"Kandahar Chronicles is the ongoing story of the day-to-day life of an MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) Field Logistician based in Kandahar Afghanistan. You can email the author your questions and comments here: carlos@citizenlab.orgSaturday, October 25, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #35 - 26/10/03Finally, after a two week wait, we got the BHU in Zhare Dahst operational again. Our reopening of the health centre was conditional on an improved security environment based around two checkpoints controlling the entrances to the camp as well as an increase in mobile patrols. Those elements have been put in place and we called the staff in to go back and get everything set up. The IDPs were very happy to have their camp secured and the resumption of convenient health care. It is also a relief for the medical team who are operating below capacity when there is no access to the camp. posted by @ 03:57 PM EST [more..] Friday, October 24, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #34 - 25/10/03Delirium is a very personal thing. My mind runs rampant, bringing forward scraps of memory in a confused anarchy and patching them together in an endless chaotic reel. My fever last night wasn’t very strong but I’ve been unfortunate enough to have had many hallucinatory battles resulting from malaria and most recently in July, typhoid. Kids from my primary school shout incoherently at shifting groups of Taliban dressed in baseball uniforms. Images of stock lists provide the curtained backdrop as an ex girlfriend sings ditties from television advertisements. “Mr. Clean will clean your house, and everything within it, Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean, Mr.Cleeaann…” Thrashing around until the blankets are in a tight knot then trying to half consciously to crawl underneath them when the cold sweats descend. Fever makes me want to leave. posted by @ 01:45 PM EST [more..] Thursday, October 23, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #33 - 23/10/2003Fever 39 degrees. Right now I feel like I've got the bends, have my head stuck in a vice, twenty litres of boiling acid in my guts and I'm shaking like a bowl of jello on a tumble dryer. I just want to lie on a couch and watch daytime TV while popping multi coloured happy pills. posted @ 12:47 PM EST [link] Wednesday, October 22, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #32 - 21/10/2003Twenty five hundred seasoned Taliban troops mass in the hidden valleys of the rugged border region in preparation for an invasion of Zabul, and ultimately Kandahar provinces. Sales of motorcycles from Pakistan and cell phones from the Gulf have risen dramatically as this powerful force readies its transport and communication capabilities. Arms and ammunition dumps have been hidden throughout South East Afghanistan and millions of dollars generated from, among other things, the heroin trade, provide financing for much more. The relatively rich autumn harvest will supplement food supplies as winter approaches. Their primary target will be US and Afghan government forces, but civilians deemed “stooges” of the regime and aid workers are also on this ominous list. Information taken from Ahmed Rashid’s excellent article in today’s Telegraph- a must read posted by @ 09:54 AM EST [more..] Sunday, October 19, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #31 - 19/10/2003What a crap day, I’m tired and pissed off. A cat sleeping on my desk in front of the printer is just about the only thing that will dare come near me right now. The cats are acting cute in preparation for winter. As soon as spring comes around they’ll go back to being fluffy little bags of attitude. Scheming little minxes. There’s nothing to write about today. I feel like a drone, punching out administrative shite on a keyboard for endless hours. I’m surrounded by communication equipment. HF, VHF, Thuraya satellite phone, Mini-M sat phone, cell phone and even a laptop beside my desktop. There’s no internet or else I’d be planning my flights to the tropics right now. Maybe I’ll tie a rude note to the cats tail and see who gets it. It’s lying on its back with its tongue hanging out. Another five minutes and I’ll check for a pulse. I’m off to Islamabad on Wednesday to do some shopping for the project and clear my head a bit. Until then…print. Yep, it’s alive. posted @ 01:45 PM EST [link] Kandahar Chronicles #30 - 18/10/2003 Ya, das iz gut! Kandahar Oktoberfest Party 2003. Mein Got, what a party it was. After a day off spent sunning ourselves, Bertein and I headed over to the UNHCR compound to eat infidel food and drink tankards of beer. Big Herbutus, HCR Security Officer was the driving force behind the party. We walked in the gate, ducking a barrage of German/English as Herbutus barked at the cowering chowkidors for not organizing the car parking to a Teutonic standard. posted by @ 01:44 PM EST [more..] Friday, October 17, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #29 - 16/10/2003The six month order arrived today and not a moment too soon. Twice a year we receive a bulk shipment of medicines and logistical supplies which travels by truck from the warehouses in Holland, across Europe, Russia, a couple of dodgy “istan” republics and finally to HQ in Heart. From there, it is distributed to local transport agents who deliver it to the various projects. The lead in time for this is about thirteen weeks from the date the order is placed until the supplies arrive. The trick is estimating drug consumption rates based on both current and projected levels. Different seasons mean different drugs needed. It’s no good looking at consumption figures for cholera for December when it is most prevalent in the hot summer months, and vice-versa for diphtheria. There is also “buffer stock” to calculate as well as “needs per order period”, “needs till delivery”, “free stock at delivery” and “needs till theoretical stock out”. Whoever invented Excel is a legend to the humble loggie. posted by @ 03:18 PM EST [more..] Thursday, October 16, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #28 - 15/10/2003Oh terrific, time to play “guess who set off that bomb!” This is an old favourite around here. A sudden, massive explosion rocks the office and rattles the windows. This last one about thirty seconds ago was easy, Coalition forces out at Gecko base blasting old munitions. How can I tell? Easy in this case. The direction it came from is north, where the base is located, and has the heavy concussion capable of rippling my tea. When there is an attack on the base by rockets, the blasts are sharper, multiple and happen at night. Bombs set off in buildings are always followed by a reaction from our chowkidors and grenades sound like solid timber cracking. When the Americans are blasting away at some target out in the hills, there is always an accompaniment of whopping helicopters and when a large truck blew out a front tire and shook our gate last week everyone giggled off the adrenaline in relief it wasn’t an attack. posted by @ 11:48 AM EST [more..] Monday, October 13, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #27 - 13/10/2003We pulled up the leafy drive and stopped the Hilux in front of the green doors of the Infectious Disease Ward of Mirwais Hospital. I walked in with our Ward Supervisor, Yaqub, and stopped to let my eyes adjust to the gloom. Doctors and nurses walked busily around the various male and female wings. Relatives of patients talked in the corridors clutching apples and loaves of bread. An old lady spotted me and tugged at my elbow, jabbering incessantly in Pashtu. Yaqub interceded and directed her to a nurse. He explained that she was asking which room her husband was in. He walked her to the door and she left mumbling to herself. He told me with a sad smile that her husband had died years before on the ward, since then she came in every other week asking about him. posted by @ 01:10 PM EST [more..] Kandahar Chronicles #26 - 12/10/2003 Logistics can be a pain in the ass. It’s one thing when things get screwed up because the Taliban and Al Queda don’t cooperate with my finely tuned plans but something altogether different when my own colleagues in the other departments decide to turn things around 180 degrees. Today was going to be clockwork. I had four minivans lined up to depart at eleven to bring the Elders down from the camp for a three o’clock meeting with the Head of Mission and the Governor in Kandahar. Two other minivan drivers were told not to come in today and they left to find other work. The NGO camp managers had a rendezvous point and time set up and had spread it around to the settlements. Everything, foolishly, had been worked out to the last detail. “Carlos, we need all six minivans tomorrow to serve as ambulances for the IDPs, they need to be ready to leave here at seven a.m. We’ll have to rent a coaster to bring the Elders down.” posted by @ 11:43 AM EST [more..] Kandahar Chronicles #25 - 11/10/2003 There are times when difficult decisions are made that either way have short-term consequences. When dealing with the welfare of vulnerable populations those decisions can be a matter of life and death. With attacks on NGO staff increasing in Southern Afghanistan, a decision has been made by the MSF Head of Mission in Afghanistan and the HQ in Amsterdam to suspend our operations in the Zhare Dahst IDP camp until this situation can be improved. This has been done to put the considerable influence MSF wields to protect our staff, both international and national, and to help create a safer environment for the people of this region. Unfortunately, this action, which is directed at initiating a response from the government authorities, could come at a serious cost to the inhabitants of the camp. Doing nothing and accepting the deteriorating security situation could be much worse. posted by @ 11:39 AM EST [more..] Monday, October 6, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #24 - 06/10/2003The walls are closing in. Movements have been temporarily restricted to Kandahar city. National staff have been given the option of travelling to the IDP camp and all but two continue to do so. One of the staff has resigned as there was no job post we could give him at the base. He explained that his father was killed by gunmen while working for an NGO. He is now the only man in his family with a job and is responsible for providing for his extended family. It is better to be alive and without work for a short while than to risk a similar fate. The rest of the staff travel in a convoy of minivans and make frequent radio checks, few of them sleep en route. posted by @ 12:16 PM EST [more..] Kandahar Chronicles #23 - 05/10/2003 “Okay, okay MSF, why don’t we continue to disregard the past things that have come to us and solve fortuitously what it is we are proceeding for.” Who the hell are you? “It is not for want these technical matters for otherwise problematic circumstances.” What!? Exaggerated sigh, a shake of his head loosens his turban. He walks back to the carpet draped motorcycle and reaches into a hidden pocket, pushing back the material that drops over his face. I’m standing inside the blue gates of the UNHCR compound in a crucifix pose getting a scan from the uniformed security guard. My eyes follow the man as he comes back from his bike clutching a crumpled envelope. posted by @ 12:15 PM EST [more..] Kandahar Chronicles #22 - 04/10/2003 It’s really starting to hit the fan now. What was promising to be a fun day playing with our new generator dissipated in a crash of gunfire at the Zhare Dahst IDP camp. Around ten in the morning, armed men in a saracha, a typical yellow and white Toyota Corolla taxi, drove up to a marked NGO demining unit clearing a site for a possible future settlement. For security reasons I won’t write about the details of the attack in this blog, but they opened fire and luckily only one mine clearer was slightly injured. The vehicle sped off to the hills before the security forces arrived. It is sometimes too easy to forget our situation here and the deadly suddenness it can change. posted by @ 12:11 PM EST [more..] Thursday, October 2, 2003Kandahar Chronicles #21 - 01/10/2003Nothing happened today except frustration and bullshit, I don’t even feel like writing about it. As far as the comments go, I’d like to say thanks and keep them coming. I only receive a few because of the crappy satellite system we work with but they are well received. Candy, to answer your questions, I keep alive by trying to keep my eyes and ears open and by staying out of the real bad areas. We continue to operate in the IDP camp despite the fact that some other NGOs have confined movements to Kandahar City only. This is a very carefully monitored situation involving a constant gathering of information from all sources including weekly security meetings, discussions with national staff and constant re –evaluations with head office in Heart and Amsterdam. We don’t take foolish risks but we don’t like to sit around either. I did get typhoid in July but I work with medical people so it was just a kind of a shitty inconvenience. posted by @ 12:31 PM EST [more..] Kandahar Chronicles #20 - 30/09/2003 With our PC attending Country Management Team meetings in Heart, I attended the weekly NGO security meeting. I hadn’t been to one of these since Bertein and I made up the entire expat team back in June. This week it was at the Tear Fund offices on the far side of town. Representatives from twelve organizations were there as well as the new agent for ANSO, the Afghan NGO Security Organization. ANSO is funded by ECHO, the European Community Humanitarian Office, and serves to act as an intermediary body between security advisors and forces and the various NGOs. The primary purpose of these meetings is to inform everybody about each other’s security measures as well as to discuss any issues that have occurred over the past week. I can’t write about what was discussed for obvious security reasons but it now seems that besides MSF, very few organizations are still willing to operate out of the city. posted by @ 12:30 PM EST [more..] |
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