Once Upon a Time in the Middle East!

Mr. Ameri greeted my parents with his loud voice and distinct accent as he entered our house with his wife and children. Mr. Ameri and his family visited us at least once a week. In addition to being our next door neighbor, their house did not have a phone line, the wire ended at our house and the phone company had yet to extend the line to theirs! So every week, the Ameris would walk over to our home and call their daughter who studied in the state of Oklahoma in the United States. The calls usually took place early morning and since the connection wasn’t very good, Mr. Ameri who already had a loud voice, had to speak even louder to ensure his daughter in America could hear him well. Mr. Ameri, an Arab-speaking Iranian, happened to be the wealthiest man in our neighborhood, his wife was one the most elegant woman I have ever met, her beautiful jewelry dazzled, and the fragrance of her perfume filled the air like freshly cut roses!

 

 

Our Arab neighbors were just one part of the diversity of our neighborhood. On the other side of our house, were the Hakoopians, who were Armenians and whose kids we spend lots of hours playing with. Scattered all over our neighborhood were families from nearby regional cities of Abadan, Masjed-Sulayman,  Khoramshahr and other parts of Iran, from Tehran, Esfahan, Mahabad, Tabriz, Arak, Shiraz. Then there were our Americans and European neighbors who kept to themselves but were nevertheless part of our neighborhood's landscape . And amongst the movement of people in and around our house were the Lor laborers and the Arab watchmen.  

The ethnicity, cultures and belief systems represented in our little piece of the Middle East, resembled the diversity that you might find in neighborhoods in United States and phone-lines or not, would have been the envy for many around the world.

Maybe one day all the leaders and all the peoples in the Middle East from Tehran to Baghdad, Damascus to Beirut and Amman to Riyadh will try to emulate my neighborhood and appreciate its beauty and understand the true benefit of its diversity. Until that day, I will sit in Washington, DC and think about it like a story that starts with, “Once Upon a Time…”     

 

An Italian Captain, Inter Milan, and the Afghan Football Club that Could!

I sat in the dining hall of the Italian military unit enjoying my pasta, chicken and a bottle of Italian lemonade. The Italian dinning hall on the Shindand Airbase was run by a dedicated group of staff who ensured that their soldiers were fed the best home-cooked meal thousands of miles from home. I usually stopped at the Italian dinning facility when i met with Captain Simone, the civilian-military team leader and his staff. On this day, I sat across Captain Simone, as we talked about a possible project that we had discussed since the first day we met. The project focused on youth and football (soccer) development. Simone agreed that such a project would be useful. We also agreed that any project to do with strengthening sports in Shindand District, would help the youth, from the feeling of belonging to a group (to counter insurgent groups) to cultivating good, healthy habits, to building organizational and leadership skills.  The only problem for Simone was to convince his commanders that the project would fulfill the goals of their mission! I thought that any project that would strengthen the Afghan youth and give them an avenue to express themselves positively, was a good project. Unfortunately, not everyone saw it that way.

Simone, went to work and after months of back and forth, begging, lobbying, pushing and perhaps crying he was able to get a whopping one thousand Euros! I looked at Simone and Simone looked at me, and he said, “can you get someone to do this project for 1000 Euros!” I said, “Sure!” and then thinking to myself, “how the hell am I going to get someone to fix a football ground in this country for less than 10,000 Dollars?!”

I immediately called a couple of contractors and asked if they would do this project. We needed the contractors to roll and fix the pitch, put official size goals with nets, and build two benches on either side of the field! Both contractors agreed to do it, with lots of enthusiasm, and promised they would do the best, most professional job ever… Then I told them how much money they would get paid for it and after, there was a long silence, and then they said they needed to check on something and get back to me!!! That was their way of saying No!

Finally, I called Karim, a friend of mine and Atiq, the captain of Maiwand Football Club, the club which would use the football pitch. I gave them the good news and the bad news that the Italians agreed to help the team but could only come up with 1000 Euros. After taking in the news and asking over and over again about the actual amount, Karim and Atiq said they would do it! I knew 1000 Euros could go a long way in a place where the price of bread was .05 cents, but after a decade of hyper-priced projects where things costing $1.00 were quoted as high as $100, no one would agree to do anything for 1000 Euros!

Karim, Atiq, and others from Maiwand FC, got to work and slowly, and with whatever equipment they could get their hands on, including a tractor, they shaped a patch of wilderness into a football ground. Every evening I would come by to inspect their progress and I saw about 20-25 young men working on flattening the bumps on the field, some mixing the cement and some picking up the stones and cleaning the field.  I would report back to Simone about the progress of the field and grab some Italian food in the process!  

Then one day something incredible happened…Simone called me in and said that he has some good news to share! When you are in Afghanistan, good news is something you don’t hear much of! He said that the great Italian football club F.C. Internazionale Milano, aka Inter Milan have agreed to provide the uniform for Maiwand FC….What? I asked, thinking maybe something is gone wrong with my hearing (I am getting old!). He said, that he wrote a letter to Carlo De Medici’s office, the president of Inter Milan asking if his club would donate uniforms for this projects and they agreed and the official uniforms are already on their way to Shindand District!!!

So finally the ground in Shindand was ready and the uniforms from Italy had arrived. On inauguration day, as a strong wind blew dust around, Maiwand FC lined up…local dignitaries, Captain Simone, the Italian military and spectators gathered around on the field. After a short speech by the Italian Commander, the uniforms were handed out and the faces of the 22 young men lit up as they were told about the gift from Inter Milan and the authenticity of their uniforms.

Weeks and months after that, the 1000 Euro field, became a haven for young men, who came by to play football or cheer on their team. Maiwand FC hosted many games there and showed off both the field they had build and the beautiful uniforms they had received. And at least for a while they became the kings of Shindand, thanks to their resourcefulness, the support of an Italian captain and the generosity of a millionaire in Milan!