Hello everybody, as promised, again a report out of Bamiyan.

Last Sunday we finished the first batch for working journalists. The most heard compliment was, that the refreshing course was way too short. On the other hand, they loved the practical things we let them do. They interviewed people in the bazaar and used that for a vox-pop item and they were invited to speak with the governor. There is an actor lost in Mahdy, because he played a terrific corrupted politician with an unhealthy interest in female journalists. It was astonishing to see how nervous some of the trainees were to meet the governor, but most of them did great.

Figure 1 The classroom accomodation

And we had an official graduation dinner with a certificate ceremony on Monday.

Also present at the dinner was the director of Radio Pajwand in Bamiyan, who is also one of the investors in a new private university which should be opened in Bamiyan. Four of his staff were trainees in our first batch. Two of our trainees were journalists from the neighboring province of Daykundi. We are looking into the possibility of giving this refreshing course also there. We already have the cooperation of the local radio station and the university in the provinces capital Nili. But going there is not so easy. By minivan it will take almost three days, so well have to fly. UNAMA already offered assistance. Lets see how things will work out.

About my date and the dinner at the Aga Khan Foundation??? It turned out to be a kind of expat party, but nevertheless I met some interesting people. The commander of Camp Kiwi was there (once a colonel, now a civilian) with an EU-observer from Brussels, people from ActionAid, CRS, Unama and a New Zealand agricultural NGO.

I did collect useful business cards and found out more about being a foreigner in Afghanistan. A few days before the party we were at the ground breaking ceremony for a new asphalt road that will be made west of Bamiyan. UNOPS, one of the UN organizations in Bamiyan takes care of that. The governor of the province, Mrs. Sorabi, was there to perform the official act. Lots of decorum, lots of security measurements and lots of guns. And president Karzais portrait was Omni-present.

On our free Friday, the first day off in three weeks time, we took the liberty of taking a hike through the valleys near the Banda-e-Amir lakes in de Jakawlang district. The landscape can be compared with the big canyons in the USA or the gorges in France. It was promised to be a two hour walk, a pick nick and some two hours back to the bus. It turned out to be a three our walk through a beautiful green valley (but at Olympic pace), a hasty lunch and more than four hours over bare steep slopes in an attempt to find the bus, we came with. In the last hour the weather changed rapidly and thunderclouds were gathering over our heads. Still climbing, some heavy hail came out of the sky. We never made it to the finish line, so I cannot tell you who won the Olympic gold medal in this mountain race, but some Landrovers got us out of there. I suppose it is the Afghan way of eco-tourism.

And still I didnt tell you about the house. From our arrival in Bamiyan, Aly had high on our agenda the search for a place that could serve as a FPU office in Afghanistan and as a house for me, because of the long term commitment, unless till the end of the year. Also it rapidly became clear that the university was short of room. In fact they are already building a new complex in chann nou, the new city, at the outskirts of the old town, adjacent to the airport. So we were not only looking for office and living space, but also a building where we could receive our students for the courses. I think, in total, we looked at seven locations, but finally the choice was made for a house, that was not yet finished, but would be soon. It is north of the university, a five minutes walk, and it has great possibilities. It has two rooms that will be used as classrooms for trainees. One for theorethical and one for practical purposes. It has a good office space, a kitchen where we can prepare lunch and dinner for the trainees and staff and my own private room. So I can relocate from the hotel, saving a lot of money. We signed a lease agreement till the end of the year, with an option for 2013. It really is a great house and my personal favorite out of the seven choices. It even has a private bathroom and a shower room for trainees. The classrooms, when needed can also be used as sleeping accommodation.

Maybe you can imagine how much had to be done. Sometimes we felt more like interior decorators, pipe fitters, electricians or even architects. But when things work out the way weve planned it and when FPU will be registered as an oficial NGO, our organization will have a very nice Afghanistan office and a great training facility for young people who are dreaming of becoming independent journalists in their evolving country. Oooops..... forgot..... have to go look for curtains and a really sharp cooks knife.

See you, Arno.