area. The Taliban have begun to show up in the area and recently fired a couple of RPGs aimed at the school down the hill to the east but hitting our clinic. The metal roof was damaged but the concrete ceiling held so there is no evidence of damage inside.
There is quite a bit of room in the compound south of it where the guest house should go eventually. Also there is room there for the playground we hope to build. Facing west there is a large area which is intended for agricultural demonstration projects with a new education building on the north side. The current education building will become the communications center, with computer classes, internet access and hopefully, a radio station like at Tangi Saidan.
On the south side of the building are two fairly large classrooms. In one there were some boys working on the five of the eight computers, learning a graphics program with the assistant teacher supervising them. Dr. Rafiq showed us a smaller room on the north side which is intended to be an office with a copier and perhaps a stationery store. We went to the room on the northeast side where we were served tea and biscuits. We were joined by a gentleman I had met earlier while watching the well drilling. He is a former vaccinator for this clinic, but currently is working for a gemstone company, taking rubies from Jegdalek, emeralds and tourmaline from nearby areas, to Pakistan to be cut, then back to Kabul for sale. He showed us a few rubies, I think hoping we would purchase some. He was very friendly, speaks English very well.
Then we went back to the classroom where the assistant was teaching about 10 boys English. Again, it was very much a rote method. I gave the teacher some pencils to hand out to the students. Back to the clinic where we handed out the blankets made by the Coon Rapids VBS kids to another group of Kuchi women and children. I felt terrible that I didn't have enough to give to all of them. They were very appreciative, however.
Next stop was the doctor's room next door. The male medical staff stay there through the entire week as it is too difficult to travel there each day. (The midwife has moved to the village - she had her young daughter with her - wouldn't she love to have a playground to use.) We sat down on the toshaks (after making use of the facilities - 4 little cubicles in their own little building to the rear with a "squattie pottie" in each one). A young man came in with pitcher and basin to wash our hands. Then the tablecloth was brought in with six huge rounds of nan folded inside. A huge platter of seasoned rice came next with a roasted chicken on top, then plates, huge spoons, and a dish of stewed chicken with a tomato onion sauce. The commander of the police station shared our meal with us. He is actually from Sorobi and is over about 235 police. His monthly salary is $350 US. A starting police officer can expect about $250 per month. He has 35 officers under him and a similar amount of his staff are working primarily on intelligence tasks. Shortly after we finished, we left again with a police escort of five on a Ford Ranger truck leading us to Sorobi.
A few other facts about Jegdalek. It is located on the eastern edge of Kabul province. Just over the ridge to the east is Nangahar province, which borders on Pakistan with Jalabad as the capital. The clinic serves 57 villages, with an estimated population of 22,000. The staff consists of a doctor, a midwife, a lab technician, a vaccinator who travels into the surrounding villages by motorbike, and about 40 volunteer community health workers who are given a supply of medications to distribute for headaches, etc. Cases too difficult for them are taken to the clinic, and if too difficult to handle there, they are taken to Sorobi.
There is a fairly large school in Jegalek but it is understaffed. Our center desperately needs a female teacher but no one local is qualified and it is very expensive to move someone in. The security situation is tentative here so it is not recommended that westerners spend the night on the grounds.
Our drive home was a little slower. Of course we were going uphill most of the way from Sorobi. More traffic, many more Pakistani trucks. Our engine began to heat up so we stopped to pour some water over it (the river was close enough that Muhammad Gul could refill his container a couple of times). Coming up to a short tunnel, a large semi truck was trying to pass a Pakistani truck and it seemed as though they got jammed. However, the semi finally entered the tunnel and nothing still was moving. There were a couple of cars ahead of us, but in what seems to be typical Afghani fashion, cars from behind us decided to take advantage of the fact that there was no oncoming traffic to move up beside us. After perhaps 15-20 minutes, traffic began to move on our side, a herd of goats came through toward us and a police officer walked through directing traffic to resolve the situation. Quite an amusing interlude really.
The traffic once we reached Kabul was not so amusing however. It took us over an hour to get home after we reached the city limits. We were glad to get home in time for supper, a shower and bed!
It's now 8:45 am. I went down for breakfast during that disastrous sixth inning. Jon Rauch has done his bit by having a three up, three down inning. I think it's time to switch over to the pitch by pitch commentary. I'm heading to the University again at 10:00 am to have more fun with the music students. I'll write more about them tomorrow - during game 2!
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