Letter from the Field

Letter from FHA director to an FHA volunteer at the end of a family planning program in Mazar e Sharief, Afghanistan in 2006:

Dear Mary,

I am currently in Kabul at the completion of our family planning program. We finished the training in Kabul and then traveled to Mazar, a province north of Kabul, for a week of training. We came back last night from Mazar after a very eventful week.

Our car broke down on the way up on a mountainous road, not to mention that we had a crazy driver who I fired half way up and hired a new driver. The hospital we were working at caught fire and burned down (we were in another building and only smelled like smoke after the ordeal). We also lost power several times and had to finish the IUD insertion process under a flashlight and lost water several times and had to step out to wash hands during the procedures. Healthy food was scarce, and we ate the same type of food over and over again, no vegetables at all, (a major issue with a semi vegetarian like me).

There was also a major dust issue in the city. With showers not available all the time, I took many cold showers after having dust all over including in the ear, nose and on the eye lashes. We had to move the clinical training 3 times. On the way back to Kabul from Mazar, the car I had requested (which was supposedly "in very good condition") died on us. I had to seek the assistance of the police on the road (a little scary) to secure a vehicle for us to get back to Kabul.  The drive back was more scary, on a terrible road in the dark while it was raining with no windshield wipers.  It really took a toll on me, as I worked 12 hours a day non stop.

It is amazing that with all the obstacles we encountered, our program was a success overall. The midwives and doctors loved it and asked us reputedly to come back for more training in the region. I am exhausted but very happy.  Anyway, I thought you may like to see some photos of our Herculean effort to provide family planning services to poor Afghan women.

Take care,

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P.S. A man came to the clinic asking for me by name after hearing my talk about maternal mortality and family planning on the local TV station the night before.  He came with his clearly anemic wife who was pregnant.  The couple already had 7 children and the woman was now pregnant with their 8th.  The husband pleaded with me to help with termination of the pregnancy.  He said he fears for the health of his wife.  He also muttered repeatedly “We didn’t know” referring to the prevention of multiple pregnancies.  It was very sad, I almost cried.  All I could do was to discretely give him some money to take care of the new child and have one of the doctors refer him for free pre-natal care for his wife.  She looked like she was not going to make it through another delivery.