We began our day with a couple fascinating classroom sessions at the Adult Training Center. The teachers at the ATC suggested we complement yesterday’s instruction with question-and-answer sessions today in both the Computer and English classes and open it up to anything the students wanted to ask about.
The students in both the morning and afternoon sessions were extremely curious about America – our food, our culture, our sports, our movie stars, and our music.
When we asked what they thought about America, they said they were impressed particularly with America’s military power and financial strength, and how they thought the United States was an extremely generous and humanitarian nation. A number of them also clearly expressed how much they appreciate the assistance the American people have provided to the Afghan people over the years.
A couple of them asked detailed questions us about our host organization… about its business model, where the funding comes from, and how did it begin? One of the students said she was so thankful for the assistance in getting her Business Administration degree that her goal was to open a shelter or halfway house to help at-risk women and children. Talk about paying it forward!
We finished up three solid hours of dialogue covering a wide range of topics such as... who is the better soccer player, Lionel Messi or Christiano Reynaldo... and who makes the best movies, Spider Man or James Bond?
I’m now thinking Afghan millennials aren’t that different from American millennials after all.
After classes ended at the Training Center several more staff members joined the team for a trek to the top of Flag Hill, a flat-top mound in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, for a panoramic 360-degree view of Kabul. We toured the hilltop for more than an hour guided by our host staff who regaled us with stories about Kabul’s history and pointing out living artifacts like the Great Wall of Kabul (local legend dates it to the 6th century) and the Olympic Stadium.
We closed the day with dinner at a local restaurant to give the guest house staff a richly deserved night off.
After dinner several of us were sitting in the guest house living room journaling about the day and Robb commented, “My cheeks hurt… from smiling so much today.” We all chuckled because we also completely understood.
We are all thankful for such a powerful and uplifting day today. If tomorrow goes as planned, it’s going to be pretty intense and we’re going to need to start it on a high.
As always we sincerely appreciate all your prayers and support.
--Bob
The students in both the morning and afternoon sessions were extremely curious about America – our food, our culture, our sports, our movie stars, and our music.
When we asked what they thought about America, they said they were impressed particularly with America’s military power and financial strength, and how they thought the United States was an extremely generous and humanitarian nation. A number of them also clearly expressed how much they appreciate the assistance the American people have provided to the Afghan people over the years.
A couple of them asked detailed questions us about our host organization… about its business model, where the funding comes from, and how did it begin? One of the students said she was so thankful for the assistance in getting her Business Administration degree that her goal was to open a shelter or halfway house to help at-risk women and children. Talk about paying it forward!
We finished up three solid hours of dialogue covering a wide range of topics such as... who is the better soccer player, Lionel Messi or Christiano Reynaldo... and who makes the best movies, Spider Man or James Bond?
I’m now thinking Afghan millennials aren’t that different from American millennials after all.
After classes ended at the Training Center several more staff members joined the team for a trek to the top of Flag Hill, a flat-top mound in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, for a panoramic 360-degree view of Kabul. We toured the hilltop for more than an hour guided by our host staff who regaled us with stories about Kabul’s history and pointing out living artifacts like the Great Wall of Kabul (local legend dates it to the 6th century) and the Olympic Stadium.
We closed the day with dinner at a local restaurant to give the guest house staff a richly deserved night off.
After dinner several of us were sitting in the guest house living room journaling about the day and Robb commented, “My cheeks hurt… from smiling so much today.” We all chuckled because we also completely understood.
We are all thankful for such a powerful and uplifting day today. If tomorrow goes as planned, it’s going to be pretty intense and we’re going to need to start it on a high.
As always we sincerely appreciate all your prayers and support.
--Bob