Humanity Against All Odds

Great first question and thank you for your responses!  Hopefully our responses were helpful to Queen City Yam and whoever else may have been experiencing the same difficult situation.  Seeing as there are no further questions, I will continue with my experiences here in Afghanistan.

If you remember, I work the night shift and there has been a lot of renovating occurring in my building.  Today, they were actually working in my room.  Their task was to rewire the outlets and replace the lights.  The woman in charge of the project in my building knocked on my door around one o’clock stating they needed to work in the room.  Her accent told me she was German, but I could be wrong.  My roommate had the day off, so she was able to answer the door and make her aware of my presence prior to exiting to continue her day-off activities of lunch and a movie.  I told the lady, they were welcome to work in the room, but that I would remain in bed trying to grasp every ounce of sleep I could muster.  She brought in the translator/electrician who is in charge of the local workers to make him aware of my situation. 

He told her that the task would take longer than the afternoon and they could return in the morning and finish the job by 1100.  In my eyes, this was a perfect idea.  In her eyes, it was unacceptable.  I don’t think she was listening to his suggestion, or perhaps there was a language barrier in play because she started spouting off that there was a chain of command, he was the electrician and that she had no other rooms to offer me.  After this incomprehensible argument, he looked at me, looked at her, looked at the ground, nodded, and left. 

I have to give props to these workers because English was neither of their first languages and both had thick accents.  I am not sure if they have been advised to speak English all the time so everyone knew what they were saying, or if English was the only language they had in common.  The fact that they were able to communicate (somewhat) effectively in a language not of their native tongue was impressive.  I also have to admire the man for ending the argument and not becoming petty that she had not fully understood his intent.

He soon returned with the American foreman and again explained the situation.  The foreman understood what this man was trying to do for me.  So as not to step on the woman’s toes, the foreman suggested they get the receptacles done today and leave the lighting for the next day.  He insinuated that the workers doing the actual work would not be able to work fast enough to get the entire project completed in time to get off post by 6pm as is the rule for local workers. 

I think the translator took this to heart as he gathered his men to begin working in my room.  Amazingly, the workers were as quiet as they could be, assisting me in the task of acquiring as much sleep as possible before starting my shift.  There was little to no communication inside my room, and when talking became necessary, they whispered.  It warmed my heart to experience such humanity in a faraway place where we are considered invaders and women are treated so poorly.  Not only were they quiet enough for me to get back to sleep, but they finished the entire project and there is no need for their return tomorrow morning.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts or perhaps your questions seeking advice.