Winter part two

I cannot describe the pain that winter has caused here. Last week, a building in our bazaar caught fire, it spread, consuming two of the biggest retail buildings in our city, and damaging 7 others. ISAF (the international security assistance force) came to help put out the blaze, but it was too far gone to save the two buildings. As a result, 500 people were directly put out of business, and tons of others were affected (for example the people who make the clothing that is sold in those stores, and the people who sell the fabric to make the clothing, etc...on down the line). If you would like to see pictures and hear news of this fire, paste this link into your browser: http://the-rumi.blogspot.com/2008/01/balkh-city-on-fire.html It has really devastated the city. When you drive or walk past, it looks like two burned skeletons and the shattered dreams of people who are just trying to make life better here.

There are all sorts of rumors that go around here when something like this happens. Some say it is the wrath and judgment of God against materialism. Others say it is certainly Al Qaeda or the Taliban. I think someone just got careless with their open flame gas heaters and poof the building went up in flames. There are no building or fire codes here, so of course there were no sprinklers or fire hydrants.

It sounds terrible that the laws haven't caught up here yet, but less than 100 years ago, The US was in the same boat. It took tragedies of children dying in factories to get child labor laws passed. Many people died in clothing factories and tenement fires before building and fire codes were passed into laws. These are Afghanistan's growing pains. Hopefully this suffering will not be in vain.

In the meantime, the cold seems to be unrelenting. We have managed to get a bit of a handle on it. Last night we hung parachute fabric on the inside of our door. You can still see your breath in our hall, but now, there isn't such and arctic blast coming in.

The cold managed to get me first though, and I am down with bronchitis and a sinus infection. So, since I can't smell, I didn't notice the gas leak in my room until my guard came in to change the gas bottle. He said, dear, I am very worried about you. The smell is bad. So, I called my two friends in and sure enough, it was bad. So I had to open up my room to the arctic and air it out. We didn't have electricity, but a dear friend had given me a battery operated fan for the summer, and it happened to be charged up and working! So, my room is now filled with fresh air, albeit cold.

They say that 14,000 sheep have died in the mountains. Simply froze. Also 200 people have died. In the States the sheep wouldn't be that big of a problem, because the government would come in and subsidize. But here, that means the shepherds are out of business, and thousands of people will not have meat to eat in the spring.

As you go through your day, let me encourage you to count your blessings. Toilets that flush. Water that comes out of the faucet, furnaces that come on with the touch of a button, buildings with fire codes and sprinkler systems, and smoke detectors. Fire hydrants that actually have water and firemen who show up and sacrifice themselves to save others. Electricity that is powerful enough to run your refrigerator, hot water heater, electric blankets, computers, stoves, ovens and microwaves. Police who are upright and enforce the laws, instead of breaking them, the freedom of women to get into a car and drive anywhere at will. Grocery stores that are full of food, and jobs that provide enough to eat with. We truly are blessed.