In Jail

It was really difficult to get up in the morning today. Yesterday I stayed up almost until midnight, both because I had to write a report, but also because the MOT's came in late and I wanted to hear what they had experienced in the field. But I don't think going to bed too late explains all my extreme tiredness of this morning. It must be the malaria prophylaxis, a medicine called Malarone, that we are ordered to take. The disclaimer note in the package has a very long list of possible side effects, of which tiredness is only one.

The political advisor and the development advisor arrived at the provincial governor's office minutes after we did. The meeting with the governor turned out to be a complete waste of time - a notion that the advisors shared. They came to lunch to the safe house. Dynacorps was still there - they arrived in the morning to discuss issues concerning the police training. What a crew they are. If they were even half as dedicated as they are equipped and funded they could actually make a difference.

At the PGOV's office our IP was approached by the chief of the prison in Aybak, who had said that he wanted to meet us. We arranged a meeting for the afternoon and went to have a look. It turned out that the prison's water supply, which was a gutter by the side of the street, had run dry, and now the prisoners had no drinking water. One of the walls of the prison compound was about to collapse, and their only vehicle had broken down. There were 150 prisoners, of which 5 were female, in the small compound. If that sounds miserable, it looked and smelled even more so. We decided to propose a project to deliver drinking water for the prisoners for 5 months. That would cost an estimated 1500 USD. It was really hot and damp in the afternoon, about 32 degrees, even though it was cloudy. In the evening it started to rain.


The chief of the prison looks just like Charlie Chaplin.


Isaf has been acting a little aggressively towards children in the street recently. No-one can blame her - the children are always throwing rocks and kicking Isaf, and any other dogs, too - like all Afghans. The children then run to cry to their parents, who cry to the mullah, who then complains to us. Today we put a long leash on Isaf for the second time, just to appease the mullah. We told the guards to release her after dark when no-one is moving in the street, and to put her on leash again in the morning. Let's see how long it takes before someone steals her collar this time.