Afghanistan (MNN) ― Campaigning for Afghanistan's presidential election is over, and voting begins tomorrow.
Security concerns are mounting as the government faces two problems: an escalating insurgency, and the potential of post-election unrest.
Even as the nation labors under these two challenges, it is clear that change is coming--as it has been for three decades.
1979 ushered in the birthing throes of an emerging country that is both history and future. Tribal warfare mindset still exists, as does the thinking that ushered in the Taliban. Laboring under that militant direction, there was an equally potent struggle for democracy...and one that cost the people dearly in blood.
Yet those times paved the way for humanitarian groups like CURE International to work there.
After the fall of the Taliban, they got an unexpected invitation from the government. CURE's Erin Card says in 2005, the Afghan Health Consortium invited CURE International to assume control of both the Family Health Clinic and a hospital partially restored by the Coalition Forces in Kabul.
In February 2005, CURE signed an agreement with the Ministry of Public Health to manage and further develop services and training programs at the 100-bed hospital and the health clinic. By the end of that year, both facilities were fully operational and together serving more than 8,000 patients each month.
According to CURE, the Ministry of Public Health recognizes that the training of midwives and doctors is essential to improving the health of Afghans.
Today, she says that "after four or five years, some Afghans are noticing the difference--it's not just the normal way of doing business. They're sensing that the difference truly is something supernatural. It's a privilege to share and have these conversations."
It's a similar opportunity presenting itself hundreds of thousands of times. CURE has treated more than 120,000 patients since opening in early 2005, and more than 40,000 laboratory tests were performed during this period. CURE has established for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health the baseline competencies for staff midwives and General Medicine doctors that will now be used in all training programs throughout Afghanistan.
Their mission is to transform the lives of the people they're helping through medical and spiritual healing, and their team still needs prayer. With the events surrounding the election, it was prudent for the hospital to step up security to protect their staff.
All of this means strain on their team. Card says, "There is a generalized level of anxiety. We're just praying that God's peace and God's control will just fill their fears and calm their minds. We wanted to pray particularly for our senior international and Afghan leaders to make wise decisions. Pray also for our patients, that they would continue to sense love, hope and experience healing."
