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09/28/2003: "Kandahar Chronicles #17 - 23/09/2003"

Sometimes it feels like I’m treading water in a whirlpool. Tick one job off the list and two more appear. When I first got here in mid May it seemed like I only had a couple things to do a day to keep on top of things. Tomorrow will be the official half way point of my contract and the “to-do” list is starting to take up some space on my D: drive. I have a crew of masons in the compound knocking down walls and paving over strips of unused ground to increase parking space. I also want to get a pit dug for the mechanic and rewire the compound with security lights (motion detector lights and seven cats, great). The list goes on from creating an office computer network to designing a more soundproof generator shed since it looks like the turbines in the hydro-electric dam in Helmand province might be down for a long time yet. All this pales though when a further issue looms in the near future, winter is coming.

On the official last day of summer, the temperature suddenly dropped a few more degrees. It is the first taste of what will prove to be a very different experience. Until now, living in Kandahar has been an exercise in fighting off heat stroke and drinking ORS that tastes like warm sweat. Scorching desert winds would occasionally lash across the plains making eyelids sticky and filling ears with hot dust. Autumn is a time of grace, when the nights are cool and the days in the high twenties. Soon though, by November, the temperature will begin to drop rapidly and adequate shelter will become a priority. Not a big problem when living in a comfortable, spacious house like we do but something altogether different when living in a mud brick dwelling of an IDP camp or treating patients in a tent.

The reports I get are that by December, the frost will appear and the wind that sweeps Zhare Dahst will come cold and hard. The northern mountainous areas of the country around Kabul and Heart will be snowed under and will experience minus ten to fifteen daily. Here it will not be too bad in comparison but try explaining that to a family living under an old, nylon roof. I’ve got the compound staff cleaning and testing the kerosene heaters that will be put into the medical tents and bright, Pakistani made blankets are being bought by the dozen. Water pipes from the central BHU 5000 litre water bladder need insulation and mesh screens must be fixed in place over the tent doors to minimize the effects of frozen dust on an examination. Winter at home has always meant Hockey Night in Canada and hot roasted meals. For the people of Zhare Dhast and other similar camps, it means enduring bitter cold, biting winds, and survival.

Replies: 2 Comments

A.A.

It is amazing here.If you want to help you could write a cheque or do
some volunteer canvassing for some charity. Or find some organization
and sign up for a contract.I don't know anything about your background
but I suggest you first travel for a bit in developing countries or do
a stint with the Peace Corps or something to see if it's your cup of
tea
Here's some population figures for you...
Afghanistan - 24-25million
Kandahar/Southern catchment areas- 1.2-1.3 million
Kandahar City -470,000-500,000
Z/D IDP camp -guessing 28,000 -39,000

Carlos

carlos said @ 10/04/2003 09:17 AM EST

Everytime I read this, I am amazed. I want to help. Even the littlest would help, I am guessing. What is the population of the area you are in?
I am a college student in the States.

~Always Amazed

Always Amazed said @ 10/01/2003 11:38 PM EST