What we are doing

The foundation (www.turquoisemountain.org) is based in an old fort in the Parwan district. We are renovating what is left of the entire compound to hold our offices, a guest house and some schools for traditional Afghan craftsmanship. Currently we have established a school for carpentry, a school for calligraphy and have apprenticeships in clay and plaster building. A few others are still works in progress. We are using the building renovations as hands-on workshops for the apprentices of all the schools. They are honing their skills here and soon will start working on renovating some architecturally significant buildings in the old part of Kabul. Voila... still to be renovated:

... and after:

Speaking of the fort...
Life at the fort is pretty tranquilo, however we keep very busy. In some ways, I am living 'better' here than I was in Spain, or in San Francisco, for that matter. I have a beautiful room in an historic building, I have a cook and a maid, I have a personal guide and driver for when I leave the fort. The down side is that I can't leave the fort on my own, nor can I leave without a man, and there is no possibility of doing any sport – can't even go for a walk – and we work essentially seven days a week. I know all of this may sound a little 'colonial' with all of the personal services but I assure you it is not, it is simply the way some things must be done here. In addition, we are providing jobs in a safe environment to a lot of people who otherwise wouldn't have jobs (good rationalization??). They take really good care of us, and I would like to think that we take good care of them as well.