O.K, it's been a really long time since I added any posts and perhaps those few that have been reading have actually given up on me. But, I've been harassed by some loyal readers that needed some closure to the "NMAA 2008" blog. I've been home for just over a week now, and it took nearly a week to get home. We left Kabul on April 12. In the week before we left, it had been rainy and cool, the Afghans were kidding us when they said - referring to all the rain - "All of Afghanistan is crying because you are leaving!" We blamed the bad weather on account of the Dean of the Air Force Academy (Brig Gen Dana Born) coming the last week - as soon as she arrived, the weather turned on us. Fortunately, as you can tell in the pictures above, the day we departed, the sun had come out and the sky was the bluest I had ever seen the Kabul sky. Maybe all the rain had washed the air clean. That's our C-130, from the Deleware Air National Guard, taking off from Kabul International Airport. SSgt Herb Hill was gracious enough to climb on the Headquarters building of NMAA and snap these shots as we left. It's quite fitting that he took the first one with the NMAA flags showing in the foreground and it's quite fitting to see our plane buttressing the Kabul mountains on the first part of our way home. SSgt Hill suprised us with this pics and it was very thoughtful of him.
The last week of our time at NMAA was quite franctic. Trying to tighten up the endless loose ends that I had made for myself. For example, the power goes off many times during the day at NMAA and so computer operations are feable at best. I discovered the last week I was there that each of the computers in the science faculty offices had an uniterruptible power supply (UPS). These are basically big batteries that can power the computers (0r electrical device) for about 15-20 minutes until the power comes back on. They were brand new and not hooked up to anything. I asked the Afghans through Dari gibberish and pantomime, "what's up with that?" They pulled them out and showed me that they the UPSes required a special electrical plug to be plugged into them. UGH! It's the little things that are so annoying. So, it just so happened that I had seen a few extension cords with the correct plug adaptor on one end, but the wrong other end. So, I cut the wrong end off the plug adaptor extension and cut the plug off the power strips (into which they plug everything) and spliced the plug adaptor and power strip together. Voila! UPSes for everyone and now they could leave their computers on all the time and not worry about losing any information. It took me about 45 minutes to wire the 3 power strips in the two science faculty office areas and the whole time I had no less than 8 Afghans surrounding me and watching my every move and offering a hand when I wrapped my connections with electrician's tape.
Brig Gen Born (Dean of the US Air Force Academy) arrived on April 6. This was very exciting for the five us from the Academy, because we were going to get the chance to show her everything we had been working on with the Afghans. On her first day there, we each briefed her on what we had been doing. We could do this until we were blue in the face, but what was really priceless, was being able to show her everything, to introduce her to the Afghan faculty and cadets, and to let her experience a little bit of what we had been doing for the past 90 days. She was there nearly a week and was quite the celebrity with the Afghans. First, she was an American General. Second, she was an American woman. In preparing the faculty for her arrival, I mentioned several times that my boss, the General, was coming to visit and she was a woman. They simply replied, "no problem." On one afternoon when she was there, I planned to take her to meet all the faculty, see the science laboratories, and just have a sitdown with the faculty to get to know them a little - get to know their concerns, their pride in what they did, and their sincerity. So, all the science faculty crammed into the Physics Laboratory and the Dean came in and I introduced her to all the faculty and expressed how incredibly dedicated they all were to NMAA and Afghanistan. She said some words and then we took a couple of group pictures. On the way back to the headquarters building, all of the faculty decided that they wanted individual pics with the Dean. Bless her heart, she was very patient and obliged anyone that wanted pictures with the "woman American General." Afterward, I was swarmed by the faculty to print out the pictures for them so they could display it on their desks. A few of them made the "joke" that they couldn't take the picture home to show their families - not because she was a woman, but because she was uncovered woman.
The going-away festivities went on for parts of several days. First, the Turkish contingent threw us a little ceremony and gave us a certificate and baseball cap with the Turkish and Afghan flags. Next, I had chai and huge assortment of pastries with all the science faculty and the Afghan Dean. Col Raghi, the Head of the Basic Science Department, arranged this ceremony just for little old me. Quite nice. Col Raghi gave me a little "Onyx Yacht Clock." Quite funny, but very thoughtful. The next day, I had arranged for me and the science faculty to have a little ceremony where I could present them all with gifts. I put together a folder for each of the 15 science faculty members which contained printouts of our group photos and any individual photos I had of that individual. For some of the faculty, I loaned out my camera for a night to each of them and I printed out copies of all their family photos they took too. The folders also had a CD with the video (and all the pictures) from the classroom observation I had done for each of them. The last suprise I had for each of them was a Faraday Flashlight - you know, the kind you shake and it lights up - no need for batteries. Well, a company sent some to NMAA for so I gave each of the science faculty a flashlight. They really liked that and the physics faculty roared "physics!!!!" when they got one. The other science faculty asked how the flashlights worked, and I said, "ask your colleagues who teach physics." They laughed at that.
The final ceremony was with the Dean (Afghan and US), the NMAA Superintendent and all of the American NMAA staff. This was the big one where we all sat around for chai and cake and then the Superintendent presents gifts and accolades. Throughout the several days of goodbyes, there were many accolades. The Afghans are so very sincere and are very quick to give compliments. It's refreshing actually, that they are so unabashed to express themselves. One of the nicest things they said, after I presented their flashlights, several of them welled up with tears and thanked me - not just for the flashlight - but for "doing so much" for NMAA and them personally. It was very emotional - a huge cry fest - A BUNCH OF MEN CRYING. Very touching indeed. They said they would never forget me and that they learned so much from me. That is a huge compliment, but I had to tell them, that they helped me to be a better teacher and better person for having been able to spend this time with them. I think also, I had to become a much better communicator too, not only because of the language barrier, but because of the cultural differences and educational background of my hosts.
One of those last minute things I had decided to do was to leave my webcam with them. I installed it on one of the computers in the science office and I showed them how to work it. I told them that on every Saturday, I would call them at 3:00 pm there time (that's 4:30 am here in Colorado). I told them that when I left, that my work with them and for them was not over. They don't have telephone access, they don't have email accounts, so the webcam was the best way for them to get a hold of me and the best way for me to provide some support from afar - some of that sustainability stuff I have mentioned before. They were excited and really mesmerized about the webcam, especially when we tested it with an internet call from my office downstairs to their office upstairs. They all cheered when we got connected and said things like, "hello Morris, how is America, how is your family, we miss you." I just had to laugh at the joy they had at playing with this techno gadget. The day I left, they wanted to test the webcam one more time just to make sure that they new how to work it. Then we agreed that I would call them two Saturdays from that day.
Well, that day was just yesterday. I set my alarm for 4:25 am and made my way to the office, and what should I hear/see on the computer as I entered, was a call coming in from "NMAA Science 2." Maybe I should have said, "don't call me, I'll call you" but nonetheless, they were calling. I answered the Skype call, waited a few moments for the video to catch up and there they were - beaming and when they saw me ... "Balay, Morris, how are you, how is America, how is your family?!" We laughed and laughed - when I went back to bed, Natalie said she could hear me laughing and talking. She said I have an accent when I speak to the Afghans. It's true, I have an American Dari accent and I tend to annunciate everything in a much more exagerated way. Well, it seems to work. After I hung up the video call with them, I thought back to two weeks ago when I set up the webcam. At that time, right before I was leaving, I had Afghans following me everywhere, long handshakes and kisses on the cheek in the traditional Afghan way. I thought to myself, "do I really want to hook this thing up and commit to that emotional connection." I wasn't sure at the time, but after hanging up with them, I knew I was done for ...
This has been a great experience for me and I hope it has given anyone that has read this blog, an insight into what is going on in Afghanistan. Some insight, that the military isn't just about waging war. Above all else, I hope that anyone that reads this understands how much Afghanistan is counting on the U.S. to help them gain some sustained and peaceful stability. Isn't that all any of us really want? And really, if nothing else, maybe we are the ones to bear the burden of hope for those who see themselves as hopeless.
This has been a wonderful experience and as always. Thanks for reading.
One more plug for Colorado for Kabul Kids. We are still going strong and we have raised nearly $1000 in cash donations and a bunch of school supplies that have already been sent. Colorado for Kabul Kids is now a registered charity and any cash donations are tax-exempt. So, please donate if you'd like to help. Here is the link to the website:
http://www.coloradoforkabulkids.org/
If you have any questions or comments connected with Colorado for Kabul Kids, here is the email address:
Special thanks to Steve Laveirge of Jade Monkey Design for building and maintaining the website.
Thanks to all ... DBrent
