Hope

These are the two other people I see on a daily basis. On the left is Gul Mohammed, and on the right is Javid. The man in the middle is a great guy with whom I work, and who's taken a lot of time to teach me about the job here and how to be smart in a strange and potentially hazardous environment. He's been in Afghanistan probably eight or nine times from 2001 on, and probably has as much experience here as any American can.


Both of these locals work on our compound. They mainly do janitorial work, but they also help us fix things and build projects for us when we need them to. They get paid a pretty good wage (for here), and seem to enjoy being here with us. Gul Mohammed supports his family with his job here, and he's always very friendly to me, even though he doesn't speak much English. I'm trying to pick up Dari from him, but I'm meeting with very limited success. As in none. But I'm hoping that by the time I leave here, I'll at least be able to ask him how his day's going.

Javid's dad is in the Afghan National Army, but he's stationed in a far-distant part of the country. Javid goes to school for part of the day, and works here for part of the day. The money he makes goes a long way toward helping provide for his family. Plus, he speaks English (as well as several other languages) quite well, thanks partly to getting a good education and partly to hanging out with Americans all the time.

The part of this that people don't tend to think much about is that these two take a risk simply by working here. While Kabul is far from the most dangerous part of this country, there are still scum around who look at any Afghan who is on friendly terms with ISAF as a traitor. Think about that next time you're driving to work...

Given what I do here, it's not often that I get to see the happy and positive side of life in Afghanistan, but these guys give me hope for this place. All they want is to work hard, be happy, and provide for their families. The day I got here, I immediately saw how desperately the people in this country need our help. Beyond our own needs as a nation, what we're doing here is the right thing. Of that I have absolutely no doubt.