GUEST OPINION: Local doctor shares views from Kabul

As a Santa Rosa family practice resident physician currently working in Afghanistan, I feel it is worthwhile to share a few observations.

For two separate months during our three-year residency we are able to work abroad. Residents travel to destinations all over the world, from Malawi to Thailand to Peru, working on various health projects, serving and learning. Then we bring our experiences back to Sonoma County to better provide for our community.

A few years ago one, of our residents worked with a hospital in Kabul, helping to train Afghan family doctors in a residency program similar to ours in Santa Rosa. Inspired by her example, I signed up, hoping to make a difference for a country greatly in need of better health. (Life expectancy in Afghanistan is 45 years compared to 78 in the United States.)

Despite some pre-trip nervousness, I have been warmly received here. The Afghans I work with are open and friendly, graciously making me feel at home. They strive toward a more stable and prosperous future. Alongside them, I serve the Kabul population, which lacks most health services. Everyone here is tired of the 30 years of war engulfing and decimating Afghanistan, which just a few decades ago was a beacon for global tourism with its amazing cultural diversity and natural beauty.

Just like our United States, Afghanistan has a strong history of hard-won independence. I’m disappointed to report that most people here view the current American presence as largely a military occupation, a continuation of this struggle for independence.

After eight years of American involvement, Afghans don’t feel that we share their goal of a stable, independent Afghanistan. Not helping is that the majority of the thousands of Americans here are locked in heavily fortified compounds and speed around in armored vehicles with sunglasses and large guns, forcing the local population to steer clear. It makes me wonder how I would feel about such a presence on Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa, not stopping for red lights and pointing weapons at people who happen to cross their path.

The American soldiers serve proudly and with dignity, and the people very much appreciate the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, for that was an especially dark time in Afghan history. But the lack of meaningful civilian contact is dramatically undermining people’s belief that Americans are here for anything but conquest.

The recent presidential elections is a good example of why people are upset. When President Hamid Karzai made the announcement concerning a now-canceled second round of voting, he stood alongside a U.S. senator and a large American flag. These images are especially painful for a struggling country trying to take pride in its hard-fought independence.

It makes me consider how I would feel if during our disputed 2000 U.S. presidential election, a foreign politician and flag were accompanying the decisive U.S. Supreme Court announcement. I have no doubt that American politicians mean well, but elections here are currently viewed as a show put on for foreigners.

Just as a minority participated in the initial August election, very few Afghans I talked to were going to participate in the second round, even before Abdullah Abdullah decided not to run against Karzai. They felt that their government would be run by the same corrupt and dysfunctional warlords who destroyed Afghanistan during the last three decades.

Just as we do in Sonoma County, Afghans continue to go about their daily lives the best they can — working, laughing, learning, crying and hoping — trying to create a decent life for their families. After the destruction sowed upon this beautiful land during the Cold War, Afghanistan needs the help of the global community to rebuild its basic infrastructure, health services and education. My experiences have taught me we can learn a lot about how to effectively help Afghanistan by considering what it would be like in the shoes of the struggling people here in Kabul.

Dr. Joseph Eichenseher is a third-year resident in the Santa Rosa family medicine residency program. He is currently working in Kabul.