It has been 9 months since my last letter. Let me start by
wishing you all Happy New Year – Shanah Tovah.
It is very odd waking up in my own bed in my own apartment in Montreal,
with basically nothing that “I have to do” – as opposed to “choose to do”. In
some ways, it is very nice. In others, very scary.
I left Afghanistan at the end of May, just after the
completion of the draft IDP policy and a National Consultation to validate the
document. It should have been sent to Cabinet for adoption in June…. the work
of nine months of consultations, not only in Kabul, but around the country – in
Mazaar, Jalalabad, Herat, Logar, and Kandahar. I had been seconded to UNHCR for
the period and worked closely with the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of
Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR), Dr. Samad Hami, and colleagues from the
humanitarian community (OCHA, IOM, NRC, et al).
But the Deputy Minister did not get along with his Minister, Dr. Jamaher Anwari (a Turkman); the Ministry
was the subject of a corruption investigation; the Deputy left to spend several
months in London to do an academic course just after I left the country…. So,
not surprisingly, the policy has not been approved by cabinet and may never be
adopted. Déjà vu with the Guidelines I drafted in Nepal in 2007 as with the Darfur Joint Assessment Mission I
helped write in 2006.
While I
was in Afghanistan, I also worked intensely on what I hoped would be a pilot
project – to upgrade conditions in an IDP settlement in Herat, in the Western
part of the country – the Maslakh settlement. It is something I had started
thinking about in 2008, when I prepared a Roadmap for local integration in the
West. And, this past year, I got UN
Habitat on board to head up the project, and USAID for the funding, and a go-ahead
from the Governor as well as the political strongman of the area (former
warlord Ishmail Khan)…..All that was necessary to move forward was confirmation
that the title to the land was transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture
(which had title) to MoRR. So, it was
with much sadness that I this week read an email which Dr. Hami sent to UN
Habitat, copying me in. It stated that although the Deputy Minister was aware
of the really good proposal that had been submitted to USAID and of their
support, and that the Humanitarian Coordinator Mark Bowden had been to Herat
and met with the new Governor about this, MoRR is currently “challenged” by the
second report released by the Independent Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and
Evaluation Committee (MEC). This second MEC report, which
focused solely on the Land Allocation Schemes (LAS), indicated that MoRR had
taken approximately US 1.74 billion dollars from the illegal selling of land to
land mafia….”the largest corruption report I have ever heard in
Afghanistan”. Therefore, any talk over
LAS is halted. Our pilot did not involve
the sale of land – indeed, it deliberately was intended only to give people use
of the land (usufruct) precisely to avoid corruption and the land mafia. But, I
fear it will nonetheless be a casualty of the LAS corruption scandal.
So –
what is left of my nine months work in Afghanistan? A few good friendships that
I made; some wonderful photographs and memories of meals shared and wine drunk
and camaraderie; a delightful R&R week in Goa; a weekend in Islamabad; a
weekend in Delhi; carpets I bargained over on Saturday afternoons and jewelry I
brought back and enjoy. But now, this Afghan chapter is probably closed.
What
next? I don’t know as I am no longer on a ProCap contract but only on the
Roster.
After I
returned home, I spent two and a half weeks in Austin, Texas, with Jesse, Rox
and my amazing grandkids (aren’t they amazing, this next generation). Back in
Montreal, I have been trying to get my condo better organized – I hope to have
a floor to ceiling bookshelf built in October so I can unpack my last book
boxes and set up my study/guest room for working. I have been exploring my city
and much enjoying Montreal’s summer festivals, the botanical gardens, the
markets. I took a brief two day trip to the Eastern Townships. I’ve seen a few
movies (Blue Jasmine is great) and read a few books. I just enjoyed a super two days with my family
-- brother, sister-in-law, nephews and niece and their partners, and the grand
nieces and nephew – an early New Year get together.
And, on
Wednesday, I leave for Halifax where I will meet up with my life-long buddy
Saralea Altman, and we have two weeks together touring Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland.
After
that, I don’t really know. I am open for some short term contracts….I have some
writing I want to do…. I will work on my blog (I am slowly putting my cookbook
on-line for you all – it is at http://lauriewiseberg.blogspot.ca/). I might buy a car. Everything
is possible. As I said at the start,
it’s a nice but also a scary kind of feeling…. What do I want to be when I grow
up???
Drop a
note when you have time. Come and visit me in Montreal.
With
fondness, friendship and love …. Which is what really counts in the end…
Laurie
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