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During my first trip to Afghanistan in 2005, I met Walied Osman, an Afghan living in the United States, working in Afghanistan. He accompanied me during a visit to Lalander to take photos. I was there to make micro-credit loans to men selected by one of the village leaders. We were led to a beautiful orchard where several carpets had been laid on the ground. We sat on the carpet,drank tea and listened to several speeches.
The day before, the leader and I had agreed upon 15 loans and he provided me with a list of borrowers. There were over 30 men seated around the carpet. Everything went fine until we reached the end and started to leave. At that point the others realized they were not on the list.
A young man began shouting, arguing that no one should receive a loan, unless everyone did. Several verbal exchanges later, the young man was being restrained. His anger was directed at the villagers, not me. Four of the men, who had received loans, approached me and dropped their money on the carpet. Two sides quickly formed, the haves and have nots. The debate escalated.
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Walied pulled me aside and said "We'd better get out of here". It was a long way to our van and they could easily outrun me. I didn't travel this far to end up getting a photo of me being chased out of the village. Besides, the all for one and one for all argument isn't without merit. It should have been raised the day before and the leader should have told them who he had chosen to be on the list.
I asked to speak to the young man. I explained that my funds were limited and what the process had been. He argued that the funds should have been divided equally among everyone. I asked how many additional borrowers there would be. He counted and said six. I had enough funds remaining to make the additional loans and told him I would. Case closed? No!
He then started arguing with one of our program directors, Maiwand, who was sitting next to me. Soon they were yelling at each other. Several minutes later, I interrupted the shouting match and ask Walied to give the young Afghan this message "My friend, I am a lawyer. I learned long ago, that when you've won an argument, it's best to shut up." He and the crowd around us laughed. We made the additional loans. The men were still arguing among themselves as we made our way to the van. Since then, I've learned Afghan men always have plenty of time to argue.
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Later that evening, it was suggested that the entire sequence was staged. The village leader did sit quietly while the drama unfolded. He could have interceded and explained what we had agreed the day before.
You be da judge. I suspect there will be a divide in opinions, with Afghans tending to believe that we were "played". If it was scripted, bravo to the director, cast and writers. We were afraid and very close to retreating.
The truth is, I had the funds and wanted them to have the money anyway. When I leave Afghanistan. my goal is to have just enough cash remaining to have a double cheeseburger, coke and fries (supersized of course) at the Dubais airport. My wife's copy of this newsletter will read mixed green salad. Don't share this with her.
It's difficult to learn inside a crowded and hot tent.
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In April, I had the pleasure of meeting Walied again in Kabul. Walied is one of the founders of Sarpana, an Afghan company that designs, manufactures and constructs modular structures like the one pictured below. Sarpana donated one to Farza, that was installed shortly after we left. The headmaster of the girl's school said, "I never dreamed I would ever be teaching inside such a beautiful room".
It was constructed on the land where Zohra's school for girls will be built (click here). I was concerned that the igloo design would be too "modern" and that white would be too glaring for the landscape. They had no problem with the design and chose white. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending upon your point of view, there are no design review committees in Farza.
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Walied is definitely on to something. The igloos are relatively inexpensive, portable, easy to build, durable, and can be fitted with solar panels. He told me the other day that he recently received an order for 600, that will be used to establish computer classes. They can also replace tents as homes for the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons living in camps around Kabul.
For Farza, Walied eliminated the classes taught inside the tent and made it possible for TIE to offer courses during the winter months, when the schools are closed. I look forward to working with and helping Walied and Sarpana in any way we can.
Budd
The children pictured above no longer study in a tent.
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