Volunteer Medics Worldwide is a private not for profit group of medical professionals , pilots,, teachers and other logistical personnel. Founded by Mr. Gerald Scott Flint in Kuwait , City during the 1991 Kuwaiti Gulf War. Since that time the teams have covered the globe performing humanitarian aide missions following war and other natural disasters. Afghanistan February and March of 2008 would be so much the same but so much different in many ways. Christopher Hamel and Gerald Scott Flint would lead a multinational team into Kabul and Bagrami for the purpose of treating eye disease , prevention of blindness and other common injuries and illness in the area. Just the entry to Afghanistan alone via Pakistan is something only few Western souls have done and lived to tell about it. The fact is that for all the talk , we had a much safer and better time of things in Pakistan before entering Afghanistan. Our first night there would prove to be one the most trying nights on our bodies and minds. We arrived via KAM AIR at Kabul International Airport and were greeted by the chief of immigration police. He thanked and praised us for be so brave and caring to come to his country and bring medicine and assistance. After doing a few short exams right there in the airport , we were told that the chief was sending a special car for us to take us to Hotel Mustafa on chicken street , downtown Kabul. After packing the vehicle and sorting out security we were off for what is supposed to be a 5.00 USD and 10 minute ride to Mustafa. As we have seen many combat zones before , we knew better than to take anyone's word for anything when there was money involved. This time was no different in that regard and our driver lived up to my opinion of the lot of the world's taxi drivers , BUMS!! The chief had arranged a car alright and man did he put us in the hands of one of Afghanistan's smoothest operators. The streets were dark, dusty and full of people walking , running and driving very old and broken vehicles. We were thankful at least for a vehicle that would not break down in the middle of that mess and would make it to the Green Zone and Mustafa. There really is not a green zone but some of us call it that in any case taking it from Iraq. All of Afghanistan is extremely dangerous and there are very few safe areas in the country. After about a 10 min verbal battle with the taxi driver we paid nearly 40.00 USD or about 8 times what it should have been. I saw no need to press on with it and cause more trouble in an already troubled spot. The evening had fallen and the temperature would be falling to about 10 below tonight in the area. We were told that someone else had taken out rooms and so special management of the situation would be needed to sort us out. We were taken to an inner core part of the complex and told that an unheated bare bones type of room would be the best that they could do for that night. All would be well the following morning , he said and thank you coming to help my people. Chris and I both would share that room that night bound up in our special blizzard buster combat flight uniforms made just for the type of weather and conditions that we have seen in Nepal and The Everest Base in the past. With a full layer of clothing on underneath and three yak skin blankets we would probably survive the night there and live to talk about it in the morning. We spoke a bit but if hurt to inhale the arctic cold air so we did our best to drift off to sleep with the prayer that God would bring us through the night. Being in a place where so many would love to kill you because of your skin color was nothing new as we had done many past missions in War Torn African countries but to be freezing in room full of very expensive wooded furniture whilst getting started was certainly another matter all together. It is usually the heat and the sweeting that we have to deal with whilst keeping away from the bandits and bad guys during our medical missions. Next AM were awoke very early and as we always do ,check our gear and ourselves to be sure that we are still intact after the passing of the night in a combat ridden environment such as Afghanistan. I remember not wanting to move out of the bed as the room had become a giant freezer overnight without any heat. The only place on earth where we have seen colder was Lukla, Nepal and The Mount Everest Base. We began to move and focus on the mission at hand going over contacts . maps and plans. Breakfast was tea and bread with jam which is almost always the case in Afghanistan. After avoiding all the known bad guys in the building we made contact with our partner from an International NGO , Concern for Afghanistan. We quickly began to sort out details and make plans for clinics and movements in the Northern most areas of the region. We would also of course be doing a two day clinic right there in the Hotel Mustafa to care for those locals who also had great needs. This would also speak loudly for our humanitarian intentions for the afghan people. If the ones where you are living amongst don't get cared for then you have not done your job! Most of the time they let you know that and this would be no different in that regard! When needy eyes see aide, food and medicine going past them to another area hearts can be turned in the wrong direction. It was God and only God who allows us to walk through and do his work in such dangerous and violent places. It is to him that we owe our praise and thanks. On the second day we made it out into the street call "Chicken Street" just in front of Mustafa and laid eyes on many of the people that we came to help. It was clear that many did not trust us and I could feel the hostility in the air. Chris and I decided to do a walkabout and check our area for all that it could offer. We also badly needed clean drinking water and that is always an issues in places such as this. One has to be so particular about what he or she puts into the body. The streets are full of people selling things but that does not mean that any of it is good for you. After finding water and a few other items that we needed we began to focus on travel to out lying areas to do our clinics. The coming days would see us in many local villages caring for almost every type of disease known to man. Most of the doctors, nurses and medics don't have the same level of training that one would expect to find in more developed nations. One particular clinic that we worked from in the village of Bagrami , had several doctors , but no meds, no clean water and we notice several sick Afghanis walking about who had not been cared for. The head doctor seemed more interested in getting the walls painted instead of getting trained staff and fresh medications to do his job. Well, after hours of talking and some foot stomping we began to make headway there in Bagrami. We treated many locals that first day and made a plan to fix the well for much needed fresh water. The water was tested and found to contain E-Coli which all of us know is very bad news. While we did not solve all the issues at Bagrami , we left there having made a significant impact by showing them that someone on the outside cared about them and was making an effort to make a difference in their lives. Several days later would see us making our way our to a camp solely for refugees of the wars. This area we will not name as we don't want to draw attention to it. Knowing that not all who read this have the same care and concern for the camp's inhabitants we choose too just call it "K". Camp K is in an area without any paved roads , sewage , electricity or other modern elements. There scores of tents, mudbrick homes and other make shift shelters. These people have fled areas all over Afghanistan where violence had left some or most of their friends and family dead or wounded. Our first stop out there in the wilderness would attract several local children who were ages 5 to Fifteen. They simply notice the Westerners and knew that we probably had things that they or their elders needed. Pain , fear, Joy, mistrust , neediness and hunger were in the faces of all of the first group of children that we met. Their faces red and battered by the sun and cold winter's wind they looked to us for something and some kind of help to ease the pain of living there splashed up against desert mountains where little if anything thrives! We did quick exams and passed out nourishments knowing that our time was short and we had to keep moving for security reasons. I remember seeing the eyes of one 7 year old boy as he place a Life Savers mint into his mouth for the first time. His shoulders when back and and he just sort of relaxed for a moment savoring the taste of something that he had never had before in his young life. No, we did not come there just to give bonbons or candy but we often give a little sweet to children who have been so traumatized so they may have one day to remember that was different in a good way from all the others. We treated early and severe eye disease such as Trachoma and other bacterial conjunctivitis which many times leads to blindness in this type of an environment. When a person goes blind here there are not scores of people rushing in to help and assist. They are most often cast out as no longer important and had to fend for themselves against the harsh world they dwell in. Blindness is a leading cause of early death in Afghanistan and Asia. If you can see what is coming at you and you can not really do anything for the common collective good then you are in real trouble here! On one of our return trips to Kabul from the wilderness we were passing through one of the many military or militia roadblocks. Many times the medical makings on our vehicles and our ID cards are enough to pass through to the next checkpoint but on this day we would meet with a situation requiring prayer , strength and skill. They poorly uniformed but well armed men wanted all they could get from our team and also demanded that we give up our passports. That is rather a high price to pay just to pass back into Kabul and the Lion's Den that aways awaits us there. After much talk and negotiation weapons were lowered , eyes drops, sunglasses and chewing gum passed out and we moved on heading for Kabul. The most important of all those gifts was the my last pair of sunglasses. They would not only help the armed militia look cool and intimidating but they would protect this eyes from harmful UV light that causes a number of eye diseases. We won that little battle but there would be many ,many more in the days to come as we carried our our Afghanistan programs. Our clinics back in kabul and Hotel Mustafa would see hundreds of former enemies come together for treatment of all nature of medical problem. I , myself would become very ill with and had to fight to stand up during our clinics. The high fevers and productive cough left me severely dehydrated and in a bad way for several days. Thanking God for grace and massive doses of Ciprofloxin we were able to carry on and continue to treat those that were so badly in need. One one of our last mornings at Mustafa , I was just finishing tea, jam and bread when I heard heavy helicopter traffic overhead of our position. I quickly told our team to don their Volunteer Medics Blue jackets and head for the roof of the building. I grabbed my hand aviation radio and up we went. Once one the roof we could see the clouds of black smoke where two or three positions to the south of us had been freshly bombed or rocketed. Being a pilot myself , I wanted the forces in the air to see that we were friendly forces on the deck and not to strike our position. I was desperately trying to turn in the frequency on my radio and speak directly to the gunships now of which there were four flying attack patterns over our position. My radio had been damaged and the digital display would not function properly. I would have to rely on the scan mode which would have picked up the conversation between command and to air and air to air forces above us. I was sweeting and praying!! All of this before one's first cup of tea in the morning,,,imagine!! A Nato helicopter let go of her of rockets on a position about about 3 ks from us to the south and we could see two CH 46 units flying toward that position probably loaded with boots for the ground to finish the job that the rockets had started. The situation was growing more intense by the moment and I prayed for radio contact with the boys in the air. Soon it would come and we were told we were good to go for now but that we should find a new address and very soon. "Hey , Doc thanks and be cool" were the last words that I would hear form the voices on high. Our last night in Kabul on this particular mission was a tense but tasty one. One of the grillers across from Mustafa had fresh mutton and we had fresh bread as well to go with it. It was really the first time that I had felt like eating meat for days due to my illness. My fevers were abating and I could begin to see and walk better as well. There was no electrical power that night in our section of kabul and we had to focus on completing the treatment and traing of locals with the aid of flashlights and candles only. We worked until 02:00 , slept until 04:30 then lead the convoy to the Airport for a flight to Delhi, India. Just managing to get through the scores of locals and phoney police who were trying to get the last cash from us as we left was enough to make any normal person give up this work and hide in the mountains or on a secluded beach for the rest of their days. We certainly are not normal because we have a big and Living God on our side. It would take no less than five complete security checks of every person and every single article going on the flight before the KAM AIR Boeing 727 would lift off for Delhi some four hours delayed. And so that mission went into the history books and we all left there in one piece having done all that we could for as many as we could. Training several locals and leaving medications and tools behind for them to work with is one of Volunteer Medics Worldwide's pledges to any of the people we attempt to assist. Certainly , as Afghanistan struggles to regain her place in the world we made a difference in the daily routine of some who can never just get on a plane and leave for a less hostile place. To God be all the praise and glory! For more information and photos of the mission you may contact us at ,director@volunteermedics.org or volmedics@aol.com our address is , Volunteer Medics Worldwide, P.O. Box 727 , Brazil, Indiana USA 47834 . Our web site is www.volunteermedics.org Many of our mission videos can be seen online at youtube.com. Simply search "Volunteer Medics " and you will find our movies and videos. We are currently looking for help from bloggers to help us write our mission stories for the publication to the web and paper sources. This story was written by , Gerald Scott Flint , Founder and Director of Volunteer Medics Worldwide NGO/PVO