I don't know why, but this story is just really sad to me.

I read in the NYT, that 10 medical aid workers were killed in Afghanistan while traveling by foot to a remote area to provide dental, medical and eye care. They were members of a Christian-based group - but that means little in the end as their intent was to help people - guided by one member who had been working in Afghanistan for 40 years and was fluent in the local language and well versed in the local culture.

One of the members of this group, was a 36 year old surgeon, Dr. Karen Woo, from Britain (half Chinese, half British). She kept a personal blog about her experiences, starting from the day she left London, to fly to Dubai, then onto Kabul.

This is probably what makes this particular story so sad (at least for me).

When you read her blog and her description of both the mundane and unique, you end up capturing the essence of her life's spirit, by the way she expressed her thoughts and concerns. And though it was short (from December 2009), it doesn't take long to understand, that she was well balanced between the harsh environment and her feminine side, and that she had this duality in her from a very young age:

"I was also probably the only tom boy who also loved makeup and was very happy climbing trees outside the house in my electric blue miniskirt."

And she did not lose her sense of humor (or maybe humor was required to counter-balance the suffering one saw daily):

"Tragedy strikes as my laptop battery suddenly runs out of juice and I have to leave the comfort of the sofa and run out into the corridor to find a three point plug socket."

And she was more than aware of the cultural differences, as they related to her situation in Afghanistan:

"They say that expat women here are treated like a third race - neither male nor female in their eyes - and I am getting this strongly now. I feel so very alien; in my attitude, in my upbringing."

And the immeasurable pressures on Afghan women:

"It was with great sadness that I sat with a 26 year old who already has five children - we'd run a routine pregnancy test and unfortunately for her hers was positive. She was obviously distressed, crying silently.

But, I think what really is poignant, is when Ms. Woo related her concern of her friend, who had just heard the news of some friends dying in a plane crash:

"Tthe caller a good friend of PM’s based out in Kabul was calling to say that several Brits were on the plane and two were very good friends. At the time PM said “Well, that’s life”, but I could see him gritting his teeth. It was too soon to see the true reaction, he was here with me in London, he felt it but he didn’t feel it. We carried on with what we had to do, he, with a brave face, saying nothing very much, feeling for the wife, the parents of the friends who had died. How can it not affect you?

Who weeps for these people?  Do we?  Are we more concerned about the politics that surround the loss of their lives, as to debate the merits of staying in Afghanistan, or can we stop for a moment and just weep for these people who lived to help others?

I choose the latter; I choose to weep for these people who have just lost their lives trying to help their fellow human beings, and not focus on the politics of war.  I choose to write about Dr. Karen Woo, because she should not be forgotten.