Bpeace in Afghanistan

Yesterday a suicide bomber tried to ram his car into a convoy of NATO peacekeepers here in Kabul, blowing himself up and wounding three passers-by in the process. Its hard to fathom that Toni on the other side of the planet in NYC, knew about it before Najib or I did on the other side of town. When Toni rang Najib’s cell to check on us we had not yet heard the news. Fortunately Najib and all Bpeace personel were far from the blast, and we are all safe. At the time of the explosion, I was busy taking pictures of bucolic and almost biblical scenes of sheep and cows (see yesterday’s blog) at the animal market – a stark contrast to the turmoil and violence that lurks below the surface here. Ironically, before we learned of the afternoon’s events I happened to ask Najib who is a lifelong Kabul resident if he felt safe here. His response was an immediate and emphatic “yes”…

I guess “safe” is relative to individual experience. Compared to what Najib and others have lived through in the last few decades, things are relatively quiet at the moment. This morning Najib, Laila and I had a conversation about how to handle security today. Najib put me in the back seat of the van instead of the front, where I had been riding for most of the trip so as to be able to take photos from an open window. We were conscientious about our routes through the city, but otherwise went on with our day.

We started by going to visit Rahima at the offices of the Shura – the Provincial Government of Kabul, where she is an elected official. I was graciously received by Habibullah Maulavi, a mullah and also President of the Kabul Province Council. He told me there are 29 council members, with 10 women and 19 men. The meeting I attended was an informal follow-up to their most recent Tuesday session, and about half of the Council members came in and out during the course of the morning. It was wonderful to see Rahima in her element as a new legislator. Everyone at Bpeace is very proud of her.

In the afternoon we went back to Suria’s house to continue photographing scenes of her family life. Her daughter Tooba, age 19, was taken ill the last time we were there a few days ago, and at the time we had to cut things short to make sure Tooba was taken care of. I went back to Suria’s in part to check on the girl’s well being. Happily, Tooba is on the mend and although she was crashed on a cushion in the living room when we got there, she was feeling much better and joined the family a short time later.

After two weeks on the road, its hard to believe its time to go home. Its been an eventful visit, and I think everyone on the team did very good work while on the ground here. Although I am eager to see my family, like Kate mentioned in a previous post, I am finding it hard to leave. The people we have connected with here have found a place in my heart, and it will be difficult to say goodbye.
--Paula

On her last day in Kabul, Paula stops to buy fruit on the way to Suria's house. Its her last day to sport Kabul-style attire, and as of tomorrow it will be back to a winter wardrobe of jeans and sweaters. Guide Najib took the picture.

When you're not feeling well, there's nothing like curling up with your head in mom's lap and having her stroke your hair. Tooba (bottom) was feeling better today after a sudden illness took her to the hospital a few days ago. Happily, she is on the mend now, but a mother's concern was clearly visible on Suria's face.

Friday is the day off for Afghans, so with Najib as my guide I set out to see what people in Kabul do with their down time. Following are scenes of daily life on what counts as the Kabul weekend.
--Paula

Many homes do not have running water, so the job of fetching it often falls to the children of the household.

People have been carrying well water to their homes for centuries, and like many places in the world this is still done in Afghanistan.

Neelab (left) and Kamela in the courtyard of the Mercy Corps compound.


Greetings blog readers, this is Paula blogging today. Early this morning Athena and Marla took the UN flight back to Dubai. I am now solo here in Kabul, but with Najib and Laila close at hand I don’t feel alone. I write this on my laptop from the hotel restaurant, and although I very much miss my Bpeace cohorts, I’m not sorry to have a quiet evening and the opportunity to go to bed early.

This morning guide Najib and driver Haider squired me to the Mercy Corps office where I met Kamela and Neelab. These lovely young women are full of energy and ideas, and are in the process of launching a consulting business.

The afternoon took me to Suria’s home where she was teaching a group of girls how to do the crocheting that is a significant part of her business. Also on hand were three of her daughters (she has five daughters and one son), several grandchildren, and some of her women workers. It was a friendly group and the atmosphere was warm.

Happily, the days here have been sunny with blue skies, but its hard to describe the dust that permeates Kabul. Think bad Los Angeles smog but with particles in the air that you can actually see. One of my zoom lenses has stopped zooming past 55mm, the cause of which I suspect is dust mucking up the moving parts. Many people have hacking coughs, also due to the dust. But the early morning and late afternoon light is still beautiful, and above the haze rise snow-capped mountain peaks. Following is a photo gallery of the above.

Suria (left) and one of her younger daughters (in white) look on while her eldest daughter (right) holds her 6-month-old son Amir, who is modeling some pink crocheted baby clothes.

A view of a Kabul street at dusk on a December day.

A bicyclist braves oncoming trucks and dust as thick as fog during the late afternoon rush hour. Many bikers wear a scarf over their face to help filter the dust.

Afifa and her new baby as her sister-in-law looks on.

Marla and Laila on their last day together.

The day began with a visit to Hamida where we were entertained by her two very cute kids while she and her husband showed us her handmade products. She employs about 70 women who produce cozy knitted socks and gloves as well as embroidered blouses and scarves. Hamida has been quite successful reaching the ex-pat community here with the help of her husband. Hamida would love a mentor to help her expand her business further. Anyone interested?

Athena and Paula went on to see Afifa, who has just adopted a sweet one-month-old baby boy. She showed us scarves decorated with embroidery done in Grosny that is among the most beautiful we have seen. She’s finding that her scarves are too expensive for Afghans and she has not yet been able to break into the ex-pat market here in Kabul. She was excited by the ideas we gave her to find new markets and can’t wait to have the help of a mentor. Here’s another great opportunity for someone who wants to make a real difference in an Afghan woman’s life. You know who you are, so call Toni today!

Meanwhile Marla and Laila were busy looking for more financial sources for our associates. They visited the new CEO and the head of commercial banking of the First Microfinance Bank of Afghanistan and learned about their loans for micro, small and medium enterprise loans. Right now only 15% of their clients are women and they want to double that in the next year. So there are possibilities for our associates!

Marla and Athena depart tomorrow for Dubai. We leave Paula behind to capture more images of the lives of our associates and the street life of Kabul.

It may look like chaos, but considering that there were more than 30 children in a small space, they were remarkably well behaved toward each other and the teachers.

Teacher Rabia (red dress) helps a child with writing Dari letters.

It was impossible not to be touched by the room full of 32 little kids who delighted us with singing and dancing this morning at Habiba's childcare center. Habiba kept the rhythm by tapping her hands on a food tray while, one-by-one, boys and girls came forward to sing a special song. There was a love song about mothers, a patriotic song about Afghanistan, and finally a song about a rabbit. Habiba was very grateful for the toys, dolls, and supplies provided by her mentors, Jessica and Janine. Marla, Athena, Paula, Laila and Najib spent the morning with Habiba learning about her hopes, dreams, and plans for a new childcare center. She has a business plan, which she has already updated since our weekend class, she's bought land with her own money, and has had plans drawn up by construction engineers. The big hurdle now is getting the money to make it all happen.

In the afternoon Marla and Laila had a meeting with Rob Henning and Neal Donahue at On the Frontiers Group (OTF) where they discussed the possibility of an all woman consulting company, which is an idea we've been cultivating with our associates, Kamela, Latifa and Nelab. Rob and Neal see a big opportunity for a team of talented Afghan women offering their services in business development and market research.

The next stop for Marla and Laila was FINCA, a microfinance institution where they discussed opportunities for financial collaboration.

We have just one more day to go to complete our mission. It's quiet around here without Team 1. There's lots left to do before we get on the plane on Thursday.

Group one left Kabul today . . .Your writer is Kate. Steve and Susan are resting. One of them is snoring loudly in seat 7C. You guess.

Real world
Writing this in the air over the mountains of Afghanistan (To Group 2, departure was an Afghan breeze). Tapping away on a laptop which has aged a year or two from the dust which still clings to its keyboard. Looking down in resignation at my dry cracked hands and am reminded how this brutal place ages the Afghan faces, leaving the crevices and valleys which so fascinate Paula and her camera.

A familiar sight to me now is the winter’s white resting on the endless high peaks which stretch as far as the eye and imagination can take them. On the other side somewhere is home. Our plane is loaded with UN types all headed to their “home” for the holidays. At the moment the word “home” feels like some sort of fantasy that I cooked up. Disneyland. Not the real world we just left.

Can’t believe myself
To my surprise leaving Afghanistan has become harder. Thought is might be easier with the newness gone. Perhaps it is because my husband is now a fellow journeyman and not my homecoming. Perhaps it is because the sun was our companion everyday and not the cold clouds and deep chill of February. Perhaps the princess has gotten use to the hardships (note to Ellen: this is Day 2 of no water). Perhaps it is because we left three behind: women with whom I would travel anywhere in the world: Athena, Marla and Paula. I only can hope they would take me (I know they would take Steve).

Friendship
But I suspect it is mostly because our Afghan friends have dug deeper into my psyche and soul. I hope that we have dug deeper into theirs. With kindness and graciousness they generously extend hospitality with graceful formality, ready humor and sweetness. Friendship. Our parting with Najib at the airport was among a rush of bags and security at the last check in the cold air. Steve and Najib parted as self proclaimed “brothers”. They are so much alike these two men and watching them together (even when they ganged up on me in selecting “their favorite” carpet choice) has been a private (and now a public) joy. Najib is in my heart.

Change is happening
Kabul is changing. We hope that it “catching” to the rest of Afghanistan. More young women on the street unescorted. A new confident step to even the women under burqa. And unbelievably women in burqa attending business training sessions. What a moment that was on Sunday when they all came in. Their illiteracy could not get in the way of their hope that education could create change for them. Their leader was among the most earnest of our students. Indeed the Afghan people remain hopeful and see a future which has possibilities. Our job is to help them imagine what they can be.

With respect and affection
To the Bpeace team still on the ground. We miss you already. If the earth moves again, move with it. Stay safe, play smart and continue the amazing mission which the equally amazing Marla has created and led for us. I did not have to do a thing. What an honor it has been to do this work with all of you. See you back on the other side. Handing it off to you . . .

In her shop, Bpeace associate Sara displays some of the fashions she created.

In Sara's workroom, a young woman named Masuda works on an electric sewing machine. Sara has a generator to power her machines, a huge benefit because of Kabul's intermittent power supply. Having electric machines instead of hand or foot pedal ones, help make Sara's workers more productive.

It took a village to have a teleconference for Palwasha to complete her interview with Bucknell University today. The team included Marla, Athena, Laila, Palwasha’s mom, two Russian technicians, the Roshan teleconference team, and Mehria recording the whole thing on film. In the end the interview was successfully conducted on a cell phone. Palwasha was a star and pretty in a new shade of pink!

Marla, Kate and Steve began the day with an illuminating meeting with Sara R. at her store. Sara is an emerging designer and apparel manufacturer. The highlight was when Kate gave Sara her own Pantone color fan so she can be sure that there is never a misunderstanding over colors with her wholesale clients. While they were there they did a business assessment and learned that Sara is not interested in pursuing an international market for her goods. Her business is equally split between local Afghans and ex-pats living in Kabul. Katrin Fakiri, her local mentor, is doing a great job in helping Sara understand profit and loss and rationalize her expenses.

Meanwhile Athena met with Neelab to discuss strategies to expand her lagging marketing research business, including setting up informational interviews with ministries, NGOs, and other potential clients. They also filled out Neelab’s Success Map and began her 100 day plan so her mentor, Wendy can follow-up with her over the coming months.

Susan ventured into the world of Afghan journalism visiting the editors of the Cheragh Daily, a newspaper run by Afghan women. They were very interested in Bpeace and we will carefully explore the potential for coverage, as always making sure to protect the security of our associates and our Bpeace mission participants.

Susan set them up with access to PR Newswire's news feed for Journalists. This allows them to receive news releases of interest to Afghanistan.

Paula spent the morning with Bakhtnazira and her workers followed by an afternoon with Sara R. and her team capturing images of a typical work day for Afghan women in the apparel business. On the way home she stopped by the amazing Kabul City Center, the shiniest building in Kabul. A new Kabul is emerging.

Marla had lunch with Katrin Fakiri, who is the director of PARWAZ, a local micro-finance institution. Katrin was open to exploring taking on the role of being a local partner in the Bpeace economic development fund for our associates in Afghanistan.

Across town Kate and Athena were enjoying the best meal of the trip with Kayum Karzai, the brother of Afghanistan’s president and the founder of Afghans for a Civil Society. The main topic of the discussion was Rangina’s future, but Kate and Athena also received an education about the challenges inherent in a culture that has just come through decades of war and insecurity.

Half the team is departing tomorrow – Kate, Steve, and Susan leave Kabul in the dust and head to glistening Dubai and home. They leave conflicted hearts and for the second time Kate thinks they should stay a few months…Steve will return if he can get another film crew gig.

And we really were too cool.

Today was day one of our big training weekend, just in time for the arrival of winter.

Bpeacers and Bpeace associates met at the Afghan International Chamber of Commerce. Building was a bit cool as over night the tempatures dipped. New to Kabul Bpeacers got to experience the deep dark chill that settles in after a few hours when sitting indoors without electricity or heat.

Steve and Athena led the small but enthusiastic group of women in service businesses. There was lots of animated discussion about how to differentiate Habiba's daycare center and Nargis's Venus Fitness Center. Habiba told us that she was teaching the children etiquette -- how to behave well, greet people properly and more. A new idea that came out of the session for Nargis was to establish herself as the fitness guru of Kabul by speaking to women's groups about the importance of exercise.

Meantime in the retail class, associates were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of various retail formats with Kate, Susan and Marla. The day ended with a conversation about the Rangeen Kaman Afghan Trading Association and the potential of the group to solve problems such as raw material sourcing. Bpeace left the Association with three ideas for projects which they could work on over the coming months. Laila will sheperd them through.

Mahooba, the network guru of Afghanistan welcomed Paula, Susan and Marla to her splendid home in the outskirts of Kabul. After getting lost on a dark, bumpy road, the driver found his way and delivered the three safely to a house that seemed palatial by Afghan standards. The group dined on a typical meal of rice pilaf, bread and kabobs, met Mahooba's husband, brother and mother.

Athena, Steve, Kate and Rangina had dinner at Bpeace's favorite Kabul restaurant, Taverna du Lavine, a wonderful Lebanese spot . . .simply awesome Fool. Lovely evening catching up with our friend. Rosemary dropped by to say hello. She was en route to bring her famous spagetti to several US colonels who remain stuck at the US compound and dreaming of "real food". Made us grateful to be private citizens and able to move about town.

We are off to bed and rest before we greet 100 women tomorrow for day two of training.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Paula spent the day in the field photographing the associates in their homes and has a creative blast capturing the daily life of these women and their families. "Real World" Kabul style. Meanwhile Steve, the budding documentarian (Dana he is working the oeuvre) was stationed behind the tripod capturing the moments between Athena, Rangina and Kate . . .more on that later.

Marla, Athena and Susan took a crash course in the hotel business this morning with Jalal Rabbani, the very helpful owner of the Heetal Plaza Hotel, where we are staying. The objective of the meeting was to get some market and cost information for Mahbooba’s guest house. Jalal gave us an insider’s view of the challenges and opportunities of the hotel business in Kabul, including specific costs and tips. By the end of the conversation he offered to assist Mahbooba in any way he can, including providing free consulting.

There was exciting news when we went to visit Latifa who is selling some of her embroidered clothing at Nasima’s new store. Latifa has introduced her sister to her business who will ultimately take it over. Why? Because once Latifa’s current assignment with the consulting company On the Frontier Group (OTF) is complete in August 2006, she intends to team up with another Bpeace Associate Kamela to provide business development consulting to Afghan businesses of all sizes. Latifa is clear about the skills she needs to develop to be successful and looks forward to having her mentors’ guidance as she grows into this new career. We counseled her to cultivate a relationship with an Afghan person who is accomplished in her new field who could mentor her. She immediately thought of someone to approach and is quite excited about this possibility.

Kate and Gabriella spent the morning at Gabriella's studio/house. After an Italian coffee (bliss after days of Nescafe instant and Jasmine tea) they jumped into work. Steve took pictures and notes of the rapid fire sample concepts they developed, all inspired by authentic Afghan designs.

Rangina arrived in the late afternoon after a 6 hour ride from Kandahar (stuck behind the regular occurence slow speed military convoys) for the weekend training sessions and for her mentor meetings with Athena and Kate. She was greeted by the Bpeace team with such joy. We all remain so impressed by this young woman.

It's 9:30pm the night before our training so while this blog is being typed various Bpeace team members are finishing their preparations and this typist is about to jump off and do same. Pictures as always take forever to download so we will be multi-tasking getting them through to dear Toni who always gets them posted for us. Shout out to her.

The team is in full gear ---- Paula and Athena are on the ground and Susan is off of it.

Today was full of associate and organization meetings so there is lots to tell . . . but the team is also jammed with workload so we are keeping this brief. Well kinda . . .

The star of today is Nasima who opened her new "Silk Crafts" shop on October 1st. Very very nice store which Kate, Steve and Paula visited. It was lovingly merchandised by color . . .Nasima said the colors of Dress Barn were her inspiration. Lots of progress against her 100 day plan and we were able to review new weave samples which were just fabulous. Next step is for Nasima to produce some apparel samples. Her mentor Gwendy Feldman will need to help her on product design. But the most important dialogue was around product pricing. Way too low! Back of the envelope calculations by Steve indicated she is operating at breakeven and the market indicates she can charge more. Another important discussion was focused on increasing the quality of her scarves by adding rolled edges. Another way to raise prices!

Steve, Kate and Paula also visited Hanifa Adil, her daughter, husband and mother-in-law. Steve learned an important cultural lesson that one asks the husband if it is OK to photograph the wife, not the wife herself. Fortunately Hanifa's husband took the gaffe in good stride.

Hanifa continues to wrestle with growing her business. Her product, largely table linens and scarves is made of high quality materials imported from Pakistan (by her husband) and her 200 workers produce detailed Kandahar style embroidery . . .but she needs help building distribution channels and broadening her assortment into logical product extensions in the home area such as bed linens or decorative pillows. Work lies ahead for her mentor Donna Bubash to help her think through how to address these areas. Good news is that since the SRT, she has changed some of her color choices in raw materials and has received good customer response.

"This is Kate and I am waiting for blog contributors Athena and Marla to send over their musings and Paula and Steve to send their pics. In the interim, I am happy to report that I have been in country 5 days now and have begun shopping. I picked up some amazing embroidery samples for my walls and for our product development team's use. Involved in some great show and tell sessions as I pulled out my various embroidery books and they have begun showing their own similar samples. Cool. Ellen I took care of you. "

For Marla and Athena the day began with a meeting with Zahra, a 19-year old woman who had her own business for two years before she decided to focus exclusively on finishing high school. She was accompanied by her older brother who promised he would teach her how to use a computer. Zahra hopes to go on to business school, here in Afghanistan, if such a school exists when she is ready in 2 years, or go abroad – which her family fully supports. She’s smart and enthusiastic and Bpeace will continue to encourage her as she pursues her studies.

Next stop was a meeting with the acting co-chairs - Mina Sherzoy and our own Mahbooba - of the newly formed Afghan Women’s Business Federation (AWBF) – which, as many Afghan team members know, is funded by a $6 million grant from USAID. They were proud of the launch of the federation on October 2, describing it as a historic day for Afghanistan. Future plans include providing business training and developing a design school and a trade development center so the women can compete in the domestic and international market. We are approaching the federation on two fronts – while we were visiting them in Kabul, Toni was in NY meeting with the program manager of CIPE, the group that is helping implement the Federation.

The best-dressed man we’ve met so far was the Dutch CEO of the Afghan International Bank who provided Marla and Athena with an informative overview of the commercial lending scene in Kabul. He sees both challenges and opportunities here, and made it a point to encourage us to bring well-qualified candidates to him, even though his bank usually focuses on bigger loans.

Back in the van we found our way to Rahima’s house where her adorable young son met us on the street and brought us up to the family apartment where Paula, Susan, Athena and Marla were treated to true Afghan hospitality. Rahima is a busy woman! She is the headmistress at a school with 600 kids from 3 months to 6 years old, which occupies a good part of her day, 6 days a week. As an elected representative to the provincial counsel, a part of the Afghanistan Parliament, Rahima spends many hours visiting her constituents, elders and governors in the provinces learning about their issues and bringing them to the central government to be resolved. She loves her job and feels she is making a real difference, even though so far she has not been paid the promised salary of $200 a month. We discussed all the details of her business from employee salaries to how she will improve the quality of her products. Her big focus now is to open a store in a new local market place. Bpeace has advised her that improving product quality is a key need in order for a store to be successful.

Enjoy the new pictures . . .Paula is on duty! Go back and check out the new one added for Venus (Paula went on seperate visit today). Look at those ladies on the machines!

This message of empowerment from two of Bpeace's members, fitness freaks Jeff and Julie Castaldo, has a whole different meaning here in Afghanistan.

Steve and Kate visited Venus Fitness Center today, the fitness center run by Nargis a young attractive fit woman. Bpeace flash: Women’s fitness is news in Kabul. Soon after our arrival a camera crew arrived from Afghan National Television! They are doing a piece on women's fitness. Venus is of course the feature.

How did Venus happen? Nargis went to the US in March 2005 for an educational program at Ohio University. She visited various gyms, worked out herself and was inspired to start a fitness center which has now been open one month. She is eager to learn how to improve her and the staff's knowledge of physical fitness and we dove into the American Council of Exercise books which her mentors Jeff and Julie suggested as her base library.

Education is a critical need and Nargis jumped on Steve's suggestion that she and her mentors work by email once a week as she reads her way through the key fitness manual. Another key need is developing ways to produce more income from her center. Tube classes? Don’t know what they are? See below. And while the television program will help drive additional business, Venus already has 10 customers and another came in to check out the facilities as we were meeting. Kate was over the top with happiness to see that all of the customers were Afghan women.

Kate and Steve demonstrated the tubes which are long rubber ropes that can be used to provide muscle tension for all sorts of exercise (Kahlil, Steve's trainer will be happy to know that he used the ball AND the tube -- very fancy) and all of the women tried them out as well. Lots of laughter and definite interest in getting more of them for the center, particularly when Kate showed off her biceps, producing more laughter. Nargis sweetly ended our session by saying that she knew she would not fail with our help.

Marla and Laila's day has been jam packed and began with lamb and french fries at 9:30am while visiting Mahbooba and the Afghan International Chamber of Commerce. The meeting was focused on her guest house business plan and in particular the amazing financial model built by the Cornell School of Hotel Management. The most fun was looking at a map of Kabul and envisioning a future with Mahbooba’s guest house as home away from home for visiting women from the provinces. The challenge was realizing the cost of Kabul real estate. Mahbooba’s dream site of 18 rooms is on the market for $600,000! Mahbooba has major work ahead to complete the financial model but the result will allow her to approach financial investors with a coherent and well documented understanding of what is required to operate a successful guest house. Show us the money! Marla is helping by interviewing the Hotel Heetal staff!

Neelab was next up for Marla and Laila. Bad news is that she has been ill the last few months. Good news is that she getting better and wants to jump back into her market research business with Bpeace’s help. But is their demand? Bpeace needs to help her assess market environment and if ripe then develop the business plan and the marketing strategy. We are on the search for a co-mentor who has started their own consulting company. Anyone out there?

Steve and Kate went on a drive to western Kabul taking in the local scenery arriving at Hanifa Askar Ali’s workshop where they were quickly overwhelmed by business entrepreneurs. Hanifa our Bpeace associate is a religious teacher to over 35 young boys and girls. She has been an instructor for over 15 years and did so in hiding during the Taliban. Of course she also has a business which is crocheted women’s apparel. Her biggest need is to improve her product design and of course obtain better raw materials (Nylon today. Ugh) Her new mentor will need to tackle improving its design to attract better customers. Big job ahead.

Hanifa introduced us to Aziza Akberi who runs a government funded “nursery” which is our “day care” center. Aziza wants to take it private and is asking for our help. She has over 60 children who are with her 6 days a week from 8am to 3pm while their mothers work or take care of their homes. We hope that she can be a spring Bpeace candidate.

Then unbelievably Aziza and Hanifa shared with us that their daughters are members of the Afghanistan Karate team who just beat Pakistan and Kuwait in a September competition. They want to open a Karate Studio! Their mothers asked Bpeace to assist. Great new candidates for the spring team. Toni . . .we are finding them for your mission!

GREAT NEWS . . .Paula and Athena have arrived and are receiving the big debrief while this blog is being typed. Catching up on two days is taking a great deal of time. Steve is sharing the dust and dirt reality with Athena, Paula and Marla are revising the schedule to get new shooting in and Paula is shouting out questions to the typist here (Kate). Susan remains a little under the weather with the stomach grunge and of course is very unhappy to be missing some of the action.

p.s. the Bpeace team had some official US government MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) the other night at Rosemary's when she served us the dessert course from these US government meals which you can purchase off the street for $5.00 a case. Tasted good but loaded with hydrogenated oils and all the bad sugars. Government issued poison!

Another bright sunny dusty day has dawned here. This is an extra blog posting as this morning's writer (Kate) has 5 minutes while I wait for group. Indian TV station on in the background here in the reception area where the Internet connection resides (and sometimes doesn't).

Doing our standard morning mission dance as everyone is off the their various vans with their assigned translators and drivers . . . Steve trying to get pictures uploaded from yesterday's blog as connection speed is better in the morning. Stay tuned for those. Paula WHERE ARE YOU?

In the meantime Najib and Laila asked me to dash off this greeting to the Bpeace team. They say hello and hope everyone is well. It has been beyond wonderful to be with them again. Najib's spirit is the essence of grace. Toni, he still has the cell phone glued to his ear, though the ring tune has changed (thank god).

We want to thank all you bloggers out there. THANK YOU so much for all the posts. They are keeping us energized!

A bit of wind, combined with dirt and no rain since November and you get Kabul dust!

We hope it did not interfere with the work of our roommates at the Heetal Plaza Hotel, the crew and actors from the Bollywood production of “Kabul Express”! We met one of the actresses. She hails from Texas and is playing an Indian photojournalist . . .only in Kabul. The entire city is excited about the film as it features some of India’s most famous actors and Afghans are nuts for Indian cinema. Unfortunately one of its stars has fallen ill and has returned to India. Nothing serious though and Kate and Steve were happy to take over his vacant suite.

Note to Laurie: Steve believes his camera operator debut has resulted in some “good stuff” for the documentary but the team has noticed that he is wearing sunglasses indoors and affecting an attitude. His staff will need to straighten him out when he returns.

But on to Bpeace news. What a great day for Steve, Kate and Susan’s associate visits with Bahktnazira and Suria. We have so much to tell we do not know where to begin. Bahktnazira appears to have a real opportunity developing a commercial market for curtains and uniforms. But we need to help her restructure her retail business to make it profitable. The entire group shopped like mad in her shop and Kate (of course) bought a tunic whose design was inspired by Bahktnazira’s SRT design lessons. Quality and design are quite good. We spent a fascinating hour reviewing various Afghan embroidery designs and learned a great deal about what designs are still being created. We used some of this discussion to design 2 different belt samples!

After lunch (lamb kebabs of course) we took a drive to the outskirts of Kabul where we arrived at Suria’s where we were greeted by 12 women, most related to Suria. Happy to report that her samples for Sons and Daughter are complete, including (listen to this Rwanda team) a felted wool handbag! We left her with more samples to create for Ellen (who has an interested retailer) and hope to leave with all samples before departure.

On the meeting side of Bpeace operations: Marla and Laila were out seeking the money again and began the day at the Afghan Finance Company meeting with Ahmad Javed Jalali. AFC leases equipment for all industries in amounts ranging from $3000 to $500,000, taking an active role in the actual business development. Their portfolio is over $4 million. They are open to working with women. AFC is definitely a possible source of financing for our associates seeking significant equipment acquisition.

Afghan Wireless is the home of our computer instructor, Zabi (a handsome 20 something Afghan). Marla and Laila met with him to review our training program. Zabi lobbied Marla to allow men to participate in computer training. Marla held firm for now.

And to cap off the day it was off to a meeting with UNIFEM’s Lara Burger which ended with Bpeace providing a training opportunity for some of their program participants. Marla is hoping the gift will result in future favors.
The group regrouped for dinner with Rian Harris who is the U.S Embassy’s Economic Officer. Her role focuses on assisting US companies enter Afghanistan. Her report: There are not many. But she has been here only five months and appears to know every person in Kabul so if there is a way, we suspect she will find it. Rian has a great deal of interest in Bpeace’s work and is joining us for training on Saturday. Note to Kabul visitors past and present: We dined at the new luxury hotel the Serena. Excellent food but ridiculous prices for water. Drink tea instead.

As we drift off to bed, we are still only 4 as Paula and Athena are experiencing another night of Dubai luxury due to cancelled a UN flight. Never have 2 women been so unhappy to live the high life . . .we look forward to their 2nd attempt tomorrow

Steve has provided this blessing to numerous people today. This was a result of a language error which transformed “God” into a “pumpkin”. Steve was corrected by an NBC journalist who was sharing our work space back at the hotel. We hope "God" forgives Steve for his vegetarian slip.

Today was kick-off Monday with a visit to the amazing Kamela who absolutely wowed Steve and Kate with her accomplishments since Kate and she last met in February. Her consulting business is booming (she has spent the last year traveling all over Afghanistan delivering gender and business training) and is at a ripe stage for investment to take it to the next level. She needs staff! The session included some hands on Microsoft excel spreadsheet work. We left with an agreement to ready the business plan asap. We also visited Kamela’s business associate in the gabion business and took lots of pictures of a new machine she requires to get this business moving . . .another business plan!

Marla and Susan spent the morning with Palwasha reviewing her application for Bucknell. Next week is the big video conference interview. News! Palwasha was a vision in pink, living up to her promise to bring color to Kabul.

Then is was off to find some money. Well, to see if we could get the scent of some. Bpeace met with Mark Meassick, Deputy Office Director Economic Growth for USAID. Their budget is $70 million annually for Afghanistan’s economic development! Marla tried to woo him and Susan tried to strong arm him, but none of the money is for Bpeace. Instead Mark provided sound advice, go ahead contacts and his “ personal endorsement” for our work.

The search for money then took Marla and Susan to BRAC and Gunendu Roy, Programme Coordinator of Microfinance. Their porfolio provides small enterprise loans. They have dispersed over $600,000 to men but are getting interested in the other gender and more specifically the women in our program. Next step is to have our mentees put together proposals . . .and maybe we will get some! But BRAC likes their loan amounts small so Marla and Susan remain on the hunt. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

We are off to spaghetti dinner with Rosemary . . . fun evening ahead . . .and lots of discussion about the shop she wants to open. See you in the morning all.

We are officially here and in Internet hell.

Laila, Kamela, Najib and a large group of Bpeace greeters met us at the airport. So wonderful to see Laila's smile on the other side of the passport control booth. Najib and Steve bonded over a traditional Afghan greeting.

Spent 2 hours searching for Hotel Heetal in rush hour traffic. Finally located at top of hill behind some serious security. Accomodations include heat, intermittent Internet access, pingpong and fooseball tables, 2 treadmills, free weights. Bathrooms have left Kate nostalgic for the Intercon.

Just returned from Lebanese dinner and refreshments with Gabriella Ghidoni, an Italian designer and consultant to Bpeace's product development efforts. Yes we are at work already!

But it's been a long day, so off to bed. 1st meeting at 7:30am.

Slowly we are all arriving to our Dubai launch pad . . .You can check off Steve, Kate and Marla. Susan due overnight . . .all of us catching the Sunday UN flight . . .Paula and Athena following on Tuesday.

Kate says the place has doubled in size since she was here in February. Whole city sections are literally rising from the sand. The din of construction is everywhere, even on the beach.

Catch you again from Kabul!

As we make the last minute arrangements for our trip to Kabul, we're thinking of all 21 Bpeace Associates (which keeps us from thinking too much about the long journey and the frigid weather). Perhaps the Associate with the biggest life change since we saw her last is Rahima.

She didn't have the easiest time of it when Bpeace brought her to New York for the Style Road Trip (SRT) last May. Within a few days, she broke her arm, and had surgery at NYU Hospital. Rather than lamenting her fate as she missed the fun of several special events and her classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Rahima told us, "God meant for me to see an American hospital." Hearing this, several of us asked ourselves who knows how that accident would go on to change some things for the better in Afghanistan?

It was during the SRT that Rahima declared her intention to run for the Afghan Parliament in September. She was elected to the Provincial Council! After the election, we asked Rahima if she intended to give up her dress-manufacturing business. "No, I won't let politics get in the way. I want to be one of Afghanistan's most famous businesswomen."

Ultimately, the Bpeace work with our Fast Runner Associates will equip them with the training and tools they need to connect the dots between business and peace. We're thrilled that with Rahima, we will have a role model sooner than we thought.