A Few Pictures from Frida

Though she isn't identified, Frida indicated in a note that a young woman named Heidi (in Ghor) distributed the woolies. I believe then that this must be Heidi.



For some reason, this young fella totally charmed me.



Boys are the same all over the world aren't they?





The girls, on the other hand, were very reserved in their picture. They look sad but Frida indicated that is partly because they are unsure of and uncomfortable with the cameras. Of course it is also because their lives are tough and they are in fact sad and tired and old beyond their years.

Hats for Kids - It HAPPENED!!

I just heard from Frida! The woolies have been distributed. She is sending me pictures so I will have more to post tomorrow. In the meanwhile, click HERE for pictures at Frida's site. We DID it!!

An Update from Frida and Hats for Kids

Frida wrote to me this morning and is feeling very badly that the last piece of the Hats for Kids project isn't coming together as expected. The boxes have been in Ghor with Julija for a month now, and they still have not been distributed. Frida has made several polite reminders, and asked what she could do to help but apparently not much from a distance.

We know how personally and how deeply to heart Frida takes her work and its success. Please, all of you, drop a note to Frida assuring her of our faith in and gratitude for her efforts. Let her know that we understand that the logistics of such actions are not always achieved in the straight line that we are so used to in our much cozier and more organized world.

Magnea, a secondary contact, left Ghor last week and before she left she was told that they had sorted all the boxes into different sizes so that things could be distributed easily (you bring the children out in ages groups). She was also told that they have told the orphanage director to expect them. The orphanage moved locations this month (which is a GOOD thing, in the old location they didn't have running hot water) and that seems to have been part of the delay. Also there has been a rotation of most of the team at the Lithuanian base, which is another part of the delay.

Frida is very wary of sounding critical as they agreed to help on top of everything else they are doing but she feel really bad for me and all the others who went to such an effort to get these here in time for this winter.

She thinks that the winter is pretty much over now. But it remains cold up in the mountains of Ghor through June, so she has been told, since she was in Kabul last year. So there will still be time for the children to get goodness from the woolens if they are distributed soon. However, she is sure the woolens will be treasured and kept safe for next winter. Based on my readings of life in Afghanistan, I believe this to be true.

These delays and her disappointment has been wrecking havoc with her conscience and her sleep patterns! So she has written to them again today with another gentle reminder and copied it to another new person on the base, a really cool guy who seems to be fairly “get things done". She has great hopes that he might help move things along.

Remember, please, all of you, drop a note to Frida assuring her of our faith and lend her the emotional support she so clearly needs.

Update on the last four boxes

Frida has been talking to the people in Ghor a lot these past days - all flights in and out have been grounded for a week due to bad weather. Fortunately the orphanage has recieved the first five boxes, plus (from an organisation called IOM) matresses, blankets,and wiring plus generator so they now have electrical lighting and hot water. There is now some effort going on for a new building.

Frida indicates that photos should be on their way as soon as the people up there recover from the humanitarian emergency that the terrible weather is causing. She's been helping them try to organise emergency medical evacuations etc.

The other boxes are probably in Kabul waiting for a break in the weather so that a plane can land in Ghor - two of her team members have been stuck there for days now, so they are all very impatient for the air to clear!

I am overjoyed!!

Five of the NINE boxes that were sent have arrived. Click here for Frida's news

Update from Frida

More Woolies updates from Frida. Please click here to read in the comments section.

Update on Woolies for Frida

The boxes are out and now it is all about waiting. Frida is back (as I'm sure many of you know) and I wrote for possible information of box arrivals. I knew it would take a while but the lesson in WAITING is still very much in effect. So I patiently wait and with Frida's permission, share this email from her with all of you.

Annie

**********************************************

Dear Annie,

Of course the waiting is hard - we get so used to mail taking months and months over here that I forget to even think about things coming, which makes it a lovely suprise when they do.

The phones are not working at the moment so I will email Julija and if I can't get hold of her that way I will be travelling to Ghor next week - yippee!!!

Thanks again for all this and you may be pleased to know (in a strange and slightly upside down way) that the cold has returned for a bit longer than expected so the woollens are still going to be very welcome and well used before the end of this winter.

Lots of warm wishes and pleas for patience with our slow systems over here,

xx

I Live on Hope Street

I just noticed that I did not start a Good Things report for this week. It hasn’t been a bad week at all, just very, very busy. Classes started at university this week. Lots to do. Lots of lost students finding their way around the arts complex. Just call me information central.

I have one more box to mail to Afghanistan and will do that either Saturday or Monday. I’m thinking of sending this one UPS rather than USPS. I’ve been requesting tracking so that I can determine when a particular box leaves the country. I’ve since learned that tracking is 100% dependent on someone at the receiving end scanning the tracking number into the system. No scan, no record to track. Not great service for something you pay for. Two never got scanned. Five were. And only ONE indicates that it left from the New Jersey APO departure point and that one was sent two weeks ago.

At this point, I must remind myself to continue to take it on faith that this will come together for Frida. So many good people offered so much for these kids. I simply have to keep reminding myself that I knew this would take time and the end result might be a little iffy. I still live on Hope Street though so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Three more out the door

Three more boxes are out the door now. I came home tonight anticipating the shipment of a couple more boxes of woolies early next week and walked into a surprise. Cheryl in Kentucky sent two boxes that were filled with what I can only describe as the Mother lode. When she said she found some great clearance sales, including some snow pants, she wasn't kidding. And how about these totally adorable little baby Uggs. There are several in the box. Cheryl cleaned up. Tomorrow I go shopping with one more Target gift card. This one will buy underwear, tank tops, etc. And Lisa, oh great collector of hotel bathroom goodies, is sending her collection of good smelling stuff. What started out as woolies as evolved a bit into "necessaries" as well.


God bless you all. You are truly angels on earth.

The First Box is Out the Door

Here are the first of the woolies

going to Frida.

I spread everything out and then Don came in behind me and rolled everything for packing. He's a great packer. Legendary in fact. The man can load a C-130 transport and, in fact, has.

We have about half of what you see here in the first box. I'm bringing another box home from work tomorrow. The second box will go out on Thursday.

It's amazing how much you can get into one smallish box when you pack it right. Being somewhat cautious, I covered up our receiver's address however I can tell you that our receiving angel is a civilian worker with a Lithuanian army unit.

Hats for Kids - Update #2

Good news. I have just heard from Frida and have a contact person and address for the woolies. I plan to send the first box out on Monday. For those of you who will miss this mailing, not to worry, there will be a second box going out as well. I will post timelines on that one later. Diana, your gift card will be included in the next mailing along with a parcel I am expecting from Tennessee and additional items that will be arriving from some local friends next week but after Monday.

Our contact person is a civilian worker from Lithuania. Our effort continues to be a truly international and collaborative effort.

Blessings to all,
Annie

Hats for Kids Update

Children frozen out

Ghor is perhaps the province most affected by the worst Afghan winter for 15 years. Many people have died in temperatures as low as -30C. Some observers say thousands may have died, with children worst affected. Firewood is in short supply, and many have frozen to death.

Text by Tom Coghlan, pictures by Veronique de Viguerie

Just a quick note to all. The response to my request for wool goods for the kids of Ghor in Afghanistan has been wonderful. Several hats, gloves, scarves, and mittens have already been received. Frida wrote yesterday and indicated that she has an APO address for me to ship to; we are only needing a contact name at the APO end which hopefully I will have by tomorrow. Frida will be gone for a week after that.

I have learned a lot from this effort most important of which is the awareness that life in most other places does not move at our speed. Growing up as a Navy brat and then as a military wife, I learned early the meaning of hurry up and wait but waiting U.S. style is not the same as waiting, international and I am working in a war zone environment, style. So I continue to wait for the one critical piece of information. When that arrives, the woolies will go out - perhaps in two days or perhaps in two weeks.

Either way, I am so incredibly grateful to all of you who have sent gift cards, funds, woolies, warm wishes and prayers. You are an amazing and generous group of women and I am proud to count all of you as friends. You have all very much enriched my life.

I've GOT an address

OMG!!! I am so happy. Frida has contacted me with an address for mailing the parcel(s) to Afghanistan. They will go to an international relief organization is Kabul and from there will be flown to Herat and into the arms of our wonder woman. I am SO!!! excited that I'm doing a happy dance at my desk. Thank you, thank you, thank you, God.

Hats for Kids

I have become quite a fan of Frida and would like to send her a shipment of hats, scarves, and mittens for the children she serves in Afghanistan. If you can donate to this endeavor, please write me for my mailing address. I hope to gather up enough to get a box out to her while there is still much cold weather need. Also, please feel free to link this request to your blog so we can get the word out. Thanks, Annie