The Rice Man Cometh (Not)
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FIRST THE BODY COUNT : We now have sponsors for 34 street children, who will soon be off the streets and in school!!!
I'm back from Kabul, safe and questionably sound. When it doesn't rain in Kabul, everyone inhales dust all day. It takes me a month at least to clear the lungs. I also managed to bring back a flu virus (not likely swine-perhaps lamb). I stayed home resting until my TiVo recordings ran out.
Now, I'm looking forward to providing annual progress report to a few
thousand students, most of whom have been supporting TIE and receiving
reports for five years! Reporting to children, here and in Afghanistan,
is the best part.
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The
18,000 packages of rice (over 100,000 meals) provided by Stop Hunger
Now didn't arrive while I was in Kabul. Therefore, Nabi and I were
unable to oversee the distribution of the rice. The shipment is stuck
in Germany. Humanitarian aid is shipped through the Denton program on
a space availability basis. The decision to increase our troop
commitment by over 30,000 soldiers has led to a back up of humanitarian
aid. Pictured below is one of the children who pushed the rice forward
when it was packed by three hundred volunteers in North Carolina. Maybe
we should send him to Germany.
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The good news is that I met Greg Schlichting, the Navy Commander stationed in Kabul, who is still trying to find his ship. He solved all of the logistical and security issues for the rice distribution. The Afghan army, supervised by American soldiers, will transport it to the three homeless camps we chose, and oversee distribution. Greg invited us to lunch at the Blackhorse camp, and I had the best "mess hall" meal ever. The "grub" has improved considerably since my "boot camp" days at Fort Benning, Georgia (summer of 1970). How many of you know what "pushing Georgia" means? (Hint: "give me twenty").
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Nabi and I had a fall back plan in the event the rice didn't arrive. We hired a bus to bring families from of one the camps, to our office, and distributed more of your stuff. Watch how one young Afghan girl stole everyone's heart! click here Notice how people selected clothes they could use and put back what they couldn't. As desperate as these families are, they took only what they could use. Maiwand did need to jump in and limit families to one blanket or comforter. We never have enough bedding, or too many stuffed animals. Memo to file.
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Last weekend, members of the St Anthony's and Faith Presbyterian churches, in Sacramento, collected, folded, and boxed over 50 boxes of donations. Thank you Bob and Bonnie Johnson (sis) for organizing this effort.
I'm afraid to announce another Spring Cleaning and Packing Party. You have no appreciation for how much ends up on my porch. I've taken four loads to the warehouse so far this week. Nonetheless, the 2009 Spring Cleaning for Afghanistan has begun and our packing party will be held on May 31st in San Leandro. We will send out a separate announcement soon. This time make sure everything is clean and folded. It goes so much easier and faster when it is.
The culturally insensitive award goes to that individual who donated a T-shirt with a photo of Osama Bin Laden, with a bull's eye overlaying his face, that read, "Dead Man Walking". Actually, it was very funny and we will assume you meant it to be. Just step forward to claim your prize.
Enjoy the weekend. The wine country beckons.
Budd
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