trip to the outerlands

Back at the beginning of March, four of us ladies made a trip to a more rural province. Each one of us has a goal of getting to a more isolated area to work, so we went on this survey trip to see how it may be. We had several goals. One was to see if that particular place was where we wanted to go. Two was to see what type of work was going on in that area. Three was to see..well, can we hack it?

All of us came away changed, but I will just tell my story. It was a more difficult place. We had an outdoor toilet, which would be fine except for the frequent diarrhea that is so common in Afghanistan. Trips out there at 4:30 in the morning aren't the best fun.

In Mazar, we are used to walking around anywhere and wearing a head covering that leaves our face bare (or naked as they say here). But, there we wore a hijab. (a veil that covers everything but your eyes). In this area, most of the foreign women have chosen to never walk alone, so we were somewhat of a disturbance to our guards. Every time we left, they would say, are you sure? I'll go with you. We finally convinced them that we would be ok.

So, F. and I went a walking one day, and as we came to an intersection, we saw a little Toyota truck full of police. We thought nothing of it, as it is such a common site. but suddenly we saw a riot of men following the police. Neither of us said a word, but both of us at the exact same time flipped around and started walking the other direction. We had no idea what was going on, but we knew it was something we didn't want to walk into. We found out later it was a demonstration in protest of Denmark, which had decided to republish some offensive cartoons regarding the prophet Mohammad. Glad we got the heck out of Dodge!

F.'s mother has cerebral palsy (CP), so her heart is drawn to children who have physical challenges. There is a CP clinic in the town we were in, so she and I worked in it for a few days. She had a lot of ideas, and had sent some toys and materials ahead that we could work with. The children were amazing, and the work that the clinic was doing was equally amazing. A physical therapist had come out and taught some local Afghan women how to stretch and exercise the children, and they had learned well. One little boy had even learned how to walk.

We have all seen some pretty horrific things here regarding how parents treat their children, and because of this, we were really worried about how they would treat a child who was less than physically perfect. We were very surprised. The mothers doted on these children. One mother even said that her husband was so good to their little girl with CP, that their other children didn't think he liked them at all!

I learned a lot about CP that week. I had thought it just happened at birth, but it can occur up to 2 years after as well. It can happen as a result of severe dehydration after a bought of diarrhea (which is a common cause of death here as well). It can happen after a high fever. (Also common here, because as soon as they see a runny nose, they start piling clothes and blankets onto a baby even in the severe summer heat thinking that they will prevent pneumonia. Instead, they cook their babies). I can't tell you the number of mothers who told me that their baby was fine until a bought of diarrhea, and suddenly they were limp or stiff. The same with the fever.

The saddest, though is that it can also be caused by shaken baby syndrome. Most kids here are severely abused. It is a part of life that they grow up with. The problem is that some of it is not meant at all as abuse. Kids are just thrown around like they are rag dolls when they are little. They have multiple siblings who pick them up and carry them, toss them around, and drop them (I have seen two year olds carrying around their 6 month old sibling who is almost the same size as they are). When a mom wants to put a baby to sleep, she puts it on her legs and rocks hard, it until it is completely rattled. They have no idea. Also, they shake them when they are choking. My heart freezes every time I visit friends with children, because I see danger at every turn!

While we were there, I evaluated a child new to the program, and I am fairly certain that she has shaken baby syndrome. Her head was huge indicating hydrocephalus (water on the brain), and she had gone blind. She also screamed a hideous scream, the kind you hear from crack babies. It was blood curdling and made you want to run away. It was so sad. She is scheduled soon to go to Kabul to have surgery to receive a shunt that will remove the water. So sad.

That was just the beginning of the trip...more to come...