Through the Sand: Day 216: Warehouse

Being a mentor to the Afghan National Army (ANA) has it's share of trials and triumphs. Sometimes it feels like I'm taking 2 steps forward followed by 3 steps back! The US mentor I replaced gave me a forewarning of not to expect too much when it comes to advocating for process improvement. In other words, change even when it is indeed necessary, is not always welcome. In the eyes of the ANA, they are thinking "if it isn't broken, why fix it?", but the reality is that everything is broken and everything needs fixing. Also, even if the ANA know that there is room for process improvement, sometimes just plain old laziness makes for a successful roadblock to any suggestion for change. Nonetheless, the mentoring mission must go on, and the hope for lasting positive change still remains. So to contrast my cynicism...let me share my warehouse experience.

The medical team along with some interpreters scoping out the damage

Well, if there was any mentoring project that was passed on to me with the words of "good luck!", it was the medical warehouse! Actually, the 10,00o square foot storage facility was nothing more than a gigantic stockpile of medical equipment simply tossed into a large building, with the idea of organizing, cleaning, and taking inventory being nothing more than an afterthought for the last several years. Just check out the pics!

More damage that needs scoping

As a clinical mentor, I never thought I would be sweeping floors, moving extremely heavy boxes, or organizing a warehouse full of medical equipment. It's really not that fun. In addition, I never thought I would get my ANA medics to eventually take over the upkeep of the warehouse once we got it all cleaned up. Once again, even less fun. The moment they began to see the progress, I then found a more motivated group of ANA medics willing to take charge. Several weeks later, I was watching my ANA clinical staff taking inventory and organizing the equipment all on their own. Talk about an ANA mentoring triumph!