Sylvia's Journal

We stayed in our jammies until after noon and only dressed to go to our class at SOLA. Axel had his (writing) class first, there is only one large room for his class, and I follow him with a much smaller class, usually only 5 or 6 girls.

While Axel was teaching I started on a sewing project after pulling all the nice fabrics I bought in Dubai out of their plastic wrappings, matching them with patterns and selecting one. All of them are summer fabrics so I have plenty of time.

I received a call from my boss telling me that one of my team members was stabbed in the chest after a family quarrel. Luckily he is out of danger now and recovering in a hospital in Jalalabad. These things happen here – old quarrels about this or that, which may have have been simmering for years or are brand new; they may be about women, money or land (zan, zar, zamin) or anything else.

I noticed again how, when misfortune like this hits, all sorts of networks get activated to make sure that the victim gets the best possible care and any other support that is needed. I am part of one of those networks and am awaiting further instructions.

In a place where there are none of the safety nets we have (judicial, insurance), it is the personal network that jumps in. Unlike for us, where we have both the safety nets and the community networks, here this is all there is. The irony is of course that in this case the family network caused the distress and it is the professional network that tries to control the damage.

One of the girls in my class had done her homework meticulously, which was to interview a woman who is a source of admiration. She had interviewed her older sister and wrote a 2 page paper with an introduction, the questions she asked and the answers from her sister, and a conclusion. The interview was done via Skype because the sister lives in Australia where she is pursuing her degree.

Halfway through the reading the power went out. Despite the clammy coldness of a barely heated house and the darkness (there is no generator) the learning goes on – in the US we would have called it a day, but not here – learning is too precious and nothing can stop it.

We continued our class in the dark, occasionally using cellphones to light a sentence here or there. I am still teaching about vision and challenges, all nicely illustrated by the interview. Everyone now wants to meet the sister who is coming to Afghanistan next month. She will be our guest speaker!

Back home I found Axel preparing our thanksgiving meal – a stuffed chicken, turnips, mashed potatoes and beans. Although our classes meant an interruption of our day off, it was a perfect Thanksgiving Day activity, reminding us once again how privileged we are and how much there is to be thankful for.