Christmas and New Year Letter to You

To our really wonderful friends and family,

Two thousand nine has been yet another big year for the Dear/Ashley duo.  We made it through our first year of marriage, sadly moved away from a beautiful island nation, and moved to a nation at war wand that ranks 181 out of 182 countries on the Human Development Index (at least we’re ahead of Somalia).  

We’re often amazed at our everyday life, the people we meet and the stories we hear.  It can also be pretty amusing.  Chad was recently asked some interesting questions at work including, “When was Jesus born?  Is this disputed by different Christian factions?  Why isn’t Christmas your new year?”  “Why then is your new year January 1?” (Keep in mind that these questions are from people who operate on two calendars:  one the Persian solar calendar when new year is the spring equinox, the other the Islamic lunar calendar when new year is the holy month of Muharram).   Needless to say, these questions forced Chad to repeatedly reference Wikipedia. 

In a way, it seems like our year began when we arrived in Afghanistan.  Pre- and post-Afghanistan has been a big landmark in the year and in our lives.  But the beginning of 2009 was also memorable.  It included an ultimate frisbee tournament in Bali where we played for East Timor in its first tourney appearance; a visit to Timor by Laurie’s folks who managed to climb the country’s tallest peak, snorkel at the eastern tip of the island, volunteer at an orphanage and much more; beautiful days snorkeling, scuba diving, and hiking around Timor; and sad goodbyes to great people, stunning sunsets, and a fascinating tropical island.  We left Timor for Missoula and celebrated Chad’s birthday for 39 hours en route (24 hours plus the 15 hour time difference) between Singapore, Japan, Seattle, and finally Missoula where we had lemon cake. 

In Missoula, we spent a blissful few weeks in May and June where we got to ski in the mountains, float rivers, see wonderful friends, and have a BBQ almost every night.  On the way to Afg we visited DC and Pennsylvania (firsts for Laurie).  Highlights included the Einstein Memorial in DC, Little League baseball in Penn, and seeing Chad’s family from nieces and nephews to great uncle Chick.  From DC we flew to Dubai and then to Kabul where we spent a few (metaphorical) shell-shocked days before traveling to Ghor, Hirat, and Bamiyan.  Bamiyan has been an incredible place to land.  The 17,000 ft Koh-e-Baba mountains are out our front door.  Hiking and skiing there have been some of our best days in Afg.  It’s amazing to come upon a lake tucked into these dry mountains or hear prayers from a rural mosque as we ski through a village.

Some other notable events this year:  Laurie was hit by a motorcycle while riding her beloved bike, Avi, along the beach road in Dili and survived the hospital visit afterwards.  Before leaving Timor, Laurie gifted Avi to a sweet friend, Maud, saying a heartfelt goodbye to a great bike and friend she’d had since she moved to Missoula in 1995 (aww...).  She reveled in friends and mountains in Montana, became a natural resource consultant and worked five jobs for five international organizations learning a ton along the way.  And finally, along with Chad, Laurie skied Afghanistan.  Chad surfed Bali and Brennan’s wave and survived the resulting knee surgery (conducted in Dubai).  He acquired two chickens for our household, managed a field office of 40 Afghans, and oversaw the implementation of agriculture, natural resource management, and women’s empowerment programs.  And finally, along with Laurie, Chad skied Afghanistan.

During our stay in Afg we’ve also had amazing opportunities to visit Nepal and Turkey where Chad won a rickshaw race in Kathmandu and we backpacked the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

Afghanistan is a place where we are constantly reminded of the joy and sorrow of humanity.  This year has brought us incredible joy, some tragedy, and many stunning moments along the way.  You all have been an important part of it.  We miss you and are wishing you a happy New Year on the 1^st of January because, according to Wikipedia, in 153BC, some guys in Rome decided that’s when it was going to be.

Love,

Laurie and Chad

PS Photos in the slideshow from our 2009 world tour include Timor Leste, Indonesia, Montana, DC, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Turkey.

Turkiye

For an extended Thanksgiving/Eid holiday, we slipped away to Turkey (Turkiye, as in Turchia) for a few days in Istanbul and nine days hiking in the south along the Mediterranean coast. The country has incredible and evident history all over and illustrates the meeting of Europe and Asia. In Istanbul we saw the sites: the Bacilla Cistern, Aya Sophya, Blue Mosque, Galata Tower, the Grand Bazaar, and more. All inspiring places. Along the coast we hiked a route called the Lycian Way (Likya Yolu in Turkish). We used a guidebook to follow the route through villages and stretches of remote coast. The book included landmarks like, old camel farm, lighthouse, orange orchard, carob trees, ancient ruins, and more ancient ruins. It was a beautiful and fascinating walk through historic and modern Turkish life and landscape. The first fall rains had recently started and all along the route whole families were out collecting mushrooms in the forests. Along the way we were gifted apples, tangerines (amazing), a lemon, and kind hospitality. The tangerines were so good and we walked through so many orchards that I eventually broke down and picked a few myself. Orange and tangerine peels were a common site all over the place. I really wanted to pick a pomegranate but the season was nearly finished so they weren’t as plentiful. We usually ate dinner at a café along the route, which always included beer (something sorely lacking in Bamyan!). And spent 5 of our 8 nights in B&B type places escaping the somewhat wet weather and the 5 o’clock darkness. For breakfast, Turks eat tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, bread, boiled egg, and tea and we regularly partook. So we weren’t exactly roughing it. ;) It was a great trip.

Update

Some great things about Bamiyan: it’s stunningly beautiful; there are glaciers and new snow in the mountains; there is no shortage of donkeys (one braying now); people catch fish from the creeks with the most basic stick, line, and hook set-up; the only election-related violence was a group of women at a polling station who, in their eagerness to vote, broke down the gate and “trampled” an elections observer before the polls opened; we can go on great hikes (soon skiing) from our house; we have two chickens (recently got the first egg!); we can walk to work; we have naan and chai every day; and in the right light, some of the plants, birds, butterflies, trees, wheat and potato fields, mountains, and streams remind us of Montana.

It’s getting cold here now, nights down to 13F (-11C). We heat our house by burning wood and coal in bukaris, cylindrical tin tanks with a mud seal around the top (see photo). To heat water, there’s a second tin cylinder that sits atop the first that we fill with water. The fire below, and the stovepipe running through, heats water pretty quickly. We also have a greenhouse set up on the south side of the house, which is where all the windows are (Bamiyan people know how to plan for the cold). In full sun, which is most days, it gets downright tropical in there. We’ve had a few snowstorms and can’t wait for a few more, ski season is right around the corner.

I recently completed a consultancy with the Aga Khan Foundation and just started work with UNEP (UN Environment Program). My new work involves planning and research in preparation for the proposed Shah Foladi protected area. This area is proposed as a category 5 protected area which means a place dedicated to safeguarding ongoing traditional use (grazing, plant harvesting for fuel, food, and medicine) in a sustainable manner. My new job means that instead of walking to work through alleyways of leaking latrines, I walk through recently harvested wheat and potato fields, some now greening with winter wheat and all surrounded by impressive mountains. Gorgeous.

We continue to meet good people and are regularly awed at the inspiration and heartbreak. Part of it is our eyes are more open in a new place but it's also the hard lives people live here and the ability of people in tough situations to smile. Recently we brought food to a colleague whose mother had died, the pain in their house was so strong, sobbing, somber faces, and people trying to comfort each other. And last week I had lunch with another colleague whose sister had the chance to study for a year in the US because her mother stood up to her uncles that didn't want her to go.

A few photos here include: the Buddhas and views from the cliffs, Chad’s all staff volleyball game in our front yard (greenhouse in background, the women and I were appropriately watching), hiking around Bamiyan, donkey’s carrying shrubs out of the mountains for fuel, wheat and potato harvest, and our work.

Next week we’re taking a holiday during the Muslim Eid and the American Thanksgiving to… Turkey. ;) We’re going to explore Istanbul and hike along the Mediterranean coast for a few days all the while feeling thankful for having all of you in our lives. Best of wishes and happy Thanksgiving.

Quick Update and Photos

Some of recent Afg photos from Ghor, Bamiyan, Band-i-Amir, work, and play. The last few in the series are us exploring the Koh-e-Baba, the incredible mountains just south of where we live. Check them out.

Here in Bamiyan I’m working with the Aga Khan Foundation doing an assessment of ecological conditions and tenure/management arrangements in high elevation common property pasture lands. I get to spend a lot of time in the field marching around with donkeys; it’s wonderful. Chad is continuing his work on soil and water conservation among other projects at CRS. Most of the wheat and potatoes (the vast majority of the ag land here) have been harvested and the leaves on the poplars along the creeks and canals are starting to turn. There’s been some new snow in the mountains and we’ve got skiing on our minds.

Elections

You’ve probably been hearing a bit about the Afghan elections that are going on now as I write. For live updates on election coverage check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8209279.stm. This is the second ever Afghan presidential election and the feeling about this chance to cast a vote for the country’s leader seems to be a mix of pride, fear, and apathy depending on a person’s politics and location. There’s been a lot of news coverage but what I haven’t heard much about is how an average Afghan may be thinking about voting. In much of the country, voting today may mean risking losing a finger, being targeted on your way to and from or at the polling station, or being targeted in the future for being known to have participated in a government initiative. It’s hard to imagine facing this decision. Some people (many?) are already disillusioned with government because of its lack of ability to increase security and its, at times, actual perpetuation of violence, intimidation, or corruption. Yet generally it seems people think Karzai will win again. I have not experienced a feeling of inspiration among the people I’ve talked with about the election but I could certainly be missing or misreading people’s sentiments. There have been some big turnouts at campaign events (in part because food, transportation, and pay may be provided) and long lines at some of the polling stations today. In a conversation with an Afghan in Kabul the other day, one of the safer places in the country, I asked how people felt about going to the polls. This was a few days ago, the morning after the explosion near ISAF and the US Embassy but before the more recent explosions. He said some people were too scared to vote but some people would still be voting, including him.

I think it’s exciting that Karzai has some legitimate challengers in Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani and they’ve pushed the debate in a positive direction. If Karzai doesn’t win 50%, the election will go into a run-off scheduled for October. This is a tricky situation where a change in leadership may be positive but the process of making that change could be pretty tumultuous and difficult in the short term. Unifying this country is a huge task.

For the elections we’re holed up in Bamiyan where things are generally relaxed and people are going to the polls. The only Taliban related activity is that last week the Taliban “governor” here was arrested and is now in jail in Kabul. (The Taliban maintain a government-like structure that parallels the actual government.) We are laying low for a few days but plan for a return to normal movement tomorrow. Hopefully that’s the case not just for us but for the country too. Some photos here from my few days in Bamiyan before laying low—my second Afghan run (check out my running clothes, ha! and my running partner is in the blue) and an evening walk around Bamiyan center a couple evenings ago where wheat harvesting is full-on. Much of the green contrasting with the wheat is the potatoes that will be harvested in October.

One Year

After a few small miracles (worthy stories in and of themselves) and two days en route, I make it from Ghor to Bamiyan on July 30 in time to celebrate our one year anniversary on the 31^st. Bamiyan is beautiful and we celebrated with a trip to Band-e-Amir Park, a stunning area of sparkling blue lakes and a series of travertine dams. On a Friday, the Islamic weekend, the place was full of picnicking Afghans. In a culture that often seems restrictive, the festive groups swimming and picnicking were great to see. We hiked around the lakes and found a picnic spot for ourselves where we napped in a patch of grass and mint. After the dusty trip back to Bamiyan center (in a van with Chad’s colleagues and a stop for tea on the way), we cleaned up and went out to dinner at the Silk Road Hotel. The next day we walked around Bamiyan and hiked up Shar-e-gholghola ruins, the “City of Screams” where inhabitants made a last stand against Ghengis Khan. The site dates back 1,800 years to when Buddhism arrived in Bamiyan. This year has been a full one. We feel lucky to have celebrated it together in a beautiful place and we love that this era for us started during a multiday celebration on the banks of the Missouri and Clark Fork Rivers.

Work Part I (Laurie in Ghor)

Currently I’m working on a six-week contract with a watershed restoration program in Ghor. The focus of the program is improving water access and security to villages for rangeland, agriculture, and domestic use. We work with rural villages on soil conservation, irrigation, water supply, and water related health/hygiene. My role is to work with the program on collecting baseline data and establishing a monitoring and evaluation system for the program. The data and monitoring should then allow the program to measure its impacts and refine/adjust the specific activities and strategies to be most appropriate and effective. Right now the health/hygiene baseline team (6 women) is on a 7-day trip completing household surveys and focus group discussions with women. They’ve just been trained in the data collection and have hit the ground running doing a great job. Especially given that for a woman to go into the field, she has to bring her moharam (escort-husband, brother, or child) and any kid she can’t leave behind. It turns out that getting 6 female staff, 6 moharams, 4 kids, and a field supervisor into remote Afghanistan is no small task. In addition to all the normal logistics (transportation, where to stay the night, how to feed everyone, organizing our data collection tools and equipment, etc), there are frequent security checks and subsequent adjustments to the field plan. All in all it’s quite a production. And it’s really wonderful to see these women out doing research. They are very positive and in a country where women’s movements are often limited, I’m impressed with their willingness to take off into the province to learn about the experiences of women and water. The agriculture team is also out now, holding focus group discussions (FGDs in the org lingo) with farmers who have participated in soil/water conservation activities to understand how rangeland production has changed. Back at the office for now and with a break from the logistics, I’m putting the pieces in place to continue to monitor the program activities and progress. This means designing “tools,” surveys, FGDs, and reporting formats, that will be used by the teams to continue to measure and understand the on-the-ground changes resulting from program’s activities. I work with a great group of people, see a few photos in the slideshow. In a few more weeks I’ll finish up and hope to be in Bamiyan before the elections.