Getting out of the office

Yesterday I spent the morning at a school in Kabul recording audio for a special set of programs celebrating Eid (the religious festival that comes after Ramadan). It was SO good to be out of the office, sometimes just driving to work, spending the day in an office, driving home...my job can feel like just another desk job and it is so easy to forget why I am here (or even that I am in Kabul at all). But today as I was walking around the school and talking to girls about their favourite classes and their hopes for the future (so many wanted to be doctors) I suddenly thought wow, I'm in a school in Kabul talking to girls and I get to do this as part of my job! And more than that I get to have the realisation first hand that yes there is a lot of negetive things happening here but there are also girls like these girls who come to school every day and learn and laugh and dream of being doctors or teachers or business women. And I know that 6 years ago this wouldn't have been possible and I only hope that in another 6 years this will be the norm across Afghanistan.