Sitting in my garden at 9.00am on Friday before going to our weekly meeting, (Friday being our Sunday here), I have just noticed that the outside thermometer clock, old but donated by a neighbour who was leaving, says 82°F (30°C) already. I am enjoying my toast, a new experience due to another leaving donation of a toaster, apricot jam from our own apricot harvest and coffee, keeping in the shade. It’s not all stress here!
I was looking in my mirror, yep! Another donation, last week and I realised that the lack of good hairdressers in Kabul was really taking its toll!
Those we meet with regularly include an Uzbek lady who runs a school for deaf Afghan girls and teaches them hairdressing, manicure, pedicure and facial massage.
I, and a couple of raggedy-looking friends recently arrived from the provinces, decided to give this a try.
Luckily our taxi driver knew the location since it was on the other side of the city, through numerous twists and turns and at least one security checkpoint.
We discovered that deaf and partially-hearing girls are trained here and the hair cutting is overseen by the two foreign professionals.
They are taught not only the practical but also teamwork and customer care.
I was enjoying a pedicure (such decadence) and sitting sleepily looking out of the half open window noticing the birdsong and a baby crying in a nearby garden.
It occurred to me that the girl attending to my feet was totally oblivious of all of this. She smiled and indicated questions to me by gesticulation but I realised how isolating was her disability.
In this country a disability such as deafness, blindness, mental and even some physical congenital problems mean no education whatsoever.
This area of work may, on the surface, look trivial; an unnecessary luxury. However, to see these girls communicating with one another having learnt sign language and watching those who are hearing being their friends makes one understand what a huge change this school has made to their lives. They have confidence with their peers and with Afghan and foreign customers.
Whether the vision of those who manage the school, that the girls may become proficient enough to run their own businesses, will ever come to fruition, who knows? I hope that it will and, indeed, one of my newly coiffed friends runs courses in business development and is going to try to help in this area.