Baad Tradition

I am now involved in helping develop Family Response Units (FRUs), specially trained police units formed to deal with domestic violence (spousal and child abuse). To say building and implementing a Domestic Violence program in Afghanistan is posing a challenge is a gross understatement. However, the international community through various Gender Affairs agencies as well as various Afghan groups are putting forth a valiant effort and I'm quite honored to be involved. However, it's not a challenge I look forward to working. FYI: I wrote my master's degree thesis on police response to domestic violence, so have some background/knowledge on the issue.

While reading a program document on the FRUs, I found a listing of what legally constituted spousal and child abuse and came upon the term Baad. I asked Asa what Baad was. Never would have imagined this one, it is not good. Baad is a payment of one family to another when a member of one family commits a grave offense against a member the other. To prevent retribution (killings), the families will negotiate a BAAD... when the offending family gives away a daughter in payment to protect other members of the family.

Asa told me Baad has been a common practice to resolve family disputes in Afghanistan for many years. Remember, a lot of these families have close to nothing and a daughter can be considered an expendable commodity. She has heard of girls as young as 6 years old being given to older men in a Baad who in turn marry these young girls. The Afghans do not believe in premarital sex and therefore must marry and remember (from a previous blog) that men are allowed up to four wives. Needless to say because this girl comes from a family who committed a grave offense to given family, she is not treated well.

I then asked Asa if the family of the girl had an alternative, she stated "of course" there are laws in Afghanistan now and the family could resolve the conflict through the police and court systems. She also said Baad is now rarely found in Kabul (the capital) but still common out in the provinces (countryside). I asked what her father would do if he found himself in a situation that traditionally called for a Baad, this got her goat but I didn't do it on purpose. She said her father would sacrifice his own life before giving up one of his five daughters in a Baad. That made me feel better.

As I said earlier, I'm not looking forward to working in the domestic violence realm over here but know it's important so I will. Fortunately, I'll be working with a wonderful community dedicated to improving the quality of life of the most distressed.

Okay, I think I belabored the point long enough... sorry, this one got to me.

A big blog hug goes out to all my

beautiful sisters, nieces and women
friends/family

we are truly blessed.

Some Things Just Don't Work

I shared with you in the past about the poor Traffic Police who are posted at many busy intersections here in Kabul. Unfortunately, when they do step out into traffic with their most obvious handwands no one pays attention. Well, they now have whistles and those round white handwands and the combination seems to be having an impact. Man, can they blow those whistles and they like to blow the whistle... I think it's become a power thing. All I know is that it no longer seems a suicide mission heading into some of the busier traffic circles. Overall, I'd say the Traffic Police are now up to about 40% efficiency.

I'm now noting more and more traffic control lights (see pictures) around. It's important you understand that many have been installed but I've yet to see one working beyond a yellow flashing light. I've also observed they are a pretty far distance from the targeted intersection. I'm guessing that if they are ever become functional, they'll parallel the poor local traffic cops... no one will pay attention. Right on red, left on red, straight on red; think Boston.

So, I continue to press on with criminal investigation deveopment processes. I sure hope we're more effective than the traffic cops or lights. But, I'm starting to wonder.

Tonight, Thursday, is my "night off" because tomorrow is my day off.

Peace Be with You,

GAIL

Election Over Back to Work

This photo depicts a local Mosque (church) which always tend to be this shade of blue and in this round shape with high windows. The Mosques do vary in size (not shape) and the roofs of some in the wealthier neighborhoods tend to have baeautifully designed and colorful tile roofs. The tower to the right where the Mosque "Crier" (kind of like the town crier of our early US history) goes to call people to prayer five times a day. After a "call to prayer" I will see people on the streets washing their feet, hair and faces with pitchers of water. Asa tells me she must wash all her makeup off as well as clean her feet and arms before prayer. Most do not go to the Mosque, but will kneel on a colorful "prayer rug" and pray independently, initially putting their forehead to the ground and then a little later rocking up and down from the waist. Then they stand in prayer. Asa tells me Shia fold their hands in front of them below the waist at this point but Sunni hold their hands to their sides. She tells me this difference in prayer style has resulted in a couple of wars.

The elections. Reports tell us here there were over 5300 polls that opened and remained open. Over 500 Taliban were caught or killed by government forces when they tried to attack the polls; unfortunately, they were successful on a few occasions. And, about 40% of the population voted, although one never really knows. I find myself looking at the right index finger of the officials here at the Ministry. When Afghans (as well as in many other world countries) vote, they dip their finger in permanent ink after they vote to prevent repetitive voting. It's nice to see these officials with stained fingers, but I was most concerned about the higher ranking ones I saw that did not have the stained finger... I wanted to chastise them for not voting. By the way, 40% of the population voting is higher than we will find in the US during mid term elections... and no one is threatening our lives or shooting at us.

I've become very busy at work of late with both the international community and the Afghans. I've written a couple of personnel management policies which are drawing a lot of interest. More on that in another blog episode.

Today, big hug for all because I feel most blessed to have so many of you in my life. Thank you for your blog loyalty. If you haven't let me know you're reading, I'd love to hear from you. My email: gailey56@aol.com. Your comments and requests are most welcome.

All Secure Here in Kabul

This is the very nice soldier/gentleman who goes out of his way to help Asa and I when we're in the Ministry. He's obviously quite poor in material ways, but most generous in his kindness toward us.

Okay then... yesterday, election day. You probably get more news than I do, but I do know there were continuous attacks throughout Afghanistan yesterday which may prove a win for the insurgents. Kabul took a few "hits" but all and all from my understanding, the polls stayed open. A win for the good guys.

Here's an update from yesterday's blog:

• It now appears I slept through most of the earthquake. The guys told me it hit for about 40 seconds and rocked the house... I woke up at the very tale end. And, I'm on the 2nd floor of the house which I'm told REALLY rocked. Guess I sleep better than I realize.
• The rocket/mortar hit pretty close to our secured compound. However, there are so many high antiballistic barrier walls between me and the explosion there was literally no damage anywhere near me. Unlike the earthquake though, it woke me up hard.

Off to work again today, as usual. However, I believe the roads are still "black" for us which means no travel to the ministry. Catching up on all kinds of paperwork and meetings.

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Off to ......

Peace be with you all,

GAIL

An Interesting but Restless Night

Well, I experienced a a most interesting evening last night.

First, I received a call from an international security force colleague around 8PM as I was decompressing for the evening, the call went about an hour before finally concluding. Needless to say, my mind was racing after that with ideas I hope to share with the group tomorrow. So, I practiced some relaxation techniques that ultimately worked and I fell soundly asleep.

Then at around 2:30 AM we had an earthquake that shook the earth pretty good, nothing extreme, the building and windows held up well... haven't been outside yet so see the damage. It was my first earthquake experience. It didn't last long... used those same relaxation techniques and once again I was back to sleep.

Finally around 3:45 a loud explosive went off. No idea where but loud enough to wake everyone in the house. The good news, there was only one. My relaxation techniques didn't work so good this time, so I've been up since then. It should prove a long day, I'm tired already and it's only 6 AM.

It is national election day today and thus an Afghan national holiday... they do this to reduce traffic and thus car bombs in the city. This theoretically allows the population to get to the polls which are dispersed throughout Afghanistan. I pray they go well, an essential component of democracy the insurgents will go to great lengths to stop.

Open sources have reported the insurgents have been building up for a while now to disrupt these elections. In response, here's what the US Embassy is warning Americans against because of election day: Indirect fire (mortars, rockets) attacks (got that one last night already) as well as the possibility of suicide attacks (both on persons and in cars). It should also be anticipated there will be a significant increase in Afghan National Police Forces (and they will armed at the hilt and ready). The large protest I informed you about a couple of blogs ago resulted in 23 Afghan deaths from police bullets. So, we Americans are warned to stay away from large crowds/gatherings as well as polling stations. I will be hunkering down at the international security base. I'm bringing an overnight bag just in case.

Oh ya, tried the cheese grits the other day... they were pretty darn good so I will have to run past that post in the morning now. Today I'll check out the plain grits... all for you CT.

Today's blog hug and prayer goes to...... the Afghan people who will brave their way to the polls today

Parliament Elections Saturday

I'll admit life is a little precarious these days and I'll share with you why. What got things going was the Koran burning discussions here in America, that really gets the extremists motivated/empowered to get the people riled up. Imagine if there was an "organized" groups of Muslims over in this part of the world gathering to burn Bibles? I'm guessing we'd all get riled up too, but not to these levels (I hope anyway). Now, we've got riled up folks just before national level of election for the Parliament (our Congress). One of the primary goals of the Taliban and Al'Quaida is to stop democracy and thus empowerment of the Afghan people. Disrupting elections would definitely put a damper on both democracy and empowerment and large violent protests would definitely serve that purpose. The gatherings against yesterday's Koran burnings resulted in the death of 6 Afghan protestors from Afghan police bullets, interestingly, just 3 days before the elections. I was out at the Ministry when this happend and fortunately was able to scurry back to an international community secured compound before the roads shut down. Not sure if the roads will be shut down today or not, but my gut tells me to hunker down today. I'm trusting my gut.

Lots of funny and inquiring comments about yesterday's food blog. I will address a few of those:
Mary: Yes, the DFAC/chow hall is quite large... if I had to guess I'd say over 8,000 square feet
Kt: Yes, there is peanut butter but I'm trying hard to ignore it... thanks for reminding me as I head out for breakfast to start off my day
CT: Yes, they have grits and sometimes both regular and cheese. Haven't tried them yet, but if they have them today I'll do a tasting and get back to you.

Today's blog hug goes out to my dearest friends Kt and Bruce Brown who are celebrating their 5th Anniversary at Bloomsbury. Sounds like you had a most interesting(?) anniversary celebration.

Food in Afghanistan

As you can see from this picture, the food here is just amazing!!! Look at those eggplants!! The water melons are just spectacular too... they're ruby red color in the center and not heavy in seeds. I often drive by these markets and just salivate, but stopping and buying anything is considered too dangerous. Oh ya, then there are the breads... flat breads but the size of a 12" pizza and light and fluffy, they look delicious. On top of the physical security challenges to buy, there is the always impending typhoid threat. Many use sewer water to water their gardens, so we're told the fruits/veggies themselves absorb the disease.... it's killing me. Most of you know how I just love fresh fruits and veggies... Mauria is always sharing her local farm stories. I might just risk it one of these days when I'm at the Ministry.

So, I eat almost exclusively at the international run DFAC, with no clue what that stands for but in reality it's a chow hall. It's bascially a set of large connected tents with a solid wood (unfinished) floor. So, here's how that goes.

You scan your ID card for entry and then grab a paper tray (think the tin trays from MASH) and grab a package of plastic eating utensils and stand in buffet line.

BREAKFAST: It's actually quite a spread. First, a short order cook to make omlettes/scrambled as ordered. If you want a fried egg, it's only fried VERY hard. From there are larger dishes of food to include: veggie quiche, chipped beef with gravy (SOS), bacon, pork sausage, turkey sausage (Muslims don't eat pork), biscuits, some type of breakfast potato, and oatmeal. Lots of high fat/cholesterol and I work hard to RUN by it... it's actually delicious from what I understand but I'm afraid to try. Then you enter into another room, more on my speed. There is normally a nice selection of fresh cut up melons, strawberries, grapes, and sometimes kiwi (all pealed), where I fill my paper tray up. Then danger approaches again with a cart full of breakfast pastries, pies, french toast, pancakes (melted butter and hot syrup). Then another cart filled with sliced deli style meats/cheeses, fresh tomatoes and jalapenos (I normally have the tomatoes/jalapenos). Then (yes, another) a large selection of bread, bagels, English muffins and industrial toaster. One then progresses through a room with tables for 4 and a large screen TV with sports or news showing. Then you enter into another large seating area. There you find cold cereals, yogurt, and a large cooler filled with juicy boxes (like we give the kids only real juice), and like containers for milk to include soy milk. Oh ya, a huge coffee machine that produces both "regular" and "strong" coffeee. More pastries in this room just in case you bypassed the previously huge selection of decadence. No clue how these folks aren't huge!

My standard breakfast: selection of melons, cold cereal with yogurt and soy milk (I also include some ground flax seed I brought with me), and a very large cup of coffee I refill before departing.

More on other meals in another blog.

Love to All... gotta head to work.