It's everywhere ( Archived) (5)

Goodness. It can be found everywhere, even in the worst of circumstances.
I'm leaving Afghanistan in about 5 days and have finished working. The rest of my time here will be spent with my packout, out-processing, an American holiday (Veteran's Day), apartment cleaning and inspection, etc. Tying up loose ends. So ready to go.
But today was one worth mentioning. On my last day in the office, I was treated to a wonderful meal of lamb chops, various Afghan dishes whose names I don't know, and fruit. It wasn't my American co-workers who did this for me; it was 3 Afghan colleagues here...Barkzai, a translator who fancies himself to be a comedian of sorts (but is anything BUT funny!), Mustafa, a protocol assistant, and Abdul, a manual laborer. These 3 men arranged for a wonderful meal for me and invited several others from my office. I've been asked by others what it has been like here in Kabul and I have mentioned that I have no freedom of movement and the restricted environment really wears on a person...quickly. I thought I would leave here with nothing of value to remember. Today, Barkzai, Abdul, and Mustafa gave me something to remember.
Yesterday there was another suicide bombing in the country; several members of Parliament were killed, along with children and many others. One of the men killed yesterday was a relative of Mustafa's. He went home early yesterday to be with family, but returned today to say goodbye to me, to wish me well, and to tell me that I have been a good colleague, boss, and friend. There are no words to describe how that made me feel.
I don't really expect any comments on this thread, mainly because I haven't asked any questions. I just wanted to remind anyone who ever has any doubts that there is a lot of goodness in this world and I wanted to tell everyone about Barkzai, Mustafa, and Abdul. They deserve to be written about.

Thank you for sharing we all need to be reminded once in awhile that there are good people everywhere.

Thanks for sharing that, Athens. It almost restores my faith in human nature .. I feel for your friend.

That was a very nice way to sum up your tour of duty, Athens. Well-said, as usual.

It's experiences like these that need to be shared.
Too often, people have no idea what it's like in outside cultures... and they never get the chance to witness them so they can not relate. We need to hear more stories so we will be able to remember, these are humans thrown into the middle of uncertain circumstances. They look different, smell different, eat foods many of us will never experience... but still good people.

Thank you for sharing your journey.