From Adam Brett in Afghanistan, December

Part 1: Raisin farmer meeting. Fantastic, usual mayhem of farmers arguing, talking, mobile phones ringing, with the added Afghan variation of the door opening and harsh gusts of freezing air tearing through the building ... Incredibly annoyed, my camera battery died en-route. But I got a decent number of photos from Mercy Corps (NGO we are working with) camera, though it is not as nice. Really annoyed, as I could have had film of the farmers meeting, which would have been the icing on the cake of a decent short film. On the plus side MC are taking extensive film of the project ... and will circulate to us.

Overall meeting was a real success. Farmers are fantastic and will be good to work with. Impact of trade will be vast too.

Part 2: Visit to USA Embassy and USAID compound with Mercy Corps... wow. Multiple security checks, metal detection. Deposit all personal items (note book and pen were allowed through) ... and that was only to get into the USAID side. Then inside, the most surreal place I have even visited, like something straight out of a mad sci fi movie. Rows and rows of "hardened" bunker offices (basically oversized sea-containers covered in sandbags) joined together by enclosed, windowless walkways. Once you enter by a door (more security) you walk through a grid-like maze of identikit spaces, carpet below your feet, cubicle offices on the left and small meeting rooms on the right. The woman we were meeting has a cubicle 2 m x 2 m. There are literally hundreds of these cubicles running in every direction, with no distinguishing features. The woman (who has been working there for 9 months) still regularly gets lost. No windows. After visiting her cubicle to get some stuff we moved to the diner complete with Gatorade and Iced Tea ...