A snow covered Kiwi Base, Afghanistan.
By Padre Ants Hawes in Afghanistan
4 February 2008
Hello from Afghanistan, where the weather has been cold but life continues to be interesting.
When I say cold, I really mean very cold! We got down to a chilly minus 26 degrees here and it was even colder out at one of the Forward Operating Bases where one of the patrols is based. The weather has got a little warmer in the last week or so and we are busy kidding ourselves that winter is now over.
The locals here have just celebrated a fairly interesting Muslim Festival called Murharram. Murharram occurs over an eight day period and is the celebration of a battle fought by Mohammad’s grandson in an attempt to carry on the family line as the leaders of the Muslim faith. For those eight days many of the local people stop work where they can and attend their Mosques, where the Mullahs preach about various things.
I was privileged enough to sit in on a meeting where some of the local Mullahs were planning what they were going to cover over those eight days. I was really impressed with their desire to talk to the people about things such as education, fair play for all and living good lives. It seems to be a very popular festival with the locals, and the Locally Employed Civilian’s who work here and who I teach several times a week certainly buzzing when they came back to work.
It is almost Waitangi day. We have been wanting to do something “Kiwi” to celebrate, but the ground is too hard and cold to put a Hangi down and it's too cold to cook a BBQ outside. So, we are having a Hawaiian night for our evening dinner with a quiz to follow. Perhaps the questions will all be about New Zealand?
Finally, by the time you read this, it will be one side of Valentines Day or the other. Did you do something for your special “friend”? Even if you missed the big day, you can still send a special message letting your friend know that they are on your mind.
Ends