Afghans and Security Guys

Here are our security guys in an intimate moment: a haircut. The cutter is George and the cuttee is Matt. These guys speak with the hardest British brogue. George is Scottish and Matt pronounces his name like "Mott." They end every sentence with "mate." I like them both a great deal. They are tough as nails but have not got a big "I'm your hero" ego even though they pack heat (guns) 24/7. Actually they live in the villa with us and spend their evenings on Skype talking to their girlfriends. Whenever we travel, we ride in a Toyota Forerunner with one of these guys in the front passenger seat. They scan the environment for threats. An Afghan drives. When I write the blog entry about driving conditions in-town, you'll understand why we have a local driver. Drivers and gunmen all work for Blue Hackle Security, a firm that provides this service all over Afghanistan, Iraq and other places. They remind us not to become complacent. They also remind us that if we keep a low profile, we'll be safe. Companies like Blackwater keep a very high (obnoxious) profile, and they draw lots of attacks too.

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Pictured at their desks are the two Afghan men who support master-planning for the Afghan National Army projects. They assist me. Zekria on the left is a civil engineer and Jawed on the right is an architect. They are both very intelligent and amiable people. They are my friends along with the other 12 Afghan professionals working in the office. I eat lunch with them several times a week. There the dialogue is about 98% in Dari, rather than English, but I get the point especially when they start laughing. When you don't know what is being said you can still learn a lot by observing their individual natures. I want to give you a chance to see what gracious people they are by letting you read a few of their emails to me below.

Dear Mundy:
Thank you very much for kindness , hope to continue collaboration, and we really need your best experience in this regards. Have a nice time in Afghanistan.
Sincerely yours, Zekria Danishyar

Dear Mike,
I do not know whether you have shared this with other colleague yet or not, but for sure I can tell you that every one would highly appreciate this. And on the other hand you must feel privileged because you are the first expert that you have taught of a capacity building seminar. I would like to put all in Cc, I am sure it is a good news for all.
Best regards, A. Jawed Ashna

These good men deserve a better biography than I'm able to produce at this time. I can tell you that when the Afghans leave the veritable paradise of this office, with its climate control, modern plumbing and computer systems, they go home to a place where the city only provides electricity for 3 hours a day, in some cases only every other day! What do they do with those precious hours? Laundry! What would you do with just 3 hours of power in 48?