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02/06/2004: "Kandahar Chronicles #66 - 04/02/2004"

This place is strange. After a frantic day at the office organizing everybody else’s problems, I managed to sneak out for a while to clear my head. We have donated two of our minivans to another NGO who are handling the transport logistics for patients from Zhare Dasht. I went over to their compound with three of my drivers but had to wait a while before we could move the vehicles inside their compound. The situation is tense enough here to try to avoid standing around on a street corner, so I decided I might as well walk down a block and check out the amusement park. This newly opened park, opposite the UN High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, compound, features a full size Ferris wheel, a centrifugal force teacup ride, a Viking ship pendulum ride and a go-cart track. It is about as Kandahari as a strip club but the locals seem to love it. Hundreds of men line the sidewalk in front of the gates watching hundreds more enjoying themselves inside. I bought a couple of bags of roasted peanuts from an old baba and some oranges from a cute little kid with a prosthetic arm and watched the show.

Two large bearded chaps in flapping turbans sped through the go-cart course, laughing and shouting at each other. I just managed to see the inevitable crash before I got a call from a driver saying that my friends from the NGO were now in the office. It was quite good timing as a couple of thugs were giving me nasty looks. I pushed past them and gave them the sign for what they could do with their attitude. Once inside the NGO compound I had a coffee and caught up with my friends who were hard at work. This NGO does excellent work in the Zhare Dasht IDP camp, managing the settlements as well as education and social work. When we are working in the camp, it makes for a nice balance in helping the IDP population. They are an Implementing Partner for the UNHCR, who coordinate the camp. After sorting our business, I left to find the same two thugs loitering around my vehicle. Instead of causing trouble, they were very friendly and after handshakes went on their way. I jumped in the land cruiser and headed for base. A donkey towed the go-cart from the track.