No news? Nothing shocking? That’s right, the last 3 months at the Garden of Flowers have been quiet, normal, positive, stable. What more could we want in a place like Kabul? Days with ice cream from the ice cream man, and planting flowers, and welcoming new students to GoF in place of those who graduated to go to first grade at the local school.
But then, in June the well ran dry. Literally. No more water. This is an enormous problem across Kabul, and now it has hit us. For some days, Nik Mohammad and Hedayat brought buckets of water from a nearby tap, but this is not sustainable. The staff must close up this location, and for the fourth time, start again.
Last week they held a final party with the children, explaining the situation, and giving them small gifts before saying goodbye. The next day the staff began packing everything up in preparation for a move. As of this writing, June 16, the staff is spending its days house-hunting in Kabul…not fun or easy. But by now they are experts. And soon, a new Garden of Flowers will be emerging somewhere else, for more children in Kabul.
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- The ice cream man cometh!
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- Getting ice cream
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- Enjoying ice cream
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- A butterfly’s life – lesson
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- Pretending to be a butterfly
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- Learning from the master gardener
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- The true Garden of Flowers