Sylvia's Journal

Today is the first day of the work week for the government. I was invited to attend the weekly staff meeting of the general directorate for health services provision, at 10 AM. The boss came in late and canceled the meeting after he had shaken hands with all his subordinates and subordinates-once-removed, and apologized to me, the only one who had come in from a distance and on my day off.

The H1N1 panic is rising and an inter-ministerial meeting was called. Nursing students came in to the ministry to ask what to do and the person in charge had no idea. ‘We are poor’ she said with a voice that quivered and called for guidance and help instead of showing the decisiveness we have come to expect from leaders. Unfortunately, this from one of the very few women at the top.

Rather than going back to my guesthouse I decided to stay and do some scanning to see what people are doing about the potential epidemic that is roaring at Afghanistan’s gates. One death confirmed, but who knows how many unnoticed?

It is clear from that I saw that we still have a long way to go to get the central department heads and directors to play a leadership role. The few officials I saw are all waiting for orders. It was a good diagnostic opportunity to see what happens when there is a potential thread. Not much, I concluded.

I see what I need to do to rally our Tech-Serve troops around this challenge: they have to scan the information to see what is rumor and what is fact; they have to focus on a few high-leverage activities and align with the right departments and agencies to mobilize all resources and all hands on deck. And finally, rather than panicking, they have to inspire their own people that this can be tackled.

I asked one team to record, along the way, what they are doing well and where they messed up or where things didn’t work as expected, so that, afterwards, we can sit down and see what needs to be changed. It’s a simple idea but panic can make one forget to do the simple things. Besides, people are focused on keeping their families safe – when in danger, that’s when we withdraw onto ourselves. I get that. I should be worried about my family in the deeply infected United States.

On my way back from the ministry I stopped at two supermarkets to indulge myself a bit. I bought a case of non alcohol beer which has now become a huge treat (alternative is fermented yogurt or a non alcohol fruit beer). I also bought myself hot chocolate powder to prepare for the cold winter nights and, to counter that, some ice cream, from Herat no less.

It was quiet at home as Steve went on a day trip to one of the provinces to sort out a messy situation between ministry and NGO staff who are doing the same hospital work but are not paid the same salaries. I wished him luck and reminded him about the practices of managing and leading, as he would be needing all of them.

I emptied my mailbox a bit further until I got tired of sitting on my exercise ball in front of the computer. I picked a handful of hot peppers form the bush outside my house and tried to make sambal which filled the house with fumes and cleared out my sinuses. The resulting paste is close to inedible, too hot for me. I can’t wait to have some southern Indians visit us, the ones who made fun of what I considered hot, and challenge them to eat my concoction.