Day Twenty Four

This morning, I got to the office to find out some interesting news. Part of our role here is to also train the Afghan National Police (ANP) on PA and all we do. We had an initial meeting with the province ANP PAO a few weeks ago, and talked about general information. It was more of a meet-and-greet than anything else, but there was just something about this guy that didn't quite settle well with me. We've heard stories about how corrupt the ANP are, so I guess I had my guard up right from the start.

Apparently, it was discovered a few days ago that the province PAO office had received equipment (courtesy of the U.S. Government) that was meant for the regional PAO office. Sandy had our interpreter make a call to the guy we met to explain the situation and get our equipment back so we could get it to the right place. This guy had the nerve to say that he wasn't giving the equipment back. OK, so let's think about this for a second...he has equipment that was bought by the U.S government, and HE'S telling US he's not giving it back? Wrong. Sandy called the regional office to try and get it back, and they told her the same thing. Really? Do these guys realize how fast they can be completely cut off? To make a long story short, the issue is now in the ANP General's hands to take care of. Apparently, the Commanding Officer of our camp is good friends with the ANP General, so we're anticipating this being taken care of soon. Amazing huh? I'm starting to see how things really are here in this country...and I'm not liking what I see. Talk about burning bridges. I think our training with the ANP is over before it even started.

Today we had our meeting with our ANA PA staff. It went over fairly well, but I did see some things that I didn't like. We talked to them about their roles and what we want them to do, and they all were very receptive to that much at least. The Deputy PAO that is illiterate did NOT like being told by Sandy that she was taking him under her wing and going to teach him the PAO duties and responsibilities. Remember, we talked to the PAO, LtCol Niem, yesterday and he told us that this guy doesn't do anything. After Sandy spelled everything out to him, he went off in his own language about something and I could tell by the look on the interpreters face that it wasn't good. The interpreter said something back to him in their language, and then the deputy responded. The interpreter said that the deputy simply said "no problem." I knew he wasn't telling us the truth and I called him out on it. I said, "I don't believe you...he said more than just that." The interpreter laughed, but only told us that yes, the deputy did say something else, but he's now ok with it and it is no problem. I didn't like that at all. As I've said in the past, I'm a people watcher...I see things that many people probably don't see. I watched the deputy during the whole meeting; rolling his eyes, scribbling on his notepad, huffing and puffing. I knew something was up before he even opened his mouth. Because of the fact that LtCol Niem is leaving for training next month for five weeks, the deputy needs to be able to take over while he's gone...that was Sandy's intent. I just had a gut feeling that there was more to what he said, and I found out after the meeting that I was exactly right. On our walk back to the camp, I got on the interpreters about telling us the truth. Rafi finally told me what the deputy had said. His response was, "I don't need to do anything now, and when LtCol Niem leaves, I'll show you what I can do...I don't need your training." As you can imagine, that set me off as it did Sandy. The guy can't even read or write or perform ANY of the PA functions. But he's going to "show us?" Please. They think we're ignorant to what's going on there, but...we know more than they think we do. Again, talk about burning bridges. Do these guys want help here or what?!

Back at camp, I worked on exporting the videos I had done outside the wire so I could upload them to our higher headquarters for release. They gave me a login and password to a site where I could upload them. I troubleshot the different exporting options until I got the best quality in a size that would upload. It worked good. So now, I have the ability to get the videos to where they need to go so they can be picked up by the different websites and news agencies. It worked out well.

After that, I got a good arm workout in and tried to run on the treadmill. I got about a half-mile into it and my right knee was throbbing so bad I couldn't do it any more. I was pretty upset and disappointed, as I was just starting to get into this running thing. Oh well. I'll have to take it easy for a week or so and see what happens. They have bikes in there, so maybe that will be good enough for now. So much for keeping up with Chris and Sandy.

I'm not sure what to expect anymore from this place and its people. One day it seems like we're here helping, and the next day it seems like they just want stuff for free and want us to get out of here. Everything I hear is about money, or "I want, I want, I want." Hell, even the interpreters were trying to "extort" money from us today to pay their cell phone bills, claiming "you should help us because we have to pay to talk to you." Give me a break. Let me break this down for you. The General of the ANA Corps makes nine hundred dollars per month. ANA doctors make three hundred dollars per month. ANA lawyers make two hundred dollars per month. Do you want to know how much these interpreters make? SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS PER MONTH! Talk about being greedy. Sure, it's not much money per month in America, but for the incomes here, they're making more than even the most prominent people in high positions. Don't cry to me about your phone bill. You're getting paid seven hundred dollars per month to do your DAMN job...and that INCLUDES being able to call us and us being able to call you.

Again, I just don't know what to expect anymore. Once I built the shelves for the ANA equipment and put all their stuff together, they haven't seemed at all proactive about getting trained. There have been some circumstances involved, but again, it seems to be all about what they can get out of us. I feel my attitude changing again, but not to the extreme it was early on. There are some shining stars, and I'll be sure to tap into their potential and train them on whatever I can. It's just frustrating sometimes to teach people who don't want to be taught. I'm still not sure if that's the case or not yet, but we'll see. Chris and I talked to them about initiative and motivation today, and that their mentalities need to change. Rohullah Amin spoke up and said that he's excited and wants to learn as much as he can. That's my boy. I told the rest of them that they ALL have to have that drive, determination, and attitude in order for the office to function the way it should. My hope is that they see what we're trying to do and it has some effect on them. If not, it's going to be a long 5 months. I'm keeping my head up and still trying to stay positive though. As long as they understand that I'm trying to help them, maybe they'll see the light one day. It can only benefit them...and their country.