Sylvia's Journal

It snowed on and off, with some hail and rain in between. All the unpaved streets turned into mud flats and mud spatter covered our shoes/boots and pants/skirts. Although for me this is lousy weather it is good for the farmers and therefore for Afghanistan. And so we take all the mud in stride.

My day was also a bit muddy as I tried to sort of various activities that are very challenging to manage; each with many stakeholders dancing to different tunes. In the middle of this I violated my own norms about consultation and not bypassing people. It was good that I was promptly called on this by one of my colleagues and I promised to mend my ways, wondering how I managed to miss my own cues. There is a constant struggle of staying on the rails, sliding off and trying to get back on. It’s not for lack of trying when we don’t easily (and sometimes not at all) get the results we intend.

Both Axel and I taught our English classes again. Although many of the girls haven’t finished the 1000 splendid suns book, we started reading Three Cups of Tea. This time I was able to get each girl her own book rather than the illegal photocopies with their wavy and hard to reach pages.

Z. showed up at the beginning of the class in tears because her brother won’t let her study. I don’t understand much of all these family dynamics especially since her father is very supportive of her. But the father appears no longer in charge. That’s also when R. got into trouble (when her father died) and her brothers essentially sold her to a cousin for very much money. One of the girls took Z. under her care and promised that she will talk with the brother. She spoke with such confidence that I trust things will work out.