Meeting up with old friends

This is dear little Basmina, a former street beggar, in a picture I took in December 2008. I had originally written about her on May 14, 2008 ("The Sweet Here and Now"), after she had been hit by a jerk of a driver. Her femur was broken, and worried that her family wasn't there to look after her, I went to the hospital to hold her hand and tell health care workers to be gentler as they grabbed her hands and feet to move her from stretcher to x-ray table and back. I was worried that she wouldn't walk normally again, but after meeting her in December and having her take a few strides before my incredulous eyes, I realized that some Afghan doctors are capable of healing after all. However, I'll revisit this topic later with a grim story that paints a better picture of the reality people face in Afghan hospitals.

I originally met these two munchkins last year in Pul-e Charkhi prison while writing a story about children who live with their mothers in prison. These boys' mother had been jailed for adultery. She has finished her jail term, so the kids and mom are now free, but mom is still seeking a proper divorce so that she can re-marry. The husband-to-be is her nephew: The boy on the right was fathered by her current husband, and the boy on the left, by her nephew.

Lastly, I'd like to revisit my little buddy Edie (the one that looks like a guinea pig, not the guy), whom I found in a pile of trash in December (See "Pup in the dumps"). She was yet a newborn and could barely walk or open her eyes.

And here's Edie four months later, a very sweet and clever girl, during a Friday stroll around Kabul. Most Afghans are scared of dogs and will cross the street to avoid her. They're also baffled as to why anyone would go to the trouble of walking a dog on a leash...
as if we love her.