about boycotting

I realize that there are worthy causes everywhere, and if we boycotted everything that had something unethical about it, we would sit in a cave and starve to death. Sometimes though we need to stand up and be heard. Boycotting Nestle covers many areas. It seems that no matter what your pet issue is, Nestle has crossed it. And for me, the lives of babies and children and the mental health of poor uneducated women who find out that their children did not have to die is worth giving up my make up, instant coffee, and hot chocolate. There are alternatives. Is a baby's life worth putting in a little extra effort to find a different brand? Perhaps to you, it seems far away and theoretical, but to that mother whose baby is not in the grave, it is very real, and very worth it! Oh, and if you are giving something up, let those companies know that you are doing it and why. Be respectful, but let them know!

Nestle boycott

So, don't think that boycotting Nestle is easy for me. I love Maybelline mascara. When I wear it, I look as though I am wearing false eyelashes. In a word, beautiful. However will we choose beauty over the lives of babies? Also, Nestle has a huge share of the market on all Western products in Afghanistan. Will really have to do homework on what products are theirs, and either finding alternatives, or going without... PTL for Hersheys!

Nestle products

Here is a list of different products that you may not konw are Nestle. Of course, anything labeled Nestle, but I was surprised at some. I have taken off the international brands, as most of my readers are Americans:



Cereals

Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Cheerios (outside US, Canada and Australia)
Cini Minis
Honey Nut Cheerios (outside US, Canada and Australia)
Oat Cheerios
Cookie Crisp
Crunch (Cereal)
Fitnesse
Force Flakes
Chocapic
Gold Flakes
Golden Nuggets
Golden Grahams
Honey Stars
Koko Krunch
Milo Cereals
Nestlé Corn Flakes
Nesquik
Shreddies
Shredded Wheat
Clusters
Trix


Yogurt

Fruit Selection Yogurt (Philippines)
Longa Vida (Portugal)
Munch Bunch
Ski


Coffee


International Roast
Nescafé
Sunrise (India)
Nespresso
Partner's Blend
Taster's Choice


Water

Aberfoyle
Aquapod
Arrowhead
Buxton
Contrex

Deer Park
Deep Spring
Hépar
Ice Mountain
Henniez
Nestlé Aquarel
Nestlé Vera
Ozarka
Perrier
Poland Spring
Powwow
Pure Life
San Pellegrino
San Bernardo
Viladrau
Vittel
Zephyrhills

Other drinks

Nestea (Joint-Venture with Coca-Cola, Beverage Partners Worldwide)
Enviga (Joint-Venture with Coca-Cola, Beverage Partners Worldwide)
Milo
Carnation
Caro
Nesquik
Libby’s
Growers Direct Organic Fruit Juices
Good Host
Juicy Juice
Ski up and go (Yogurt and Cerial drink)

Shelf stable

Bear Brand
Carnation
Christie
Coffee-Mate
Dancow
Gloria
Klim
Milkmaid
Molico (now Svelty)
Nespray
Nestlé
Nesvita
Nestlé Omega Plus
Nido
Ninho
Svelty
Emswiss
Milo

Chilled

Moça (Brazil)
Chandelle (Brazil, Chile)
LC1 (Switzerland)
Molico (Brazil now Svelty)
Nestlé
Ski
Sollys (Brazil)
Sveltesse (France)
Svelty (Mexico)
Yoco
Munch Bunch (UK)
Le Viennois (France, Belgium, Switzerland)
Nesvita (Philippines, India)
Ninho (Brazil)

Ice cream

Dreyer's
Edy's
Häagen-Dazs (North America and the United Kingdom)
Mövenpick (Switzerland)
Nestlé
Nestlé Drumstick - The Original Sundae Cone
Nestlé Princessa (Poland)
Oreo (Canada)
Peters (Australia)
Push-Up
Skinny Cow


Infant foods

Cérélac

Gerber
Good Start

Lactogen
Nan
NAN HA
NanSoy
Neslac
Nestlé
Nestogen

Nido
Piltti (Finland)
PreNan

Performance nutrition

Nesvita
PowerBar
Pria
Supligen

Healthcare nutrition

Boost
Carnation Instant Breakfast
Nutren
Peptamen
Glytrol
Crucial
Impact
Isosource
Fibersource
Diabetisource
Compleat
Optifast
Resource

Seasonings

Buitoni
Maggi
Carpathia
CHEF
Haoji
Thomy
Totole
Winiary

Frozen foods

Maggi (INDIA)
Stouffer’s
Lean Cuisine
Buitoni
Hot Pockets
Lean Pockets
Papa Guiseppi
Findus (Sweden)
La Cocinera (Spain)
Tombstone Pizza
Jack's Pizza
DiGiorno Pizza
California Pizza Kitchen Frozen

Refrigerated products

Buitoni
Herta
Nestlé
Toll House


Chocolate, confectionery and baked goods

100 Grand Bar
Aero
After Eight
Allens
Animal Bar
Baby Ruth
Bertie Beetle (Australia)
Big Turk (Canada)
Black Magic
Blue Riband
Breakaway
Butterfinger
Butterfinger BB's
Butterfinger Crisp
Cailler
Caramac
Carlos V (candy bar)
Chips Ahoy! (Canada)
Chocolate Surpresa (Brazil)
Coffee Crisp (Canada)
Chunky
Drifter
Fizzfindle
Frigor
Galak/Milkybar
Goobers
Heaven
Hercules Bars (Disney)
Icebreakers
Kit Kat (except in the United States, where it is a Hershey's product)
Lion
Matchmakers
Milky Bar
Minties (Australia)
Mirage
Joff
Munchies
Nestlé Alpine White
Nestlé with Almonds
Nestlé Crunch
Nestlé Crunch Crisp
Nestlé Crunch with Caramel
Nestlé Crunch with Peanuts (Limited Edition)
Nestlé Crunch Pieces
Nestlé Crunch White
Nestlé Milk Chocolate
Nestlé Princessa
Nestlé Wonder Ball
Nestlé Yes (Germany)
Nips
Nuts (Europe)
Oh Henry (except United States)
Peppermint Crisp
Perugina Baci
Polo
Prestígio (Chile, Brazil)
Princessa (Poland)
Quality Street
Raisinets
Rolo (except the United States where Hershey makes it)
Rowntrees
Fruit Pastilles
Jelly Tots
Pick & Mix
Randoms
Fruit Gums
Tooty Frooties
Juicy Jellies
Snowcaps
Smarties
Texan Bar
Toffee Crisp
Toll House cookies
Walnut Whip
Violet Crumble
Yorkie
Munch (only in India)
XXX mints
Milky Bar (India)

Wonka confectionery brands
Nestlé made Wonka Bars to promote the 2005 film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.
Bottle Caps
Donutz
Fizzy Jerks
FruiTart Chews
Fun Dip
Gobstoppers
Laffy Taffy
Lik-M-Aid
Nerds
Nerds Gumballs
Nerds Rope
Oompas
Pixy Stix
Rainbow Nerds
Runts
SweeTarts
SweeTarts Rope
SweeTarts Shockers
Tart 'n' Tinys
Thrills
Wonka Bars
Wonka Xploders

[edit]Foodservice products

Chef-Mate
Davigel
Minor's
Santa Rica


[edit]Petcare

Alpo
Beneful
Cat Chow
Dog Chow
Fancy Feast
Felix
Friskies
Go Cat
Butchers
Bakers
Winalot
Gourmet
Mighty Dog
Mon Petit
ONE
Pro Plan
Purina
Tidy Cats


[edit]Related with other companies

Nestlé owns 30% of the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company L'Oréal and its brands including Garnier, Maybelline, and Lancôme as well as The Body Shop stores.
Nestlé owned 100% of Alcon. In 2008 Nestlé sold 24.8% of Alcon shares to the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis. In 2010 Nestlé sold another 52% of Alcon to Novartis. Novartis paid a total of 39.1 bn US$.

boycot Nestle

*A caveat on this blog. I am trying my best to express myself clearly, but I am recovering from back surgery. Please forgive any ramblings.


I try my best not to do anything political on my blog. But I have been encouraged by my roomie's boycott of Nestle to do some research on the company, so I think my next few blogs will be about Nestle. I am nearly speechless by what Nestle does which is causing the deaths of millions of children in the third world yearly! How are they still in business?! Why isn't someone in jail over this?!

Here is the deal: If you are an American or a European, I am not railing about your choice to breastfeed or not. That really sin't any of my business. My business is the thousands of Afghan children who I am trying to save every year. In developing countries, breastfeeding isn't a choice, it is a necessity. I cannot tell you how many children that I have seen who are dead or dying due to the fact that their mothers didn't breastfeed. For these women, it wasn't their choice, they were tricked into giving their children formulas.

One child I wrote about earlier in my blog. Her parents did not understand that for every ounce of water they put into the bottle, they needed a scoop of formula. She was starving because they weren't feeding her enough. For another child, his mother was using well water to fill the bottle. The well water was contaminated by all sorts of bacteria and parasites. She could not afford to use the gas it takes to heat the water to boil it to kill the bacteria before adding it to the formula. I held this little 1.5 year old boy who MEASURED THE SIZE OF A 1 MONTH OLD! Thankfully he is doing better now, but it was touch and go for a while.

Nestle gives out milk in third world hospitals to women who do not know the dangers of giving formula to their children. Once the woman gets out of the hospital, their breastmilk having already dried up, the free milk dries up and they then have to buy it, and realize they cannot afford it. So besides what I mentioned above, the dirty conditions and diluting the milk too much, I have seen women giving their children watered-down sweetened condensed milk, as well as tea with sugar.

Other problems such as RSV and pneumonia show up, because these babies have not received the "inoculations" that their mother's breastmilk would normally provide to newborns.

No matter what side of the breast-feeding issue you fall on in the west, there is no question that in the third world, there is simply no other alternative for childhood nutrition (unless the mother is HIV positive, a problem that is not addressed in this blog) Please research Nestle (you can google Nestle boyott, or get on youtube and do a Nestle boycott search), and if you agree that their practices are unethical (and actually criminal) please join me in this boycott.

And, do some research on which companies that Nestle owns. Many companies have a different name, but are owned by Nestle.

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Made it safely to Dubai, heading home in about an hour.

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Definition of NOT FUN: saying goodbye to the sweet Afghan boy who you introduced to moving sidewalks, escalators, Western toilets, and America... My heart is broken in two.

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I tucked cutie pie into bed last night, and he cried. He keeps telling me not to leave. So sad...

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Weird... I just saw my house in Afghanistan, my car in my mom's office parking lot, my house in Greenbrier, my house in Mesa, and my dad's truck in the driveway, all on google earth... So weird!

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Today, cutie pie got on his scooter, and I got on the bike and we went about a mile and a half up to the sonic and had burgers, fries, onion rings, and a cherry limeade! Later on, we went to a carnival, and we both went up a climbing wall. He looked like spiderman! He practically ran up the wall! I went half way up nd almost gave up, but just before I went up, cutie pie said I couldn't do it... That is one way to get me to do something! So, I went all the way up, I really didn't think I could do it. When I got down, my arms and legs were shaking and I couldnt get the harness off. But, I did it!

Urologist visit

So, we took little Mr. Precious to the urologist today. At first, the doc wasn't very encouraging, due to the lack of available follow up in Afghanistan. But after he examined him, he seemed a bt more hopeful. He will have x rays, and MRI next week, then a laproscopic surgery so that the surgeon can se what is going on and what he has to work with. Again, he charmed all of the nurses. After 5 minutes with this kid,you just fall in love.

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So, yesterday, the chiropractor asked me if I ever feel stressed... Um... Was he kidding?

Oof

I think I need to adopt... I am in love with this precious boy! So are all of the nurses. He is so precious!

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Went bike riding for the first time in over 10 years!

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Went fishing for the first time in 30 years yesterday, and caught a bass!

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Hello kitty at wal mart! Who is the happy girl!?

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Kam air is the way forward in airplane food! Gourmet! Tandoori chicken, falafel, dinner rolls, salad, it was great!

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So, why would an airline serve lentils at the beginning of a 16 hour flight? P!U!

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Definition of fun? Taking an afghan kid on a moving sidewalk!

Hiking

Went hiking the other day and ran into a few UXOs. What is a UXO you ask? UneXploded Ordinances. That means they are rounds of ammunition that got shot, but never detonated. Scary! We stacked rocks around them so that no one would treat on them.

Bullies

http://www.blogher.com/are-you-ready-talk-about-it-i-am-i-was-bullied

This is a great link, and I wish I had time to read all of the comments. I was also bullied as a child. Most of the time it was verbal, but there were a few physical abuses along the way. I am not sure why me, I think that it is because everyone knew it would make me cry. I have an extremely painful memory from when I was in the 5th grade that was brought up last week. I was too young to have to deal with an adult situation.

Some things I have mulled over as an adult. Some of that bullying has made me what I am today and though it still doesn't take much to make me cry, I am tough enough to stay in Afghanistan against all of the odds. Does that mean I would go through it all again. No! The world is not as it was meant to be and bullying is part of its fallenness. Looking back, I realize that no one who bullied me had a healthy home life. That doesn't excuse them, it is just an observation. Also, I didn't have a healthy view of who I was. Had I had that, it probably wouldn't have bothered me much, and they wouldn't have had fun doing it.

All of that being said, there are things parents can do. First give your kids instruction! Don't allow them to bully others! And if your kid is bullied, get them out of the situation. I would have loved to move schools. I was too ashamed to tell my mom what had been going on. (Though she knows just about everything now. It wasn't her fault at all.) But there are signs. If your kid comes home from school every day and cries, or often fakes illnesses... ask! Give them a healthy, safe place to talk, and don't judge. Don't give them advice. It doesn't help. Telling a kid not to cry when people are yelling abuses at them constantly does not help! Let them know how valuable as a person that they are. Let them know that they are so valuable in God's eyes, that He humbled Himself, took the form of a man, was bullied and beaten Himself, and died, because He loved them so much. Thankfully, He overcame death, and was raised again, so that we can have a new life.

I still struggle with the after effects of being bullied. I would rather call it abuse, because that is exactly what it is. But His mercies are new every morning, and He is still forming me into the beautiful vessel that He wants me to be.

Oh, here is a funny thing, I went to my 20 year high school reunion a few years back, and everyone, even some who had been abusive to me, had fond memories of me... go figure.

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Really, really bad case of giardia...

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Ok, don't know what happened, but the pain is back and I am sick as a dog. I woke up at 4am today and it was unbearable. So, giving in and going to the doctor today. :P

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I have always been over limber, as a matter of fact, when I first started physical therapy for my back in 2000, I was forbidden to do some of the stretches, because I was too limber, and my joints would slide in and out of position! I am now still quite the noodle, and have to modify the stretches in some exercise videos, because they don't stretch me at all the way they are...

Here is the funny thing, I have been stretching out my hamstrings a lot due to my back pain the past few weeks, and now... i really am not kidding, this 42.5 year old chubby woman can do the splits! Not the side to side mind you, but front to back both directions... I think that is pretty cool! ;)

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I made a decision last week that seems to have been a good one. I decided to pretend that my back didn't hurt, and just exercise as if I were well. Of course I was careful with some moves, as I do the FIRM series workouts, and they can be pretty intense. But I am doing much better. It isn't completely well, but I am able to move about much more freely! PTL!

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Woo hoo! mary is responding to a new drug I put her on, and this morning when I arrived at her house, the whole yard was swept clean, the toilet had been at least rinsed out, and there were sandals on the feet of her children! Victory!!!!

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bleh... I ate juSh the other day. Think breakfast gravy but made with goat fat, and lots of it... I haven't spent much time out of the bathroom since them... maybe it was the yogurt... or the almonds from the bra, or perhaps the dust storm kicking up the amount of fecal material in the air... hmm

artillery fire

so, in honor of the former president of Afghanistan who died last week, on Friday, there was artillery fire. Very disconcerting when you live in a war zone, even when you know it was planned!

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So, what would you do if a woman you were chatting with suddenly put her hand into her bra and after fishing around a bit, brought out a handfull of small almonds and handed them to you and insisted that you eat them? WELCOME TO MY LIFE!

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This is the second time I am writing this... for some reason, the last didn't publish! Grr...

I have two suggestions for ending the nastiness and squalor that Mary and Wanda's family live in. They are poor, but they have access to water, and there isn't really an excuse for them to live like they do.

The two suggestions are at opposite ends of the spectrum, but I have been thinking of putting them together.... Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

The first suggestion is that we go out there with buckets and bleach and roll up our sleeves and clean it from top to bottom to show that it can be done and how to do it.

The second suggestion is to tell thme I won't come back, or that I won't treat their illnesses if they don't stop living the way they do (an incentive to change)

My idea is to go out there, help them clean so they understand that it really can be done, and then tell them, yes children get sick, no matter how clean the environment is, but they do get sick a lot more and are more apt to die from the dirty conditions. So, once we help them get things cleaned up, it is their responsibility to keep it that way. If they don't, I will assume that they don't care for the health of their children, and I will stop treating their illnesses, but if I see positive changes and that they are trying, I will continue to help with their healthcare.

Wisdom???????????

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So, my friend, Mary, is in the hospital with dysentery. I have been trying for two years to get them to keep things clean at their house but they just haven't. I am starting to get angry. One or more of the children is always sick. (One man with two wives and a total of 7 children plus guests). Their bathroom is outside and is just a hole in the ground. The children do not go in the hole though, they go all over the place.

After I got back from the hospital I had it out with the women. All of the children were running around without shoes, and going in and out of that nasty bathroom. I went into the yard and threw open the door to the toilet and made the other wife come and look. There were puddles of diarrhea all over the ground. Then I showed her all of the flies that were all over the yard and inside their house. I told her that the flies walk all over the poop (I didn't pull any punches this time!), then they walk all over their food and cushions, so that when they ear they are eating poop, and when they lay their head down to sleep at night, they are putting their faces on poop. I told them to buy a bottle of bleach (very cheap) and just poor it all over the bathroom to kill all of the germs. And I made the children all go put plastic sandals on their feet. Wanda (the other wife) said that she couldn't make them all wear sandals they take them off and put them down the toilet hole. I said, "You are their mother, and you have authority given to you by God to take care of them! This is your responsibility!" I was so mad!

I told them that the medication we give for diarrhea (usually metronidazole aka flagyl) is bad for their livers and if they keep getting sick and taking medicine, their livers would die, and then they would die. It is far better to not get sick than to take medicine.

I then went in and treated some mal nourished children. Poor little babies.

fun link

ok, this has nothing to do with me what-so-ever, but I read it today and thought about all the kids out there playing video games... perhaps it isn't so bad after all! http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/19/us-gamers-crack-puzzle-in-aids-research-that-stumped-scientists-for-years/?test=latestnews

GRRR.....

Seriously, what is the point of the WFP and UNICEF if they aren't going to help someone. I guess once the kids starve to death they may help with funeral costs!

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I finally decided I couldn't take the pain anymore and called a doctor. He put me on Hydrocodone for a few days to get past the excruciating pain and be able to sleep a bit. Starting to feel a little more human again.

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I cooked some lentils last night for today, but they are really dry, so I am making soup... When life gives you dry lentils... ;)

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Had Lizzie Lou over for dinner last night. So sad she is leaving. Yummy Cajun fish!

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Still haven't found plumpy nut, but am calling the WFP (World Food Program) this afternoon to try to track some down.

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Ok, just a little caveat before I write this. I love all of you my married friends, and most of you don't do this. Those of you who do will have something to think about.

Why is it that when a single woman says she desires to be married, every one says that she needs to make sure she is content as a single before she can get married, but a married woman can complain constantly about having a husband and children and doesn't get told that she needs to be content? I am really tired of the double standard.

Partly, I don't think we are meant to ever be fully content in this life. That verse about being content in all situations, Paul is talking about money, he is content rich or poor, it isn't about marriage at all...

Marriage is a mandate passed down before the fall of man, it was not good for man to be alone, even when man was in perfect relationship with his creator!!!!! So stop judging me for wanting to get married. It isn't good for me to be alone!

great site

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/afghan-faces.htm

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Am just finishing up re-reading Eric Metaxes's biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I think everyone who calls themselves a believer in Christ should read it!

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Whew! That was a close one!

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I am having severe back problems... on a brighter note, most of the babies I am treating are getting a little bit better. Gonna find some "plumpy nut" for them! (google it!)

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So, I have always had trouble sleeping at night. But it is now to the ridiculous stage. It is HOT. I mean still really hot. My swamp cooler burned out back in late June, and now, it is just hot. I have a fan and when it blows directly onto me, it cools me off enough to sleep, but it drives my nerves crazy, like Chinese water torture. It is loud, even on low with earplugs, and I feel like someone is gently slapping me all night long. I just can't win. But, I desperately need to sleep!

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Definition of gaudy: An Afghan wedding.

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Ok, I am ANGRY! So angry! Babies here are dying needlessly of malnutrition. Most of it is ignorance. Pure ignorance. But when we teach them, they don't learn because it goes against cultural norms... GET READY MALNUTRITION! THIS MEANS WAR!

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So, we went visiting for the holiday today, and I was talking to a mountain woman about my desire to get married. She said, well, you reall need to hurry. Every day, you are getting older, weaker and more broken down... Sigh...

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I have been thinking about all of this travel security nonsense. The liquids, really? Only 3 oz bottles? But a whole bag of them... I can get about 8 of those little bottles into a quart sized ziplock bag, so that would be what, 24 oz? So why is it bad to just have one 24 ounce bottle? Also, I have been through Heathrow airport 3 times the past month. I honestly forgot all three times that I had my inhaler in my purse, a little aerosol can. Now, even in Afghanistan I have been stopped in security for that. It was not noticed at all by the Brits. I realize that they would have let it through, but they didn't even ask... did they even notice? Begs the question.

So, I have decided, since it usually costs to check a bag nowadays, and even for little trips, I have so many little bottles that it is too much for my carry-on (shampoo, conditioner, straightening gel, straightening spray, eye make-up remover, facial cleansing stuff, moisturizer, mascara, body lotion, body spray, shower gel... you girls know what I'm talking about!), I will no longer carry the regular stuff. On arrival I will go to Boots, or wal-mart, or where ever may have little sample bottles and just carry my face stuff that I can't get there. Such a pain!

Ok that was a bit more than FB, but not really a blog...

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Trying to get 500 emails answered! Oh dear!

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I'm leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

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Yes, I saw what happened this morning, yes, all of my peeps are ok, yes, I am going back. :)

Sweet moment, funny moment

For those of you who know me, you know that I can't really get through an entire day without having some sort of weird adventure. Yesterday it was a trip to the ER.

Today, I went hiking and we found a great spot in the woods to have quiet times. It was so beautiful. K. went a couple of hundred yards away and we both did our individual things. I read, and listened to P&W music (Psalms from The Sons of Korah) and then slept a bit. At one point I heard some scuffling and woke up and looked around to see if K. had come to eat lunch. What I saw was a beautiful baby deer about 12 feet away from me, and another behind it. he just stared at me and let me take his picture. So sweet. He hung around for a little while then went off and played around with the other one. What a nice little moment of grace.

After K. and I had lunch, I decided to go hide in the trees and do the necessary thing. I started to walk away and then stopped and got my camera. I told K. that it would be funny if a pack of wild boars (proliferate in those woods) came running up while I was "busy" I would have to take a picture of it so people would believe me. So, after I was done hiding, I walked about two steps, when... I AM NOT KIDDING! This pack of wild board went running through and stopped right where I had been!!!!!!! I HAVE A WITNESS!

I have to say I am very thankful that I was done, but isn't that just WEIRD?!

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Went hiking today. Pain is a lot better, but still there when I don't take the metamizol. What is that you say? It is a great anti-inflammatory, the one I took after my appendix ruptured, when they thought I had typhoid. It is illegal in the States, but thankfully I am not there.

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Well, I have seen the inside of another foreign hospital as a patient. I woke up this morning in terrible pain. Turns out it is a UTI. I didn't know they could hurt that bad! I thought it had to be a kidney stone, but they didn't see anything on the scan. Anyway, I'm now on antibiotics and pain medicine, but still feeling pretty rotten.

I was lord of all Catan for 24 hours, but just lost my power in a very sad game of Cities and Knights.

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I am not sure why, but I had really out there crazy dreams all night last night, and I just remembered one of them. I had a cat that only had one eye. Not like one eye was missing on a side, but it was like a cyclops with a big eye right in the middle! How weird is that?

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Last night, I watched the movie, Limitless. I really pondered afterward why it left me so cold. I decided there really wasn't a redeemed ending, mostly even bad movies have some sort of redeeming ending. This ending was just a continuation of extremely selfish motives that prevailed throughout the whole movie. But, my friend reminded me this morning that it is a GREAT conversation starter. What would you do if you had limitless potential to recall everything you had ever seen or learned, and were limitless in what you could learn. What would you do with that power?

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Since I can't be on FB anymore, anyone who feels like putting int he effort can read frequent updates here on my blog, as well as longer blog entries. Welcome one and all! Feel free to comment.

Moving house

So, I started my big house move today. I have lost count of all of the times I have moved the past 10 years. Not as much as some, but, more than most. I should always remember that things take longer here than at home, but I seem to always forget. Actually things that may take an hour or so at home take days and days here.

So, I went tot he house today with the realtor (yes, they exist here, usually referred to the "paraperty dealer"). I wanted to do a once over to make sure everything worked before signing the contract. I don't know what happened on the last couple of days of the previous tenant's contract, but it seems that every foreign restaurant in town threw up on the floor. I have never seen such nastiness. I nearly cried. I had to quickly change all the days plans to clean. I mean it took hours just to sweep all of the trash out. Then we began to clean!

It took me, a teammate, and a local housekeeper all day just to clean the flat I am moving into. (There are two other flats in the building that we will start on tomorrow.) WE hired a truck and they made two trips and will make another tomorrow. SO most of our stuff is actually in the building but I think ti will take days before the house is really livable.

Oh, and someone left the basement window open and the screen is torn, so since the place is so nasty, guess what came in for a visit? Oh yeah... cock roaches. I nearly lost my mind. But I really believe that this time it is not a house structural issue. I think it is simply a nastiness issue that can be resolved with a few roach motels, boric acid, and bleach! I love bleach! What a great invention! What is that called? Something hypochloride or was it an hypochlorate I get the ides and ates confused? Oh well, chemistry was over 20 years ago. I guess I am allowed to forget a bit.

I am so thankful for my teammate, K, who helped me. If she hadn't been there I think I would have lost my mind. And, the availability of Dettol products (the British version of Lysol) is one of the huge blessings of life here. I go to the foreign shop and I stand in the cleaning products isle and bask in the glow of antiseptic/antibacterial products! Now, i am not a germa-phobe... perhaps I should be as much as I get sick here. But I love to clean! And, I think there is enough antibacterial products available here that if we poured them all into the sewer, perhaps children would stop getting so sick from their drinking water! But I digress...

Back to the house. It really is a nice place and there are very few repairs that need to be made, thankfully. But the amount of cleaning that needs to be done pretty much negates the time saved by few repairs. I am not sure that easy should even be in the vocab here.

So, tomorrow we go to buy carpets. I think I shall put linoleum in my room so that... yes, it will be easier to clean. So much dust here. If we could package the dust and sell it for something, the financial woes of this country would fade into the sunset. But again, I digress. I am really tired and have a hard time staying on task when I am this tired.

I don't need a big fancy place, but I need to have some beauty. I need a place that is "mine" where I can retreat to and rest. When I sit with a dying child, I need to go home and let down. I am excited about this house. I think it has the potential to be beautiful and homey. I just need to unpack and get settled in... Oh and the great thing? The contract is for two years! If we actually make it that long, it will be the longest I have been anywhere in recent memory! :)

Who am I?

I have been told that I am too dramatic about my life here, that I am attention seeking.

Hmm...I have a friend here who says she really struggles because of the stories that women tell her. The stories they tell... they really are horrific... I don't hear the stories. Why? Because I live them...

I don't hear about the woman whose brother beat her for talking to a man on the phone. I treat her wounds from the beating.

I don't hear about the woman whose baby is starving to death, and whose husband won't let her seek treatment for it. I hold it and pray over it that it may die quickly so it doesn't suffer.

I don't hear about the woman who wants or tries to commit suicide. I hold her down as she is screaming and trying to escape to get the gas can and the matches.

I don't hear about the sixteen year old girl who is newly engaged and just beginning her life, but dying because she had no access to healthcare. I fight for her and and watch as she turns from a beautiful young woman to scarcely a waif and fades off into eternity. I hold her sisters hand. I keep her mother standing as she wants to throw herself onto the floor. I sit at the funeral numb wishing I could have done, wondering if I could have done... more.

I don't hear about the twin babies who are starving to death. I sit with their mom as she cries because they are refugees and have hardly enough money to eat every day.

I don't hear about the pain. I live it.

A random thought

I was just thinking today about how people comment on things they know nothing about. I read news stories about Afghanistan (usually full of very incorrect and exaggerated information) and then I read comments from the readers. I am quite shocked when I read things like, "the US should just carpet bomb the whole place and get out of there!" First of all, I think what people clearly don't understand is that we are NOT at war with Afghanistan or the Afghans. We are at war with the Taliban and terrorists. Most of the bad guys who are here are insurgents. That means they are Foreign to Afghanistan! Would you carpet bomb innocent women and children because THEY are being invaded? Just a thought...

follow-up

I went to work this morning, and Hadassah, my coworker, told me that when she handed the "reward" money to the woman, she said, "You should be giving me $100 instead of Af 100!" Hadassah is sure she is the one who stole my purse, thinking to get a very large reward for returning it!

Turning the other cheek

Turn the other cheek… what if you don’t have time before the next slap comes? Sometimes life feels like that. You keep taking hits and before you can turn the other cheek another one comes. Today it happened literally.

I have been taking care of a woman from the mountains who is probably about 17 years old, had a (about) two year old little girl, has been widowed and remarried, is pregnant, and dropped a huge stone on her legs and broke both of them. After a painful 3 day trek down the mountains to a province called “laghman”, where she had two surgeries. One of which was an “ex-fix”. Meaning she had an external rod with screws in her leg.

Yesterday, I went to her house to check on her (this is an endeavor in and of itself that takes over an hour, just to get there). She is staying at one of the poorest places I have ever seen. There are four families living in the “yard” which is more like a compound. Each family has a room all of which open to the outdoors. Two of the rooms have no doors or windows. This is Kabul, which is very high (in the mountains) and very cold.

She didn’t know where to go to get the ex-fix removed, so I agreed to take her to a local hospital here that is good at orthopedics. WE arrived into chaos, which is the case in just about every hospital in Afghanistan. Her mother and her friend were with her, as well as my coworker and I. We took her to the female emergency room and sat to wait for the doctor. There is a woman in the er who is kind of like an information giver. She was pretty well dressed, which usually means at least partly educated. She seemed fascinated with us, which happens when I show up with a group of women. It took a while, and the others were kicked out because we were too many people for a small place.

The doctor came and looked at her and ordered an x-ray to make sure there was no infection in the bone. So, I took her down to the x-ray department in a wheelchair (the chair leaving a little bit to be desired). We got there, and got her x-ray and then sat outside to wait for it to be developed. As we waited, I realized that I needed to pay for the x-ray. I reached to my shoulder to get my purse, and it wasn’t there. I frantically looked around me and looked in my back pack (had my computer with me too.) But, it wasn’t there. I felt very panicky. In the meantime the man at the door of the x-ray room who lets people in and out kept following me around asking for “Shirni” which means candy. In this case it meant a bribe. Ugh!

I told my coworker, Hadassah, and she went back to the ER to look. She didn’t see it, so this man, Wahid, came with me to look for it. We looked on and under every bed, and behind every curtain. It was nowhere to be seen. I started to have a very sinking feeling in my heart as the truth sank in. Someone had stolen my purse. Then I started thinking of all that was in it. $600, my credit cards, insurance card, nursing license, all of my keys, glasses, well, really like most women, my purse is a treasure trove… I kept praying and trying to remember that I will have what I need, but it was hard to stay focused. I went into the x-ray room to look, and they said the x-ray was ready, but wouldn’t give it to me until I gave them Af100. Wahid was there and told them that someone had stolen my purse, and they guy just shrugged and said that he wouldn’t give it to me without the Af100. Wahid rolled his eyes and gave her the money.

We then went out to fetch the lady and go back ot the ER. Wahid then handed me Af 500 (about $9.5) That is a lot for a man who only makes $100 a month. He said that he was ashamed of his country that would steal from me when I was trying to help.

While we were waiting for the doctor to come and take the screws out, I was standing in the hall with the other ladies talking. They were really sad and angry about my purse. Suddenly, the well-dressed woman form the ER came out with my purse! I hollered and hugged her and kissed her, then she started asking for “shirni”. I told her that it was enough that she had done a good thing before the eyes of God, and the other women told her that the “shirni” I was giving was helping the poor in Afghanistan. She then slapped my face! And before I could react, she slapped me again. Then I started to say something and she slapped me again! I was so angry, and then she walked away. (Actually I think she ended up slapping me about 4-5 times, but I lost count).

That shook me up, but I was distracted by the women telling me to make sure that all of my money was there. They shielded me while I crouched in a corner to look and it was all there. I took out 500 and a100 to repay Wahid. They all saw the 100 and told me to give it to that woman, so I gave it to Hadassah to give to her, which she did.

The doctor finally came in, and began to take out the screws. I protested that they hadn’t given her anything for pain, and he said that he couldn’t because she was pregnant. I convinced him to get a local, and that woman came in while we were waiting, and grabbed my cheek (the same one she had slapped) and pinched hard and pulled it away from my face. She said what is Af100? It isn’t anything! I pulled away from her and said, everyone here wants money form me. I am trying to help this woman and everyone just wants something from me! Then she laughed and said she was only joking. At that point I was near to tears. Then the doctor and Wahid started to unscrew the ex-fix, and I told them to stop until she had the local and they just laughed and said that it doesn’t hurt, even though the woman was obviously in terrible pain. I told them she was in pain and they shouldn’t think it is funny. Finally, they got all of the bolts undone and gave her a local anesthesia to take out the first screw. But they didn’t wait for it to take effect. They gave the shot then unscrewed it from her bone! I just kept holding and kissing her hands and praying for strength for her and myself.

It was finally over. They put a hard cast on her and we helped her to the car, where 4 new blankets, huge bags of flour, rice, beans, oil and washing powder awaited her/and her family. The car took her home while Hadassah and I waited for some other friends who just happened to be at the same hospital at the same time.

It was a rather trying day, full of good things, yet, my heart has once again been slammed by accusations of being rich and not caring, and having my face smacked by someone who I had only been nice to… So, I came home and ate chocolate.

I am pretty sure that the woman had stolen my purse and had thought she could get a big amount of money to give it back. If she had known that I was only going to give her Af100 (about $2.25) She wouldn’t have given it back. Sigh…