Sylvia's Journal

This week is the week of Sinterklaas in Holland and, as I had hoped in Afghanistan as well. As it turned out, Sinterklaas did not show up at the heavily guarded Dutch embassy, not even in a tank, because there were no kids. Axel was particularly disappointed.

We did meet all sorts of interesting people, not just Dutch, and an entire military delegation from Holland, obediently sipping their water while we had our Heinekens. I also met an old friend from my study years in Leiden who now happens to be the ambassador.

We couldn’t be dropped off at the embassy entrance because it is in the no-no zone where the Indian embassy got blasted twice. The second time blew all the doors and windows out at the Dutch embassy but everything was nicely repaired, a fire blazing in the fireplace, Sinterklaas candy spread out on dishes everywhere and an unlimited supply of Heineken en good South African wine.

I eavesdropped on the conversation between the ambassador and various generals and colonels and marveled at how different the Dutch look at the situation here: the development and diplomacy pillars are large – I am still combing through Obama’s speech to find the US development pillar. If it is there at all, it’s tiny.

I had a long conversation with my colleague Ali about the American approach and he sighed deeply – for those 30.000 times 1 million dollar a soldier a year, couldn’t the Americans just help set up some local businesses, agri- or other, to help people back on their feet, hire some people to keep the place save and employ locals? Yes, why not?

The Obama speech is like the proverbial flapping of wings of a butterfly on one side of the world, creating a storm of requests from our donor here in Kabul for this or that statement about our work, the impact of our work and the Afghanisation of our work, presumably so that questions asked in DC can be answered compellingly and with speed. We are scrambling.

Still, in between all of this I managed to witness the birth of the idea of a Masters of Public Health Program within the Kabul Medical University – a huge step forward, very exciting. I accompanied Ali who is on the task force that will design the program, but skipped out early to join our After-Eid Bingo party that I had organized with some of my Afghan colleagues.

The party was a bit chaotic, but then, what else could it be when you try to feed 200 people out of plastic bags with small Styrofoam containers with chicken, kebabs, rice, fruit, yoghurt and coca cola. Guesthouse staff showed up, drivers, day laborers, gobbling up more meals than I thought possible, and then trying to keep them afterwards for a game of bilingual Bingo with real prizes. It was good old fashioned fun, something I think we could use some more of given the general sense of doom people feel after the Obama speech, no matter how inspiring – who really believes that more guns and boots can lift spirits.