How was your weekend?

Well dear reader, Yes Jiminy Crippet that appears to be you!!!

First, I will start with an apology, the internet connection here is pretty dire and although I have read the instructions and am now an expert on uploading photos to my blog, the connection here simply sees the piccy, rolls over on its back, puts all four legs in the air and plays dead so I am afraid you wil have to make do with the vivid pictures I paint with my expresive prose!!!

Now, where was I, oh yes, your weekend, you see we work Saturday and Sunday so it is not much of a weekend. However, Saturday was sort of interesting. I got back to the fortress we colloquially call a "guest" house, I turned on the tely and what is on some South African sport channel, the England/India 7th ODI, which India respectfuly threw away with only 2 minutes of the England/Israel footie played allowing us to watch that as well. This was followed by a game from the Rugger World Cup, so a bit of a sporty evening, sitting on my bum. This is something I am getting very used to (the sitting on my bum bit as getting out and about is prety difficult). I am beginning to wonder if my organisation is not a bit too protective, and will start talking to others about geting into some sort of sports.

Talking of TV we got back this evening to find we now have a satellite link with 758 channels. Unfortunately, it seems to be pointing at some Arabic satellite and we have 758 totally incomprehensible channels (sighs all round).

However, if you have read this drivvle all the way to this point I will reward you with a story of derring-do which the lightweights wil miss as they will have switched off after all that boring stuff about TVs.

Yesterday, I went out into the field to look at some potential new mine clearing areas. Of course, I had a cover story, as the acountant I am concerned that we are spending too much on gas for water heating at the demining camps and we have put in a solar panel on trial at one camp to see if we can cut costs (sound familiar!!!) so I was gaining information on the solar panel trial - honest, Guv.

Anyway the crux of the story is, other than travelling around the stark countryside north of Kabul I can hardly call it beautiful. Kabul sits on a wide plain at 1800m between two rows of mountains, which in itself is beautiful, but it is all very bare and barren.

We travelled north up the valley to the nearest demining camp where the de-miners live and work for their work period during the month. It is a tent compound built around an old building that is used as the office. This building is full of holes from the wars. I am waffling again.

We were going round looking at places that had been identified as needing clearance by the local population. One family were rebuilding their house and had replanted their vineyard. The house was on land the Soviets had taken to build a barracks which is now destroyed, but right along the edge of the house, no more than 20yards away is the remains of the wall of the compound with a slope up to it.

The slope has not been touched or cultivated as 3 people have had acidents on this slope since the refugees returned and been blown up by land mines. So no-one goes near, but everyone is afraid their children or animals may stray and that they can't grow anything on this land. So we are looking to make this a priority for the next block of clearance. Thats how clearing landmines makes a real difference to the lives of real people. So on that note, take care, I'll be back.