Monday

I got into Kabul on Sunday afternoon and was fairly unproductive the remainder of the day.  The new staff here all wanted to come and greet me.  Too bad they came during lunch.  By the time they came, I was wearing part of my soup and had already broken a bowl.  I think they were trying not to notice and probably wondering if I was drunk.  I was in a sleepy stupor and finally conceded that no good could come from me trying to tough it out.  I was asleep by 5 pm.

The day has started really well.  The staff here has really grown and the number of people I know is outnumbered by those who are new.  The addition of the burn project to what we do here has added 10 staff.  The project is funded by the US and Afghan Women's Council through the US State Department.  I listened to many stories today about how this project is creating real change at the home level for Afghans.  The program is targeting mostly women with prevention messages through local clinics, women's hospitals, Ministry of Women's Affairs, local community events/mosques billboards, and soon through community health worker training.  The CHW's (community health workers) receive training and then visit their neighbors and share what they learned.

I heard about the team's recent trip to Herat.  There is a burn unit in the local hospital and they will work alongside us with the prevention program.  They shared about many young girls who self burn, covering themselves in oil and lighting themselves on fire.  In the link section I have an article from last summer that talks about this terrible problem.  Dr. Mary said that recently they had a 13 year old girl come in after burning herself.  I thought about how terrible that would be to be so desperate that this would seem like a reasonable option.  As we talked more, the scope of the problem started to emerge.  After these women burn themselves, there is several months of healing.  Often there is no support from their families - they are basically left alone.  The way the family system responds during other types of burn accidents is also difficult.  Burn accidents happen in many ways, but Dr. Mary said that the majority are from explosions that are a result of the cooking elements that are run by gas being located too close to the wood heaters and that actually causes explosions, women and children burn themselves as they cook bread in their tandoor open ovens.  The children see their moms putting the bread in and taking it out and try it...they are usually burned over most of their upper bodies.  When this happens, the men of the family blame the women and it becomes very difficult in their homes.  If a woman is burned on her face and hands - sometimes men will take another wife.  Life is hard here, but I am so glad that there is a program to teach these women how to protect themselves and their families.

The guesthouse if full of activity.  There are many stories being told about recent teams and the way that they blessed the staff and people in Barek Aub and Aschiana.  Please continue to pray for what God is doing here, for the people who are without hope and those that are serving them.

More soon...