The Common Man strikes again...

So here's the deal... I've been struggling with this since my first days here. Now this sign pictured here, or one very similar, is posted in all of our latrines. Some of them say "not to drink the water," or "to use bottled water when brushing your teeth," etc. But this one just says "Non-Potable Chlorinated Water," right? So I ask myself, is this really necessary?

Is there really a concern here? See, I have to ask this question everytime I go into the latrine and see this sign. I wonder to myself, "Self (cuz I really do actually address myself in this manner), why do you think they put this sign here. Do you think it was the common man, or was it a very bright man, that was concerned FOR the common man, that maybe he was so wise, that he realized the importance of putting this sign in such a location as to prevent the common man - as we seem to have so many of them here - from actually using this water to brush his teeth or maybe fill a canteen or two? Or was this put here by a very humorous man, such as myself, that would find joy and underhanded pleasure at this particular sign every single time that he entered the restroom?" These are the things that I think to myself as I stand there reading this sign.

Why, you might ask, would these thoughts enter my mind while in the latrine reading this sign. So let me try to explain a little further. Most of the signs are right above the sinks in these small buildings that we call "latrines" - but this one, on the other hand, sits conveniently right above the urinal.... Yes, folks someone thought it necessary to warn the troops that this water was not suitable for drinking... Now believe me, there are many a "common man" on this base, but the thought of someone being SO stupid that they would actually use a urinal to fill a canteen, wash their hands or God forbid, brush their teeth. It is truly a wonder to me each and every time I go into the restroom, "is this really necessary?" or "was this placed here BY the common man, or is it in fact FOR the common man?" So far I have not witnessed anyone actually using this urinal - or any other, for that matter - in such a way as to suggest the need for such a sign, but truthfully, maybe it is BECAUSE of this sign. One can only wonder.

Now, some of you might be wondering what the other sign so precisely located directly above the urinal might be for, so I took a quick picture of that one, too. Now this is a color chart, showing a range from white to a yellowish-orange color. It is supposed to represent the color of one's urine as an easy guide to determine your current level of dehydration. Of course, some of you probably already know that if your urine is clear, then you are in fact properly hydrated, or as is often my case, you have just consumed a dozen or so light beers... On the other hand, if your urine is not clear, it will indicate (based on this chart there are only 4) varying degrees of dehydration.

Oh, in case anyone was wondering where I was just now, I had to go check my hydration level and you will all be glad to know that I am, as usual, in the "second from the bottom-th" degree of hydration - or dehydration if you will... I am instructed by this very sign to "drink more water," which I would gladly do if they could just put a tiny bit more wheat and yeast into it for me. Seems this country is severely lacking in these fine American resources. Regardless, I am not in the upper two quadrants of the "dehydration scale" which would require me to "drink water IMMEDIATELY." You would be able to read this if this picture were at all legible - in case anyone was wondering, this is exactly what Fletch - yes, Irwin M. Fletcher - said that to Mrs. Stanwyck regarding the bogus lease of 100 acres of wheatgrass she'd purchased out in Utah... Just in case you were wondering... If you are not familiar with Fletch, I highly suggest that you run your cute little tush out to Blockbuster and rent it, or we can no longer be friends. Oh, you won't find it in DVD, yes folks, you will only find Fletch in VHS. If you are so cool that you no longer own a VHS player and have graduated to all DVDs now, then you are probably WAY too cool for me anyway and there is no need for us to continue our friendship.

And while we're on the subject of wheat, yes, I realize that I got a bit off subject there, but I rather like the interuption just prior the segue... Gotta keep ya on your toes, otherwise the common man had somehow manage to sneak onto this Blog site therefore, I write this way to utterly and completely confuse him. If you are confused, please turn your computer off now.... For you may be the common man - or woman - or I'm so tired and delirious that this only makes sense to me... Okay, back to the wheat. Yes, there was an important reason for bringing up the wheat, but now I believe the lack of it in my system is somehow effecting my memory.

Oh yes, that's it. The liquids here are totally devoid of such ingredients as wheat and barley. They have never even heard of HOPS here. Can you believe it? I most certainly CAN NOT. If anyone out there would be so kind as to send me some barley, yeast AND hops, I would be most appreciative. We are not allowed to have alcohol, so you will have to send it to me in dry form. I'm hoping that if I ingest it slow enough and in the right order, it will have the desired effect...

Okay, not really. I already tried that. The barley gets stuck in my teeth, and the yeast gives me gas... Okay, the common man is actually understanding this, which is causing me to worry that I've degraded myself so. The truth of the matter is, that this job is driving me to drink, and you can only tolerate so much Gatorade and Mt. Dew.

I hope you are all doing wonderfully and that my latest chapter, however idiodic it may seem to some, brought laughter and joy to the rest of you... God Bless!

Michael

My Dad just sent me the following email and I thought it was entertaining enough to add it here. Enjoy:

Tampons to the rescue in Iraq!! Don't worry, it's a good story, and worth reading. It's even humorous in parts. It's from the mother of a Marine in Iraq.My son told me how wonderful the care packages we had sent them were and wanted me to tell everyone thank you. He said that one guy we'll call Marine X, got a girl care package and everyone was giving him a hard time. My son said, "Marine X got some really nice smelling lo tion and everyone really likes it, so every time he goes to sleep they steal it from him." I told my son I was really sorry about the mistake, and if he wanted I would send Marine X another package. He told me not to worry about Marine X because every time I send something to him, Marine X thinks it's for him too. He said when my husband and I sent the last care package, Marine X came over to his cot picked up the box, started fishing through it, and said, "What'd we get this time?" My son said they had the most fun with Marine X's package. He said he wasn't sure who we were sending the pack to, but the panties were size 20, and he said one of the guys got on top of the Humvee and jumped off with the panties over his head and yelled, "Look at me, I'm an Airborne Ranger!!!!" One of the guys at tached the panties to an antenna and it blew in the wind like a windsock. He said it entertained them for quite awhile. Then of course.......they had those tampons. When he brought this up, my imagination just went running, but he continued. My son said they had to go on a mission and Marine X wanted the Chap-Stick and lotion for the trip. He grabbed a bunch of the items from his care package and got in the Humvee. As luck would have it he grabbed the tampons too, and my son said everyone was teasing him about "not forgetting his feminine hygiene products." He said things went well for a while, then the convoy was ambushed and a Marine was shot. He said the wound was pretty clean, but it was deep. He said they were administering first aid but couldn't get the bleeding to slow down, and someone said, "Hey! Use Marine X's tampons!" My son said they put the tampon in the wound. At this point my son profoundly told Me, "Mom, did you know that tampons expand?" ("Well....yeah !") They successfully slowed the bleeding until the guy got better medical attention. When they went to check on him later The surgeon told them, "You guys saved his life. If you hadn't stopped that bleeding he would have bled to death." My Son said, "Mom, the tampons sent by the Marine Moms by mistake saved a Marine's life." At this point I asked him, "Well, what did you do with the rest of the tampons?" He said, "Oh, we divided them up and we all have them in our flak jackets,and I kept two for our first aid kit."I am absolutely amazed by the ingenuity of our Marines. I can't believe that something that started out as a mistake then turned into a joke, ended up saving someone's life. My sister said she doesn't believe in mistakes. She believes God had a plan all along. She b elieves that "female care package" was sent to Marine X to save our Marine. Either way, our efforts have boosted the morale of many Marines, provided much needed items for our troops, AND saved the life of a Marine! God bless every one of you for your efforts and hard work, and God bless our Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force and all our military service personnel. GOD BLESS AMERICA AND KEEP IT SAFE!

Now I'm not sure if this was the "original discovery" of the use of tampons for dressing wounds - I don't think it is, but I have heard that many people carry them in their personal gear for just this purpose. No, I don't need anyone to send me any tampons - or smelly lotion or big giant panties, either. I just can't stop picturing some Marine jumping off a vehicle with a pair of "bloomers" over his head. Hysterical...

Okay everyone, have an "AFGHAN-TASTIC day" - okay don't really, cuz that would mean doing 14 more hours of the same shit you've already done for the last 90 days straight, but I think the term is pretty funny. I've also added "Asscrackistan" and "go flour your balls" to my vocabulary. My parent's must be so pround... Maybe some things I shouldn't share with the whole family..? Aaah, I'll let you decide. If you are offended, don't read that last part... There, problem solved...

Michael

The Common Man...

Holy COW!! It is 2025 and I am actually done for the day. Mind you, I have worked several shifts from 8am to 11 or 12 at night in the last week or so. Then, to top it off, I get some unbelievably stupid phone calls anywhere from 0530 or 0600 until about 0730, then I finally drag my ass out of bed a few minutes to 0800.

I have had the pleasure of receiving phone calls from my counterpart down South at 0600 to tell me that a plane did or did not take off.... Now just so you can understand the absurdity of this; he knows that the airport is an hour away and that our personnel have to be there an hour early, so if the flight is supposed to arrive here at say 0700, and take off at 0730, that would mean that my people have to meet at 0500 to depart by 0530 to get to the airport by 0630. Since we USUALLY have multiple passengers going to multiple destinations, that means multiple flights. But, we are limited by the number of vehicles we have and do not want to send multiple convoys [as the greatest threat up here is roadside bombs (IEDs)] so I do everything I can to minimize the exposure our troops face, thus one convoy leaves w/ everyone onboard in order to make the earliest flight...

But the reality is, the knowledge, to me - in a half comatose state at 0600 - as to whether that plane actually launched or not means absolutely nothing. About the only thing is does provide me is an ingratiating desire to locate said IED and plant it squarely in said individual's hindparts.... If the convoy has already departed, and most likely is almost to the airport, and most likely has passengers departing and arriving on other aircraft, they cannot and will not turn around to come back... I cannot get ahold of them on the cell phone anyway. Now Dan is a pretty good guy, and we have had some fun sharing some "stuck on stupid" stories - which I will share with you shortly - about the military's version of common sense.

Sidebar: I recently heard that Abraham Lincoln once said, "God must have really loved the common man, for he made SO MANY of them..." Now I don't know if old Abe really said that, but how in the hell did all those "common men" find their way into the Army and into Afghanistan at the same time as me...? Now that's what I wonder.

I got a call this morning at about 0630 - this was after finally getting off work around 1130 pm and not getting to sleep until about 2am. This most important phone call was because someone at the airport - whom I witnessed write down the particular phone # the day before - realized that they had forgotten one Colonel Covington's cell phone #... It should probably be noted at this time that said "dip$h*t" was not to meet Col Covington until 0930, but decided in his infinite wisdom, to call me - the Air Operations Officer - at 0630 in order to get the Col's urgently needed phone number. Now why he determined that he must have that # at 0630 instead of, say 0900, was beyond my comprehension at that hour... Not to mention that I was just as surprised as you probably are, that along with scheduling flights and transportation to and from two different airfields, that one of my tertiary duties is now appearantly that of the camp's Operator as well. There is actually an Admin office here that would have that information, and another Comms (communication) office that actually issued the phones. Oh, wait, I get it - they probably realized that it was TOO EARLY and those people probably wouldn't be in their offices yet.... So, let's call Murph - he'll know the number.

The common man... Here's another fun one; today I got a call from one of my corpsmen. He is down South, and I had told him to go to the terminal at a certain time and to inform them that he needed to travel North on a specific flight, leaving at a specific time. What he was told was that the particular flight was full of mail and cargo and that he could not fly on it. When it arrived here, I asked our mail clerk how much mail we got. He informed me that we had rec'd 1130 lbs of mail. Now this particular flight can carry approx. 2500 lbs of weight. So I called down to the terminal and started asking why my corpsmen was not allowed to fly. I actually had one "common man" tell me that it isn't necessarily the weight, but that I needed to consider the "cubic factor" of the size and shape of the cargo as well., and that maybe it wasn't a weight issue, so much as a VOLUME problem... Now I have been moving troops and cargo for almost ALL of my 14 year career - and I can tell you that unless they were shipping several hundred square feet of nearly empty boxes there is no way that 1100 lbs of mail would fill that cargo hold on that particular plane. I am not sure if this particular "common man" truly believes that the smoke he was blowing at that moment was actually a valid point, but after I got off the phone with him I am pretty sure that I was several shades of cherry red... See, this particular "common man" is a LT Colonel - two pay grades above me, so I was unable to tell him just how common he is...

Dan, my counterpart, shared another brilliant Air Farce policy with me the other day; we are trying to move several Humvees from down South back up here to the North. He was coordinating the Air Movement for three vehicles and was told that two of them were too heavy to be put on one C-130. Now, a fully loaded Humvee weights about 14000 lbs, which we realize is a lot, but the weight capacity on a C-103 is 40,000 lbs. When Dan attempted to explain his "combat math" and actually rounded up the Humvees to 15K lbs per vehicle, for simplicity sake, and tried to explain to his "common man" that two Humvees fully loaded MIGHT, JUST MIGHT weigh upwards of 30,000 lbs, but that left a 10, 000 lbs "cushion" for us to work with. The "common man" argued that it wouldn't work because of temps and altitudes and heat and weight and balance considerations, etc. So Dan suggested that they contact the "powers that be" in the Air Farce down in Bagram for an "Official determination." The second "common man," I'll call him CM2 for the remainder of the story, agreed that two Humvees would be too heavy, but further offered that he could put one Humvee and a Pallet of cargo on the plane. Dan said, "well, what if my pallet weighs 15,000 lbs, would that still be okay?" "Oh, sure," said CM2, "that would be okay." I'm not kidding you. Can anyone help me out with this. Seriously, I can't make this $h*t up. This is the mentality I deal with on a daily basis.

I think I'm going to turn this BLOG into a book, not a comedy, so much as a tragedy, I'm still working on the title. I'm thinking "Army, Navy, and Air Farce, a seemless coalition." Or maybe "Diaries of an Uncommon Man in a Common Military" Any other suggestions?

I at least hope that you have found some glimmer of humor in my everyday suffering. I'm sure that one day I, too, will be able to look back at this and laugh. For now, I just cringe and try not to cry. I just hope that stupidity is not contagious...

Love to all,
Michael

Last Report

There is a bit of a gap here, but this is the last letter from Jobe:


Dear friends and family,

They’re finally back and Hibrahim is officially out of the woods. They spent six weeks in Rawalpindi, much longer than I anticipated, and made it through some rough times. As we went into the third and fourth week, I worried incessantly that they would run out of money, about Rahim sleeping outside with police sometimes waking him and telling him to move along, and about why it was taking so long for the doctors to release them. But, I stopped worrying when my interpreter, Ramin, made the point that Rahim knows how to take care of himself and his family. He is resourceful and will do whatever it takes to get his son well and get home. These people know how to survive. Rahim pointed out the fact that for many people in Afghanistan, life is just about finding a way to survive each day. He assured me that whatever hardships Rahim was facing, he was well conditioned to handle it. He was right.

So, here are some of the pictures he brought back. I couldn’t believe that even though he slept outside for the last few weeks of the trip, he managed to keep my camera dry. It’s great to have him back in the shop, and it’s an indescribable feeling to have been able to help him save his son. I’ll never be able to thank all of you back home enough.













"This is one TUFF kid!!"

It's me again, and I'd just like to say thank you to Jobe and all of the Navy team here that contributed in saving this young boy's life. I arrived here on May 28th and this process was nearly over. Odd as it is, I feel cheated that I wasn't able to contribute directly. I offered several times that if there was "anything I can do," but Jobe said it was taken care of. He is a terrific guy, as is the Navy team that I work with here. I just want people back home to know what really goes on here is not at all what you see on the news back there. I'll draft another blog and show some pictures of the orphanage that the camp here recently constructed. I have been fighting to get on a community project, but my time here in the office does not afford much in the way of free time. I did manage to get my name on the board for construction of a sports facility that we will be building in the near future.

I hope you are all moved by this story, and that maybe some opinions of what we're really doing, what our commitments are and about the mission over here might be altered. There is still a war going on here, but our focus has shifted from fighting to much more of a "mentoring" and "humanitarian assistance" focus.

God Bless,

Michael

Follow up on Hibrahim’s Tale...

Tuesday, May 22, 2007


Dear Friends and Family,

I just received an update from Sandy at the International Children’s Heart Foundation. As of Monday, May 21st, she has received seven donations for Hibrahim’s surgery and the total is $2,520! She also said the surgery will cost $5,000, so we are more than half way there! Thank you to everyone who has donated already. We only need $2,480 more and Hibrahim will get his surgery.

Some of you may be worried about what happens to donations for Hibrahim after our $5,000 goal is met. Sandy will let me know and I will send out an update ASAP once our goal is met. Any money donated beyond $5,000 will go toward the foundation’s regular operations. They have 20 medical missions planned for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, and a goal to operate on over 400 children. So, be sure that even if your money doesn’t go toward Hibrahim’s surgery, it will still go to an exceptional cause.

Please keep the donations coming, we aren’t quite there yet. See the email below for directions on how to donate, and don’t forget to note in the comments section that your donation is for Mohammad Hibrahim Amiri. Thank you again everyone.

By the way, attached are a few new pictures of Hibrahim and his father Rahim.

Jobe




Friday, May 25, 2007

Hi everyone,

I just got a new update from Sandy at the International Children’s Heart Foundation. We now have 15 donations for Hibrahim totaling $3,770. We’re doing great as we only have $1,230 left to reach our $5,000 goal. But, we’re not quite done so, if you’ve been planning on donating, but you to procrastinate like me, it only takes about 10 minutes. Just go click on the link below and donate as little or as much as you like:

www.BabyHeart.org

On the home page, click “make a donation”.

On the next page, click “please click here to be transferred to a safe and secure donation form”.

Now, just follow the directions on the donation form, but remember to add Mohammad Hibrahim Amiri in the comments box.

Mail in donations are welcome and can be sent to:

International Children’s Heart Foundation
1750 Madison Avenue, Suite 100
Memphis, TN, 38104

Make checks payable to the International Children’s Heart Foundation.

Thanks everyone, we’re doing great and we’re almost done.

Jobe

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Hi Everyone,

I have outstanding news. Sandy just sent me an update and as of Tuesday, May 29, she has received 30 donations for a total of $5,645!!! Hibrahim’s surgery is officially paid for at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi. The feeling is overwhelming. Next month, thanks to your donations, a family who has never left Afghanistan will make a three day trip to Pakistan that will save their only son’s life. I don’t know the exact date of the surgery yet, but as soon as I do, I will help them finalize their travel arrangements. And, I’ll be sure to keep everyone up to date on all the developments. Thank you all so much for your generosity.

Jobe

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Hi Everyone,

I haven’t had any news for the past couple of weeks, but the last few days have been pretty eventful. Rahim and family started their trip yesterday (Wednesday). A couple of days before they left, however, Rahim’s wife, Salima, became very ill. She was so ill we were worried about her ability to make the trip. Rahim was preparing himself to go alone, until we found out that Salima is pregnant and she has terrible morning sickness. It was a relief, but she’s so bad that we still needed to adjust the plan. So, it was decided we should try to send Salima’s brother, to help take care of her if needed. That caused some problems with the visa but, long story short, my interpreter knows someone at the Pakistan Embassy and was able to get it worked out.

The first part of the trip was a short flight from Mazar-e Sharif to Kabul, where we ran into our first problem of the actual trip. We sent them with more than enough money, based on information we were able to get. We were never able to talk with anyone who actually worked for the airline, but we had spoken with a few people who had recently flown from Kabul to Islamabad. Everyone said the tickets were less than $200. When they got to the airport in Kabul, they called and told us that the agent for the Pakistani airline was charging them $2000, and that didn’t even include the return flight. Obviously, the agent saw their desperate situation and was trying to rip them off, but that’s a way of life here and there wasn’t much we could do. I told them they should rent a car, which they did. They called yesterday evening to say they were already in Jalalabad (not far from the boarder) and made me feel much better by saying they had a very nice and comfortable taxi.

This morning they called to say they were in Pakistan, and this afternoon they called to say they had already met up with Dr. Kamal Saleem (one of the surgeons at the Armed Forces Medical Institute). Dr. Saleem was helping them find a hotel for the night and said he would start taking cardiograms in the morning. Dr. Novick and the rest of the team from the US are scheduled to arrive on Saturday. With Dr. Saleem getting a head start with the tests, there should be no problem with getting the procedure done on Monday. This will maximize Hibrahim’s recovery time under the observation of the US team, which is a very good thing.

So, Monday should be the day and, with the time difference, it will happen while most of you are sleeping. When you wake up, Hibrahim should be in recovery. I’ll let you know more as soon as I know more. Thanks again everyone!

Jobe

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Hi Everyone,

The surgery has been postponed until Friday. Below is the note that Dr. Novick (The Surgeon from the American team who is going to do the operation) sent me…

Jobe:

Yes, the team arrived as scheduled on Sunday morning and we saw the child that afternoon. Surgery is scheduled for Friday, however that will depend upon how the child is at that time. He came with changes in his blood suggestive of an infection, was placed on antibiotics and we are repeating studies on Wednesday, if everything is fine and the child does not have a fever we will proceed on Friday. I think chances are quite good for survival.

WNovick

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the delay in getting this out but we’ve had some communication blackouts recently (I actually wrote this yesterday when the network came online long enough for me to receive a couple messages from Dr. Novick, but it went down again before I had a chance to send it). I know some of you are as anxious as I was to find out how the surgery went. Well, our network just came up and I logged on to find two messages from Dr. Novick. He said everything went very smoothly, Hibrahim did great, and he sent me these two pictures. When Rahim gets back, I’ll send out more pictures (whatever he took with my camera).

Dr Novick also told me that they just finished up on another child today, this one was from Iraq. The International Children’s Heart Foundation is an incredible organization doing extraordinary work all over the world. In fact, they are doing another mission to Rawalpindi in September, and they are will be in Kabul, Afghanistan, early next year. Any time you have extra money and feel like being charitable, www.BabyHeart.org is a great place to go.

To those of you who helped by spreading the word or donating your own money, I will never be able to thank you enough. You all did a truly wonderful thing and you should be very proud of yourselves. I feel as good right now as when my own son’s surgery was successful six years ago. Jobe has grown into a happy, healthy 6 year old, and because of you all, Hibrahim will get to do the same.

Jobe

More from Jobe:

Friday, May 11, 2007 Jobe wrote:

Dear Friends and Family,

Only nine days ago I sent the message below and, I must say, the response has been nothing short of overwhelming. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everyone taking the time to reply with suggestions and forward it on to others. Through our collective efforts, Dr, Christian Pizarro and Alfred I. duPonte Hospital for Children in Wilmington Delaware, have graciously offered to take the case if and when I can get Hibrahim to the States. This is a huge and encouraging first step and I can’t wait to tell Rahim in the morning (they have Fridays off). Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who has helped so far and especially to Dr. Pizarro, Nemours, Beth Volk and Dr. Del Nido of the Children’s Hospital Boston, and finally Vicki Pemberton and Gail Pearson of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

We still have a major hurdle in getting them into the country, but I wanted to let everyone know where we are so you can all stop looking for doctors. I’ve done my best to add everyone who’s replied to this distribution, but I’m sure I don’t have them all. Please pass on the good news!

Thanks again,
Jobe



Thursday, May 17, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

In my last update, I announced the generous commitment from Alfred I. duPonte Hospital to donate Hibrahim’s surgery. Since then, I have been working on the logistics of the trip. One of the issues is long term post-op care, but that can be arranged in Kabul (8 hour drive from here). A much more difficult hurdle has been transportation. Military flights are nearly impossible for Afghan civilians and commercial travel is very complicated. You can't just go down to the travel agency and buy a ticket all the way through to Wilmington Delaware. I found out that the best we can do from here is buy a ticket from Kabul to Dubai. Once in Dubai, Rahim would have to try to get a flight to Kuwait. Then, in Kuwait he would be able to get a flight to New York, and so on. I’m sure you can imagine how daunting this would be for a man who doesn't speak the language in Dubai, Kuwait, or the US. He'd be on his own with a weak toddler who he doesn't have much experience caring for (in Afghan culture, the mother cares for the small children almost exclusively). I think it could work if we got him an international cell phone, but the chances of something going wrong are too great. A US visa is another big road block for Afghans. It is possible to get one for medical reasons, meaning the embassy is taking applications, but the process is very lengthy and the system is flooded with such requests. Also, part of the requirement is to present evidence that you intend to return, i.e. return ticket. A few days ago, I was really starting to worry that I wasn't going to be able to pull this off.

However, two days ago learned out about some Military folks in Kabul who recently sent two Afghan kids to India for heart surgery. They only had to raise $11,000 to cover the cost of both surgeries plus transportation for one parent each, food, lodging, and interpreter for two weeks. But, the news gets better.

As I learned about how the India mission was accomplished and met some of the people involved, I got an email from Sandy McMahan (she’s copied on this one). Sandy is the Administrative Director for the International Children’s Heart Foundation. The money for the India mission was raised on the International Children’s Heart Foundation website, www.BabyHeart.org. Sandy monitors all the donations and will put money aside for specific children if it’s requested by the donor. The international Children’s Heart Foundation paid the hospital directly so the fundraisers and the families didn’t have to worry about handling the money. This completely takes care of the fundraising question. Believe it or not, the news gets better still.

Sandy informed me of an upcoming mission to Pakistan. From June 16th through June 30th, a medical team from the US will be at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology located in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Sandy can get Hibrahim his surgery during this mission to Pakistan. The cost for the surgery will be about the same ($4,000 - $5,000), but logistically Pakistan is even easier than India. There will be no need for an interpreter, the whole family can drive there, lodging is cheaper, and the visa is free and easy to get. Hibrahim's father was terrified about going to the United States alone, but now that he knows about the Pakistan mission, he's very relieved.

Don’t ask me why I didn’t contact them earlier. I’ve been donating to the Children’s Heart Foundation since my son received his heart surgery six years ago. Anyone who wishes to donate to Hibrahim’s cause and help save his life, please go to www.BabyHeart.org. You will see the information about the Pakistan mission on the home page. Once on the site, click on “make a donation”. On the next page you will see a similar button that says, “Please click here to be transferred to a safe and secure online donation form”. That button will open a new window that is the secure donation form. The most important thing to remember is to make a note that your donation is for Mohammad Hibrahim Amiri in the comments box. Then just continue with the form as if you were making a purchase online. My guess is that $6,000 will do it. Sandy will track the donations and keep me informed. When there is enough to cover the costs I will send another email to let everyone know.

I realize some of you may have a phobia about online credit card transactions. You can still donate by mailing a check to the address below. Just remember to include a note indicating who the funds are for, Mohammad Hibrahim Amiri.

International Children’s Heart Foundation
1750 Madison Avenue, Suite 100
Memphis, TN, 38104

So, this is the plan. We’re sending Hibrahim and his family to Rawalpindi for his life saving procedure. Everything is in place except the money, and that is only a matter of time thanks to you all. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read all these lengthy updates and for all the help you have sent me. I will keep you informed of all the progress and will also send pictures as things develop.

By the way, the foundation is still looking for team members for this mission. They need PICU Nurses with at least 2 years experience in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, an Intensivist/ICU Physician, and an Anesthesiologist if any of you qualified folks are interested.

Take care everyone,
Jobe

I will post the remaining follow up letters from Jobe and some of the pictures as soon as I can get my hands on them. Until then, take care and I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Much Love,
Michael

Amazing Story...

Something you won't read in the papers...

The following is an exerpt from my friend Jobe's email home:

As important as the ANA mission is, the most important thing I will be working on here is something that fell into my lap almost as if it were fate. So, at the end of this email I’m going to ask everyone for a favor. One of my collateral duties here is to run the self help program for the ANA. Two days ago I found out that my foreman, Rahim, has a one and a half year old boy named Hibrahim, who was born with a congenial heart condition that is eerily similar to what my own son had. Of course, Jobe got his surgery when he was only eight days old, and today his cardiologist believes he may not need another surgery ever. Hibrahim is about a year and a half (Afghans don’t normally keep track of exact birthdays) and didn’t even have his condition diagnosed until this past February. When I saw Rahim after I found out about his son, I knew that I couldn’t live with myself, seeing him, talking to him, working with him, and getting to know him every day for a year, if I wasn’t doing everything in my power to help him. So, as a start, I wrote a short summary of Rahim and Hibrahim’s situation (attached) and I plan on sending it to every humanitarian aid program, charity group, and pediatric cardiologist I can find. The favor I ask of you, because I won’t be able to find every possible lead on my own, is just to send it on to anyone you know that might have a contact or an even just an idea. The more people that see it, the better chances we have of finding someone who knows how to help. I’m not trying to start one of those chain letters, I’m just including this because there are programs out there, doctors without borders type stuff, and with some luck, one of you might have an inside contact that is able to get Hibrahim on a list for such a mission.
Thanks everyone, and don’t feel bad if you don’t know anyone. I don’t really know anyone either so I’m just going to shotgun it all over the place until I get some good leads.

Take care!
-Jobe

-ATTACHMENT-

Abdul Rahim Amiri lives with his family in Mazir-e Sharif, Afghanistan, where for the past five years, he has worked as a carpenter on the Afghan National Army (ANA) installation Camp Shaheen, and directly for US forces for the last three. Rahim is a delightful, hard working man, and a loving father of two. Unfortunately, the youngest of Rahim’s children, a boy of about 17 months named Mohammad Hibrahim, was born with congenial heart disease. Soon after birth, he became cyanotic and, for many months, local doctors were unable to properly diagnose the problem. Rahim and his wife constantly monitor Hibrahim while he sleeps because he often turns completely blue and must be rushed to the local clinic. In February (2007), a group of US Navy service members, who are forward deployed at Camp Shaheen, gave Rahim money to take his son to the French Medical Institute for Children in Kabul, in search of diagnosis and treatment. There, doctors diagnosed Hibrahim with atrial septal defect (ASD) and transposition of the great vessels. Although Hibrahim’s condition is correctable, Rahim was told that no surgeon in Afghanistan is capable of the procedure, and he was encouraged to stop spending his money because, without surgery, Hibrahim’s condition is terminal.

We are exploring every conceivable course of action in our efforts to help Rahim save his son. We ask that anyone having any ideas, recommendations, or who might wish to help in any way, please contact LT Jobe Galli at savehibrahim@earthlink.net.


I will add another exerpt tomorrow, or as soon as I can. I hope this finds you all well.
Michael