Hope

The definition of insanity is trying to upload 3 MB pictures over a 32 kb/s satellite connection. After compression, these little cuties took about 30 seconds to load, rather than 30 minutes. Hopefully that ends my picture problem.

Listening to the media today, you'd think that Afghanistan was already lost. Little good about the country is chosen for release, dooming the general public to endless reports of dead soldiers, retreating allies, and angry op eds about how we squandered years in Iraq instead of focusing on the "important" war. Or maybe a gem like this one. (You may have to sign up for a free account to read it. Apologies.)

Since I've been here, I've found some reasons to hope.

First is the change in leadership. General McChrystal is out and General Petreaus is in. Don't misinterpret my meaning. McChrystal was and is a good leader, and I have little doubt that we would have succeeded in time in Afghanistan. Key phrase: "in time". Eventually. Certainly not by July 2011 when the President wants us to start drawing down troops. We would have gotten there, but it was likely going to take a few years.

Petraeus isn't a cure-all for the problems here, but already there has been a change in focus from Nov 2011 (the end of the Afghan fiscal year) to July 2011 (when the troops are supposed to start leaving) The strategy is staying the same, but the energy level has increased dramatically since word came down of the new leadership. Everyone here knows he was responsible for fixing the quagmire we had in Iraq, and nothing less is expected here in Afghanistan.

All this, and he isn't even on the ground yet.

With the shifted focus and increased energy and effort of the personnel here, I expect things to move along more quickly than they would have before. This is partly because our deadline is being moved up, so it's necessary to try and meet our goals sooner, but it's also in part because people genuinely want to please Petraeus. If he asks for the moon, people are going to find some way to get it to him. That's the mark of a great leader, and it's what we've got now in Afghanistan. Not simply good. Great.

*****

One of the largest problems in Afghanistan is illiteracy. Only a small portion of the population can read at any level, and even fewer at a level high enough to contribute to the Coalition efforts to establish a working central government in this country. This is the main reason why it has been so difficult to grow and train the Afghan Army and Police. There just aren't enough literate people willing to be officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs, senior enlisted personnel) to lead the main-line force. Without this leadership, the force cannot operate at the level required to care for the country's security.

As much as we can try and teach the adults to read, where the change will come from will be the next generation, today's children. Whatever we establish today will be carried on by them in the future, so it is imperative that we make education a priority in the country.

My predecessor, Andrew, along with a couple other guys in our office, have been handing out books to the kids on the street outside Camp Eggers for several months. The books cost around a dollar each, and are printed locally in both Pashto and Dari, the two languages spoken here in Kabul. To pay for the books, they take donations. They send home braclets that the street kids sell, re-sell them to people in the states, and use the proceeds. On occasion they've funded the book distribution out of their own pockets. They understand the importance of getting these kids an education, in any form. Lack of education and job opportunities is a big reason people turn to the Taliban. (The Taliban was also a big cause for lack of education in today's adults to begin with, as they shut down schools in Afghanistan for a number of years) When you have no other marketable skills, if picking up a rifle and shooting at Americans feeds your family, you do it.

The focus of the book distribution effort has been on the less fortunate kids we come across in our brief travels. Last week, that focus took a quick aside, as we ventured just down the street to a local school. If you walk out of the northern gate of Camp Eggers, the school is impossible to miss, by sight or by sound. It's directly on the other side of the northern wall of camp, and four stories tall. At all hours of the day, you can hear kids laughing and playing on the playground outside. Having delivered books to the street kids several times already, and having another group of children so close, the decision was made to pay them a visit.

Armed with 50 books for the kids and bags of school supplies for the classrooms, we walked over early Sunday morning (Friday is the Muslim holy day, and Saturday is the other weekend day). We had contacted the principal to make sure we were expected and welcome, but had little idea of what else to expect.

When we arrived we were taken into a room about the size of a small gymnasium full of tables and chairs. Shortly the kids were lead in to see us. There were far more kids than we had books for at the school, so each of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classes sent five kids. (How those kids were selected, I don't know.) Very politely, and very quietly, they approached five at a time to accept their gift.

Outside Eggers, there are all sorts of kids that have things they want to sell you. The overwhelming favorite is braclets, but also head scarves, lighters, and random other junk they've been given by foreigners (one kid had a key for a Ferrari). All of them are dirty and under-fed. I have no idea if they go to school. They pounce on you as soon as you leave the gate and don't stop hounding for money until you buy something or get to a security check point.

A first grade girl reading her new book.

The kids at this school were completely different. They were clean and well mannered. They were dressed nicely in their school uniforms. The boys always lead the way, with the girls at the rear*. They never pushed or shoved each other to get to the front of the line. Even the smallest of them could read some of the words in their new books. All of them thanked us in English.

*There was one girl that started at the rear of her group, but while the four boys in front of her shyly stepped up to meet us, she did an end-around and came directly to each and every one of us for a handshake and a hello. She looked us in the eye and smiled brightly, clearly thrilled to be meeting new people. She seemed quite the leader. I hope her bold spirit stays intact as she matures in a society dominated by men.

School principal on left, teacher in center, translator on right.

Through our Air Force translator, the principal told us that there is a proverb in Afghanistan that says all neighbors should help each other. She said it was good that we came, as in all the time Camp Eggers has existed, we were the first people who had lived there that had visited the school. Five years of being next door neighbors, and no one had ever bothered to cross the wall, even to say hello. I was floored. I'm sure the perception was that these kids were the upper crust of society and had no need for a visit from the volunteers, but the staff at the school had taken it as a slight, interpreted our lack of hospitality as a apathy towards their school and their society. Indeed, it was good that we had come.

Later, over tea with the principle and her assistant, we were told that there were 3,500 students at the school - 3500!! - from 1st through 12th grade. Knowing that there are schools like this in Afghanistan, where education is valued more than the extra money a child could bring home by selling trinkets on the street, was a refreshing blast of possibility, the promise of a better future for this shell of a country. It is my hope that before our troops leave and turn the reins back over to the Afghan people, we are able to create more places like this one.

This little guy saw me taking pictures and twisting the zoom ring on my lens. He held up the white plastic ring to his eye and started spinning it, pretending he was taking a picture of me.

On the way back home, we noticed they had a soccer field. Immediately plans were made to come back with more books and soccer balls so we could play with the kids. As much as this is about the kids, we get a lot of satisfaction from it too, a trip to play soccer a little more so than usual =).

All for now. Out here.