Blogs

Dear President Obama, welcome to Mumbai: 150 150 Comfort Aid International

Dear President Obama, welcome to Mumbai:

Dear Mr. President: Wow, you are coming to Mumbai today! Welcome, Sirjee, most welcome. You know what; I was so thrilled when you won the elections. Man, I never in my wildest dreams ever imagined a Black American with a Muslim sounding name preside over the most powerful country in the world. I know, I…

Afghanistan x 17 – I (still) despair. 150 150 Comfort Aid International

Afghanistan x 17 – I (still) despair.

This is my 17th trip to Afghanistan in 5 years. Much has changed (for the better) in Kabul but so much has remained the same or regressed in remote areas. The airport is brand new, paid for by the Japanese but the attitudes of personnel remain ancient as perhaps the city itself. All 5 immigration…

Pakistan drowns – A personal experience. 150 150 Comfort Aid International

Pakistan drowns – A personal experience.

Emirates flight from Dubai to Islamabad is uneventful but delayed, typical Emirates style; the pilot wakes up 15 minutes after scheduled departure, tells us how sorry he is and blames late arrival of this aircraft for the delay. As if I care; you are late, period, I don’t care an ant’s ass why; save me…

Leh, India – The skies rained misery. Part Two. 150 150 Comfort Aid International

Leh, India – The skies rained misery. Part Two.

Part Two. Death, decay and despair. The district of Ladakh in Indian Kashmir is beautiful, simply beautiful. Kargil and Leh comprise Ladekh with a combined population of about 300,000 people spread over a very large mountainous area. The religious (mostly harmonious) divide is 52% (mostly Shiite) Muslims, 45% Buddhist and 3% others. Very much like…

Leh, India – The skies rained misery. Part One. 150 150 Comfort Aid International

Leh, India – The skies rained misery. Part One.

Part One. Perhaps this is why Pakistan is in such a mess…? Reports are pouring in about death, maim, unimaginable anguish and heartbreak for peoples of Pakistan and Leh, going through devastating flooding and mud slides that have cost so many lives and destroyed so much. Even though it is Ramadhan, I cannot sit still;…

Ye hai mera (H)India…. 150 150 Comfort Aid International

Ye hai mera (H)India….

Sirsi UP, India, site of CAI sponsored school and orphanage: Just as I decide to leave the relative comfort of the orphanage, it begins to pour. The school bus has no air-condition, so the windows must stay down or I risk being suffocated in the heat and humidity that is all powering this midday early…

A visit to Malaad slums… 150 150 Comfort Aid International

A visit to Malaad slums…

It is pouring outside, has been for at least a week; non ceasing rain, at times so heavy, it alarms me. I have not seen the sun in this time; the skies are sullen, dark heavy clouds pregnant with moister that open up every few minutes. Aliakberbhai Ratansi calls to say he will pick me…

Mumbai monsoons 150 150 Comfort Aid International

Mumbai monsoons

I am in Mumbai and this is my 3rd monsoon here; a phenomenon marvel to be experienced that can be quite adventurous if caught in one of the many nasty downpours. It is also quite unique, unlike other places I have lived around the world, for it can rain nonstop for days. Not the steady…

A journey to Waaweila – Final 150 150 Comfort Aid International

A journey to Waaweila – Final

Joyful marriages; grinding poverty; going home. The drive up to Belkaab begins benignly enough; except for the heat and dust, there is not much happening. We pass Sar Pol and pay respects at the grave of Yahya bin Zain, grandson of Imam Sajjad (A); history tells us he was beheaded after a fierce fight here…

A journey to Waaweilah – Part three 150 150 Comfort Aid International

A journey to Waaweilah – Part three

Shafeeqa’s tears of blood. The greeting party at Imam Sajjad (A) Clinic troop out to meet us; Aagha Amini, the local community religious leader, Dr. Islam Yaar, nurse Mohammed Amin, pharmacist Mohammed Rafiq cleaner Zaman plus Basheer and a businessman, Hussein Pur, who has volunteered to accompany and help Basheer as I have missed my…

A journey to Waaweilah – Part two 320 240 Comfort Aid International

A journey to Waaweilah – Part two

Bladder control, an agony. Stalled car. Weeping windscreen. Road to Bamiyaan Rain, rain Mud, mud For a change, there is a line with only about 10 people in front of me waiting for their turn at the immigration counter at Kabul airport. My turn, I step up and hand my passport open to the page…

A journey to Waaweilah – Part one 150 150 Comfort Aid International

A journey to Waaweilah – Part one

Part 1 – Indian Airlines, outstanding incompetence. When I land in New Delhi from Mumbai, it is as if the pilot must have made a mistake and landed at Kuwait or Dubai airport instead. But no, this is Delhi all right, no artificial glitter or shiny marble floors where you can almost see your jetlagged…

My tears of blood – Shafiqa Ahmed Hussein 320 180 Comfort Aid International

My tears of blood – Shafiqa Ahmed Hussein

Sacheck village. Shafiqa’s destroyed home. Shafiqa’s destroyed home. Shafiqa Shafiqa This is the story of Shafiqa Ahmed Hussein who I meet in the village of Sacheck, Afghanistan at Imam Sajjad (A) Clinic on May 27, 2010. A demure, pretty woman of 22, Shafiqa tells me the following heart wrenching story of her Dad’s massacre by…

The New Ahlebeyti Muslims – A revealing experience. 150 150 Comfort Aid International

The New Ahlebeyti Muslims – A revealing experience.

INDONESIA: The burly Iraqi Faris el Husseini in traditional Arab gown stands out amongst mostly Indonesian crowd at Jakarta International Airport and after introductions, upon knowing I am an East African Khoja, Husseini instantly starts conversing in very acceptable Kiswahili, startling me. Husseini, you see, spent 3 years in Arusha, Tanzania so is quite good…

The day Emirates ruined Helena’s mascara. 150 150 Comfort Aid International

The day Emirates ruined Helena’s mascara.

Emirates flight 725 from Dubai to Dar es Salaam begins with hassles; the aircraft is parked quite a distance away from the main terminal and we have to ride a bus to reach it. Funny no, you never have to do this when traveling to say, Europe or the Americas or somewhere exotic; just one…

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