Thursday, December 18, 2003

It's Winter in the desert

After a week of non-stop activity, I decided to sneak away for a couple of hours just to unwind and catch my breath. I am sitting out under a large tree just beyond the edge of my trailer park, using my journal as a release from the pressures of the week and oh what a week it has been.

The air outside is crisp with the smell of freshly fallen rain. A cool breeze is blowing across the dampened ground; rain falling most of the morning. It actually rained enough to create mud, with puddles of water spotting the roads around the palace.

The sun is dipping down below the horizon as night begins to fall upon another day in Baghdad. The temperature is falling rapidly now, probably dipping into the low 40's by morning.  It feels strange to have to wear a jacket in a place that once was so hot that taking off all my clothes wouldn't have helped to cool off.

Christmas in Baghdad

It still doesn't feel like winter being used to several feet of snow, thoughts of skiing and tubing, and Christmas shoppers packing the streets. There is definitely no feeling of Christmas in the air, Ramadan and Eid having just ended, (Eid is the traditional three days of feasting at the end of Ramadan). I hardly recognize what time of year it is, one day like another, with no day off or break in between.

We do have a Christmas tree, with ornaments and presents, stockings hung on the wall with care (in hopes that another mortar round doesn't hit into the side of the building) and even a nativity scene (thanks to some co-workers back home). We are planning a special day of activities on Christmas, hoping for that day off. We do have powered eggnog, popcorn, and Christmas goodies, with cookies and cheese and crackers. We have already eaten up all the Christmas kisses, several cans of mixed nuts and a variety of other candies sent from some great people back at FedEx.

All I can see now is the silhouette of the palace in front of me as night continues to fall, getting darker by the minute.

Welcome CNN

Tomorrow CNN is planning on going with us on another day of “Sharing joys with toys�, going to a handicapped children's home and a mosque, where a large group of homeless people are living in the unfinished structure.

A British soldier, who has been running the clothing store in one end of the palace, donated $1,000, which we are using to purchase blankets and heaters for that group of homeless people.

We sent toys with a group going South to Basrah today, as they are planning on visiting a number of orphanages, hoping to share toys with a few kids down there too. A captain with Civil Affairs is setting this one up, so I thought it would be a great opportunity. We haven't been able to get that far south yet with the toys.

We are planning a big toy drop over Christmas too, to a few areas up north of here.

Two Cute Sisters

Today while I was tooling around the green zone in my bus, I saw a couple of little sisters, one 6 and one 10, walking into the zone. I have seen them selling candy out in our parking lots on occasion, so I thought it would be a good idea to give them a ride. 

They were both so cute and so serious about their work. They told my interpreter and I that they go to school in the morning and then they go to work in the afternoon (which is selling the candy). They had a list of things to say in English and they knew just how to pull on our heartstrings. She would say in her sweetest voice, “I have no money�, while tilting her head to the side and starring up at me with her big eyes.

I am a total sucker for kids like that, sincere or not.

I got my first little notes from some school kids in Iraq, like little love notes to kids in the states. I will put them on my site in the next few days. They were on little cards cut out in different shapes, like hearts and square packages, with short words of appreciation to the kids back home.

I am going to be visiting several schools to solicit letters from elementary school kids here for kids in the states and other countries. I will try to take their pictures to go along with the letters. I really think this is going to be a great addition to my site.

Another one is going to bite the dust

Lately I have been working with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, Internal Affairs, and a variety of other people in a combined effort to take out some really bad apples from the bunch that we have picked. A few of them have become alarmingly quite powerful in a short period of time.

For the most part the file is in my hands in that I am working with several inside sources to put proof behind all of the allegations. We know these people are bad but we need the evidence to prove it, hoping we have enough to remove them from office. Some of these are like Saddam in the making, following in the footsteps of the recently ousted leader.

I am going to do all I can, everything within my power to bring these guys down.
Wish I could say more about the case but it suffices to say that I have a personal vendetta against some of them.

We are still looking for information regarding weapons, attacks, explosive devices, weapons dealers, any anti-coalition groups, and any other illegal activities.

New York Times

Some of you might recall a letter that was sent to the New York Times regarding an individual who was having a difficult time accessing his property. I have met with the individual several times to discuss this matter and I did give him a letter which required them to allow him to have access to his property. As far as I know he has not had any further trouble but he still has a few issues. I am still trying to meet with him to discuss his problems. I will keep you posted.

We are all so psyched about how the comic book is progressing. The first story is well on its way with most of the drawings having been penciled in. The artist is now starting to ink in the drawings and then paint them. It will be around 10 pages with about 60 drawings. It is really cool. I will put some of the drawings on the site for you all to enjoy. We have received the help of one professional comic book writer who is really going to speed up the process for the next story.

The four girls are well.

What about a preschool or Kindergarten

We are thinking about renovating the preschool in the green zone, to set up a model for others to follow. I would like some ideas about what this might include. I am definitely not an educator so this is out of my league, so I could use some help. We want to broaden their horizons with new ideas. How do we do that? We do have some funds that have been donated, would you mind if we spent some of that equipping a school?

We never got our bikes, so I guess that is a dead issue. And FedEx was willing to ship them to us for free too, what a bummer.

I have been going to various restaurants around Baghdad lately with sources, noticing a guy who walks around the establishments soliciting the patrons with Turkish coffee but his only has two small cups. So I am thinking there must be a huge shortage of cups, due to breakage during the bombings of this city, or the supply lines are cut off by bad guys. Why only two cups for the whole restaurant? It is not too enticing to think how many people have put their lips on those two cups. I don't drink coffee anyway but still.

I ran into the Kurdish salesman from Germany who speaks a few words of English mixed with German and Kurdish and tries to explain his line of water treatment products to me. It is one of the most frustrating situations you can imagine. Every time I swear I will never try to talk with that person again.

My life here is completely full of activities, which seem to be making a small difference in the lives of the people I come in contact with. I rise each day with my mind full of thoughts of all my many projects and all the different initiatives, each with their own list of things to do. I feel that in a small way I am contributing to the forward progress of the plan. It is a good feeling to believe in the cause and have a vision about how it is going to unfold.

I am so blessed. Life is so full of opportunities to bring about personal growth and development through small acts of kindness to others. Even the smallest pebble dropped into a large lake still sends far-reaching waves rippling across the water to destinations unknown.

There are so many good things happening on a daily basis, brought about by the good intentions and efforts of the Coalition forces. It is just awesome.

Have a great day!

Wiggles