Where to start? After spending a month doing wavz research in coastal North Carolina, learning some new Telemed gear,
https://picasaweb.google.com/reachback/TelemedBootCampFeb2011

decided to move my Jbad trip up - so I could cross paths with the full synergy team @ Taj. It was a wise decision.

To view a sample of my pix, and some i snagged from dave... go here
https://picasaweb.google.com/reachback/MarchMadnessTaj2011#

Along with our usual transit guests, we had the full synergy strike force for the first time together at Taj ! -- it really was amazing how so many projects were ongoing, and we seemed to be in synch with most communications.

Ill defer to someone on the SMS team to explain what is going on with Ushahidi, and community engagement.

Expanded the Hub_Taj node, to include a terrestrial connection, via Roshan to compliment our Nashita VSAT shooting W7, and of course our Bentley Walker/ Hughes modem shooting IS10 back up connection.

Trev, The SSF CIO/SysAdmin somehow pulled it all together, and is in the process of relocating the COMMs room from my room on the Babadeck to a dedicated OFFICE in Room 15, next to the bunker. now designated as the Comms Cave!

Womens Projects, Jenn, Rache n Lou have ongoing women empowerment programs rockin, and the SAFA sponsored womens day was held 2 days early due to security concerns, or a scheduling issue. We missed attending and Ill elaborate on that later.







Security Situation. The Bank of Kabul attack on February 19th seemed to have shaken up the locals as much as the usual suspects in the .mil quarters. A friend, who was the ANP chief of Counter Terrorism was killed in a targeted attack on march 7th. This man was hard and tough, and the bad guys hitting him was a major blow.

I'm no security expert, but it appears the insurgents are decapitating the cops, and selected targets, not just in Jalalbad, but country wide -- which leads me to believe, the next targets will be soft targets, like hospitals and schools.
(Note: 1 week after writing the above, the Rotary School outside Jbad was hit, and the Principle was killed, and the kids are terrorized)

General house maintenance issues, and flow management took most my time, as we try to bring Taj up to the standards we once had. Simple things like working toilets, hot electrical outlets, and sorting out our generator priorities and a power management plan. On a happy note, we are NOW ON THE GRID. We seem to get 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon, and for the first time, in the evening, we had no Gennies running. It was strange not to hear the roar of the generators in the evening. Inseh'Allah - when the Duranta dam project is complete, we will get even more Power, and thus, be able to save on the Fuel costs which are killing our bottom line right now.

Alternative Energy solutions: Thanks to a generous equipment donation from the MEDWEB folks, we have a crap load of solar gear now at taj, and more being delivered this week. Im not sure what the long term objective is, I think we will put one installation at one of the hospitals, and maybe a pod at taj for backup cover.

Footbridge to Village Sak: Its been 3 years since we did our first site survey to put a footbridge from our side of the Kabul River, over to Village Sak. The project has seemed to be perpetually DIW (Dead in the Water - no pun intended), as we go through various partners, and dealing with local politics to get the darn bridge built, but thanks to the ROTARY folks, there seems to be movement again. The Village elders have most likely lost faith in us to complete this, but I'm committed to seeing that thing built if its possible. Its an honor thing, be your word, and keep your word, even if you cant be precise on the time-table. The TWO wells the Synergy Strike Force have put in appear to still be working, and useful to the people.

ref:

Current BLOGs of Taj Synergists:

Peretz and Lou
http://www.jalalagood.com/

Miss Jenn
http://fallbreak2010jalalabad.blogspot.com/

Miss Rache
http://rachelinarobb.blogspot.com/

Mr. Juan
http://meetjalalabad.blogspot.com/