Sept. 11th

On September 11th I took off on the road to Dushanbe spending 8 hours along the border of Afghanistan.  Like most Americans I couldn't help but to think back 10 years to the events that led to our involvement in Afghanistan as a country.

I remember that I had just graduated high school and getting ready to go off to college.  I watched the news with everyone else in shock and horror.  I never thought that I would end up in Afghanistan helping the same kind of people that had done this to our country.  Back then I didn't know the difference between Shia and Sunni, and certainly was in the dark about Pashtus and Tajiks.  It's been a growing decade for me and I hope to have many more of my oversimplifications and biases replaced with compassion and real knowledge.

Before leaving there was a whirlwind of things to get done.  Unfortunately, the teacher that had helped me pass out the letters to the students told me to come back Saturday.  That was unfortunate because their school was closed Saturday and my many phone calls to the director weren't answered for unknown reasons. 

Having had the opportunity to meet and now work with Abdul Nazar, our business adviser, I must say that I am very impressed with his desire to help his people and to make a genuine difference in the region.  I count us lucky to have a man of such character and love working with us.

Our First Day

On Sunday we climbed into a car and began heading for a village up the valley where we were going to be doing a presentation on starting small businesses.  When we arrived the men were also gathering for the presentation.  The small room was decorated and cozy but it was still minimal in a way that reminded us that we were out in the villages.  The men sat down and Masrur began to introduce our organization and the project that we were doing, inviting the men to come down to the office if they have any further questions.
   
With that he turned over the meeting to Abdul Nazar, our first Business Adviser who began presenting a shortened form of our main presentation.  The men listened intently as Abdul Nazar spoke about risk and business and how to minimize the risk of investments.  He explained in simple terms the crucial components of a business, a product, a place, a price, and promotion.  Explaining these important ideas as well as a number of others in simple and practical ways has been the goal of our trainings.  The men asked questions and were attentive to the answers.
   
Afterwards, because it was our first presentation and it was in the village of Masrur's family we moved over to the corner of the room where food was being laid out.  Over potatoes and fish we continued the discussion as many of the men wanted to hear more ideas about potential businesses that could work in the area.  It was all very exciting to see the men wanting to work and to improve their community.

In true Pamiri style we traveled back to open our office with a ribbon cutting.  It was truly Pamiri, because another large meal was laid out a mere hour after eating in the village.  We laughed and celebrated as we cut the ribbon and sat down to eat and talk.  Masrur was about to head out of town for 2 weeks on a trip to Bangladesh and we were happy to have one more time to talk and go over plans. 

With all the excitement and progress it comes shadowed in the fact that my time here in Badakhshan is drawing to a close.  Next week I will be flying out of Tajikistan and will not be returning until next summer, to review and improve the project and hopefully expand it.  I have decided to leave a few things here so that I would not have to carry them back and forth each time, it feels good to do that.  I feel like it makes Badakhshan my second home, even if it is just some clothes, a backpack, and some powdered juice packets.

A Journey for Permission

As we rode up the valley in the director's Russian four wheel car, I was a bit nervous.  We were about to meet the local district leader and I kept peppering Abdul Nazar with questions and potential situations.  I was going to be sitting quiet while he represented his organization and in effect our project.  I was worried about a handful of questions and just wanted to make sure that everything would go smoothly.  We arrived and walked up to the whitewashed building.  There in front was a smiling woman with her hand outstretched.  That seemed to be a good sign so we went into the office and sat down.

Abdul Nazar, our first Business Adviser began to explain our project to the smiling woman.  We were going to open an office in her district to help people start small businesses.  We were going to provide trainings and classes for those who want to learn.  At this she got really excited.  She was very happy that we were going to open our first office in her district to help her people and then she started to talk about how the people really needed the training and the skills to start small businesses.  Abdul Nazar talked about all the organizations and banks in Khorogh that provide small loans and help for small businesses, but people do not know how to make their business succeed. They just lack basic business management training.
   
As he finished by telling the concerned leader about how we would be providing free internet to poor families that had children in other countries working.  She nodded her head in agreement and said in Russian, "xarasho."(it is good)  We wrapped up the presentation to the very excited local leader with confidence that we were on the right track.  She was very happy with our project and was glad we were going to be helping the people.  There were a few administrative items that we needed to do like write up a formal letter stating our intentions in the district and our goals, but it was just formality.  We had our approval to move forward.

On the way back we took an older man who had a fifty kilogram (110pound) sack of flour and a big jug of vegetable oil that he said the president had given him on the recent visit.  He was heading home to his house out in a village.  We let him out on the edge of a field by the mud covered rock houses.  It was a reminder of the poverty and how far we had to go.



Villagers sifting wheat on a flat patch of dirt in front of a mudded rock home.