Problog

Hello and welcome to my blog. It is a blog about an Air Force Physician that was reluctantly deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan for 6 months.

I have to admit, I did not exactly volunteer for the deployment, and I was a little anxious about how it would all turn out. I ended up making the best of it, and surprisingly, I actually had a pleasant, life changing, experience.

I decided to keep the blog up and running because I kept on hearing, "Why is it that you only hear the bad news coming from Iraq and Afghanistan." I figured that I was helping spread a positive message about what we are doing over. Even more important, I wanted to continue to spread the word about the plight of the Afghan people, 99.9% of which are the most incredibly friendly people that you will ever meet. The title picture is a great example of that. I have never encountered such genuinely warm and friendly people. It was so strange to see so many people with so little material objects, yet at the same time, filled with so much of the joy that comes with close family ties, abundant friends, and a close knit community. We could definetly learn a lot from them.

You may notice, as you read the blog in its entirety, my arc. I shift from focusing on myself and my personal comforts, to shifting my focus on the Afghan cause. It is very easy to get distracted by the hustle of daily life and the comforts that the U.S. provides. It is really a challenge to awake from that coma and to start to care and think about the welfare of other people unrelated to you. I think it really took me about 4 or 5 months before I really opened my eyes and became personally affected by what I was experiencing. I hope I was able to recreate it.

I have tried to keep the blog squeaky clean so as to not offend anyone (or get me in trouble-I am still in the military). Even though I am a political junky with very strong personal opinions I have been steadfast in keeping this site free of any politics. I was called to do a job and I tried to do it to the best of my ability regardless of my political stance.

I recreated the blog to read more like a book, or should I say blook (get used to the corniness it only gets worse from here) just to make it an easier read. I have removed some names and pictures just to keep it more anonymous. I hope that it helps in making it less about me and more about the cause.

Lastly, in the spirit of the blog, I decided to include the Chipin Widget that I used to raise money for Nazia. If I get any additional money I will send the funds to The Women of Hope Project and someone over in Kabul will discretely give it to her (unless I hear otherwise). You can also contribute directly to the Women of Hope Project website. They are a wonderful cause. If you enjoy this blog then feel free to contribute. I am sure that once you read her story you will be very moved.

So kick back. Get ready to hopefully laugh and definitely cry.
If you like what you read then post a comment. I will be continuously editing this site in an attempt to improve it. Who knows maybe one day it will become a book!

Enjoy. Thanks for reading.

-Shazdoc

Today Show Clip

Chipin Widget

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Merry Christmas

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
-
Mahatma GandhiIndian political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948)

Merry Christmas. People were especially friendly today. Random people wished me a Merry Christmas as I passed them by. Everyone seemed to be putting their best face forward even though we all know that we would rather be home with our families. I think that it is especially hard when you have young children. I really feel like I should be there for them during the holidays. I am looking at pictures that my wife has been sending and I think to myself that I can never get those moments back. I will just have to make up for lost time when I get back.

I uploaded pictures from the last VCR trip. I did not attend it so none of the pictures were taken by me. Someone that cares a lot about me does not want me going on anymore non-work related trips. So I will just have to help with the sorting for now on. I am sure that some of the toys that were sent from readers of this site were distributed to the children in the hospital. The hospital that they visited was a children's Orthopedic hospital. It is one of the main, may even be the only, place where artificial limbs are made in Kabul. We have a lot of police who are in need of prosthetic limbs so maybe we can try and establish a relationship with them.

Tonight we had 2 comedians perform for us. They were pretty funny.

It is almost 1:00 in the morning and I am editing and about to publish this post. As I am doing this I am watching my children open Christmas presents on my webcam. My wife is showing me the presents after they are opened. This will hopefully be the last Christmas that we spend apart.

Thanks for reading. Merry Christmas.

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