Meeting with professors

Last week, I took part in a meeting between the leadership of Khost University (yes, there really is one) and representatives from our task force and the local provincial reconstruction team. It was productive in that a partnership with American University has been in the works, thanks to my friend Capt. Moore. This is the group hug I arranged at the meeting's end, on the new deck (!) built onto our Media Operations Center. It was a very welcome break from the routine...

That's Moore, running the show. This partnership actually began with an initiative by my predecessor to lend a hand to their journalism department. I got to be the point man early on in this meeting, so I now I could just sit and try to concentrate while fighting the urge to pass out. It was a little ripe in there, so that helped.

Lunch was amazing as always, when Aziz and his crew do their thing. I should probably schedule more meetings while I'm here, just to make sure we score some more lunches. There were actually so many attendees that we had to use both rooms...it was typical Afghan style, since we were told to expect four and welcomed 14 instead.

Shaking hands with Khost University Chancellor Mohammad Fayaz at the meeting's conclusion. He was very grateful for any assistance they can receive, since they have thousands of students but very few resources. The university actually opened as a refugee college, when many residents of this region lived in Pakistan to escape the Taliban.

One of their department heads checks out some of American U's donated books. If anyone reading this blog is affiliated with a college or university that wants to donate books or resources, please comment and I'll let you know where to send the goods. The success or failure of education in this country will be one of the most crucial determining factors in what kind of future they can expect here (sorry to be preachy, but I mean it).