6 days in.

I talk a lot about the volunteers but to be clear this whole thing is military operation.  We have now been background checked and cleared to be on the base for up to one year.  The Military is responsible for the housing, feeding and all the physical needs of the Afghan guests.  Volunteers like us are responsible for recreation.  Team Rubicon has taken on the huge responsibility of clothing our guests and receiving and sorting of all donations.  Team Rubicon is a national organization which serves communities by mobilizing veterans to continue their service by helping people prepare, respond, and recover from disasters.  They are a wonderful organization.

I may not have been clear about the barracks where the Afghans live.  The barracks are large open spaced  buildings, open from one end to the other.  They normally house members of the armed forces, mostly while training at Ft. McCoy.  The barracks are usually lined with bunk beds.  The bunks have been removed and have been replaced by 13,000 portable camping cots which were brought in by the Red Cross. It is common to see some of the cots outside.  I'm not sure if this is to make more room inside during the day, to give them a place to sit outside or maybe they bring them outside just to clean them off.  It is also common to see laundry hanging on railings, fences and even shrubbery.  

We are living in a house in Norwalk.  We are about 30 minutes from the base.  There are six of us here.  As I understand it, the GB Diocese pays for the house rental, who then bills the US Council of Catholic Bishops, who in turn will bill the Department of Defense.  The house is nice.  We have 4 bedrooms, two upstairs and two down. 

Each day we eat lunch at the Non Commissioned Officers Mess which is new and very nice.  Our meals are paid for by Catholic Charities.  The food is very good. 

We leave home every day by 8:15.  The day starts with a meeting on the base at 9:00.  The meeting is for all the volunteers, the interpreters and a group of women from the AUW.  AUW is a group of Asian university women. Like everyone else they were evacuated from Afghanistan and have ended up in Fort in McCoy. Many of them are highly educated and motivated. They were just existing at Fort McCoy so they have now volunteered to work with us in serving the Afghan guests.  They  volunteer like us and they also serve as interpreters. The actual interpreters are paid and are employed by the IRC.  Our 9:00 meeting group of about 50 -60 people, man three centers and two sewing centers.  This morning meeting is partly assignment designations, part motivational pep talk and part training.

The centers at which we work are divided into two parts. The first and larger portion is the children’s area. All the children seem to be 7-8 years old or younger.  The second half of the same building is utilized by mothers and very small children. We play with the children both inside and outside.  I have honed my skills at Jinga, building blocks, moom (play dough) every size puzzle, count four, jump rope (we use A-B-C instead of counting) frisbee, Soccer, hula hoop, coloring, painting, slime, kickball and…. well I’ll assume you get the picture.  It’s exhausting.   

   This post is too long and I want to get it posted tonight.  

Shaid behide (good night).

Ken and Cathy