Anyway, my absence from the blogsphere (did I just make that up, or is that a word?) by no means is indicative of a lack of material to blog about. The past week I have told countless stories to members of the new PRT (we'll get to that soon enough) that have made me realize how much I've done since I arrived. In the past month or so I've gotten to see Kabul, gone up to Herat for some FET (Female Engagement Team) training, had some interesting and hilariously miserable missions, and, most recently, said goodbye to many, many friends that I've grown to love. So aside from posting pictures (which some people seem to love, while another disdainfully scowl at me while claiming that his blog is "vastly superior" to mine) I will start at the beginning with some female engagement posts.
Back in May...
I went up to Herat for a Female Engagement Team training. The best part about this training was merely interacting with other females (I think I miss girls more than a lot of the men here) and getting to see a few of my dear friends from Leavenworth. The training wasn't anything spectacular or earth-shattering but getting a break from Farah was welcome.
A more influential experience that I had related to Female Engagement soon after the conference occurred on the FOB. The head of the Farah FET team arranged to have a women's meeting and luncheon. The idea behind this meeting was to bring together some influential women in the province to give them a gentle push and a venue to start working together. I hadn't realized it much before I came, but many Afghans seemingly, and not surprisingly after 30 years of war, lack trust in one another. The same is true for women here- instead of working together they push to get their projects done and don't seem to mind hindering the efforts of someone else along the way. I've even heard stories about how when one Afghan would find out that they aren't getting funding or a project, they would go out of their way to be sure that no one else would get one. As the PRT focuses mainly on governance (though development, security, and rule of law are also key to the PRT) we strive to get influential leaders in the area to work together for the good of the province, strengthening governance, and hopefully building capacity. Anyway, we had the Director of Women's Affairs, the Director of Social Affairs (who just happens to be a woman), a female labor union representative, some members of the Provincial Council, and members of a local female shura. Both the meeting and the luncheon were huge successes and a lot of fun to boot. Plus whenever we get to have these lunches we get to have Afghan food which means a few things: amazing Afghan rice, naan (Afghan flat bread, along the lines of a pita but better), and my personal favorite, this salad comprised of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and some kind of amazing seasonings. Before the lunch we had the meeting which provided everyone a chance to talk about what they have been doing lately. One woman described a recent seminar her department had hosted that taught women how to make jellies and jams. Another spoke about a class she had attended for women in politics in Herat and the valuable lessons she had learned and contacts she had made. Each woman spoke about different challenges she faces in her line of work and together we discussed ways she can address and hopefully overcome those challenges- stressing a collaborative approach. As the transition approaches the PRT is shifting from a project (aka. money) providing machine to supporting Afghans working together within their system. Yes! Finally it seems that all of these US and coalition agencies that have been working in Afghanistan for 10 years now are getting the picture that instead of coming in and building schools where there is no security or teachers, providing tractors where the people have no way of getting fuel or maintaining them, etc. (I could go into a long rant, and believe me, I have, about development causing more harm/instability/relative deprivation than good) that we should be supporting Afghan capacity to take care of Afghan needs/problems, ensuring Afghan ownership/local buy-in for sustainable development and increased stability, in turn successfully carrying out COIN (our mission here!), or counterinsurgency operations. Whew!
One more thing about this meeting. One of the women, the Director of Social Affairs, actually said "Here we have an expression- you can't clap with one hand... you have to use both". As this was being translated I couldn't suppress my delight- I whispered to the American Navy Senior Chief sitting next to me- "I love that expression!". I felt the legitimacy of my blog title instantly skyrocket....and this was the perfect example of how important unity of effort is!
No comments:
Post a Comment