The first 2 letters arrive!

The first 2 letters from Belinda arrived. Just as we had thought, they take about a month to arrive. These letters are from her first days there... I am para-phrasing snippets of her experiences from her own words. Anything too graphic or that could compromise has been edited out for publishing on the web.

The first letter:

"So here I am in Afghanistan. There is so much to say, but so little we can say by phone...
We have had next to no sleep, but I'm getting more used to the country now. I was so tired and hot , I couldn't eat.
I have heard more gunfire and explosions then I ever wanted to. It is different when you know it is real. The drive out here was the scariest thing, there is something about knowing there is bombs everywhere.
It is such a different country though, I can't believe I get to see it in person. The country is beautiful, even the desert regions. The sky goes forever...the sunsets and sunrises are AMAZING. Sooo pretty I can't even put it into words. There is so much rubble though. Shot down, ripped apart airplanes, blown-up vehicles and buildings, garbage, dead animals. The streets were so crowded. I only saw 5 women huddled in a corner and they didn't look up from the ground when we passed.
Kids everywhere! The majority of them wave at you and give you a thumbs up, a few boys will wait till you pass and then flip you the finger, little buggers...ha ha.

It was surreal arriving at *******. A compound *** m by *** m . A canvas tent but we are building a sandbag wall around it. We have to poop in a bag then burn it in the fire pit. There is a bag we can fill with water and use to shower, but it doesn't work well, so we use baby wipes.
The Afghan Police seem pretty good. The commander shook my hand. They all stare at me while I work but won't make eye contact with me otherwise. They haven't been paid in 2 months. I have got to hand it to them, they are still doing the job with no pay, one got shot in the leg a month ago and is still here working.

Our interpreter is so funny. He lives with us. He let me see a picture of his wife but wouldn`t let the other guys see it. `Not for men!`He says, ha ha. He is from ****** but came without his family. He wants to immigrate to Canada one day. He wanted to go to Quebec but when we told him he would have to learn french, he decided he might want to go to Toronto instead. He is so excited he knows one person in Canada, he shows me their number in his little book. He is a sweet guy, always praying and studying so he can come to Canada.

The locals seem good. They will tell us if they are working in their fields at odd hours so we are not surprised.

It breaks my heart to see the kids playing in this. The main road is littered with IEDs and mines. ** kms are safe because we clear it daily. Local kids play all over the road, heard their sheep etc. I am always praying the kids don`t get hurt. I am getting to know their faces and often then same kids come everyday asking for stuff.

The conditions aside, the kids are like kids in Canada. I was watching them through binoculars and saw 2 kids steal a bike, then some old man came and chased them away, ha ha. It is crazy watching the kids here, they work so hard, all the afghans do. From 4 AM to 6-7 PM or later. The you see them doing irrigation at 2-3:30 AM. You see the kids play, but it is around their work doing farming and irrigation.

The desert looks typical to what you would see on TV, sand dunes and camels. A sandy oasis.
I will end this here and write more later ..."

Letter Number 2 -snipped

"A beautiful day in Afghanistan, ha ha. I am sitting in the sun right now ( yes , with sunscreen) working on my tan, ha ha.It is weird not being able to talk to you whenever I want or for as long as I want.

Our interpreter is fascinated watching me write with my left hand and the way I hold my pen. "Too too hard but beautiful, sir!" He calls all of us "sir", not sure why! He is sweet, the last 2 guys that were here before us, he bought them cigarettes with his own money. That's big considering he only owns one outfit.

There is always explosions and gunfire. We are constantly on edge, it gets very tiresome.
Gotta go on shift, I will write more later!"

And then :

"What a long sh*tty night that was. I don't even know where to start! Things are always broken or in bad shape. To top it off, the generator broke. Usually you don't need heat here but the past 2 nights it was -10, cold when you are sleeping in a tent!

I don't remember what it is like to have 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep... There was an 'incident' a few kms of here. You could hear machine guns and rockets, and see lots of smoke. No Canadians hurt.

In a way, you get used to the sounds of war, you expect to hear it. Anyways, it is almost my shift again, time to get lunch. Talk to you later!"

And then:

" This pen sucks! ( Ink keeps stopping)They are on their way to pick up our letters and re-supply us, so this last note is going to be rushed. Things are going better today. My shift was sooo long last night but I am done now. I have 2 shifts daily in the *****, then maintenance, then *******, and whatever else comes up. Sometimes it gets very busy...

PS: our generator was fixed today so now we have power and heat again! :)"


It took the letters a month to get here, but they were a joy to receive this week. Thanks to all who continue to drop by and keep touch with Belinda this way, it means alot.
Till next time,
Julie