Day 288: My House in Shouz

I've been spending the last few days near a small village called Shouz (rhymes with house if you are wondering how to pronounce it). We are in the midst of yet another ANP medical inprocessing event. It actually has been a very nice event--for a number of different reasons. First, it has given me the opportunity to escape Camp Stone for a few days. Second, I have had my own private room, wireless internet, and lots of quiet. Third, I don't get any work email access down here and my cell phone doesn't work...meaning no one back at Stone or in Kabul can get a hold of me and ask me to do any busy work for them. Fourth, I am able to work with some good Afghan doctors and meet some interesting students. Fifth, I am able to play an occasional game of combat basketball.

The students we are inprocessing now are actually not from our region. Instead they are from the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand. These are pretty dangerous areas (lots of Taliban) and it has been interesting, and sobering, to hear of some of their experiences. The recruits have told me stories of friends and family members who have been tortured, burned, and even killed. I can't count how many of these guys have showed me scars from when they were shot or hit by shrapnel. It is sad to think that for every one of these students I am interacting with today, there are undoubtedly many who didn't survive their run in with the enemy. These are very simple people. Most are uneducated. Most are poor and have no worldly possessions. Many are addicted to drugs. Hopefully this training and their subsequent police careers will provide them new opportunities to learn and progress. Hopefully their lives will be better because of it.

I also am seeing an occasional interesting patient...like the one pictured below with a large axillary (armpit) mass. These are the kinds of things you just don't see every day in the States.