People Helping People

When I heard the news about the 10 volunteers- 6 Americans, 2 Afghans, a German and a Briton- in Afghanistan that were killed while working to help the people and, more importantly, the children who were unfamiliar with a toothbrush or crayons, it resonated with me. 

Why was this news more impactful than previous reports of volunteers killed while helping others?  I don't know what it is, but I know it has everything to do with seeing Tom Little's widow, Libby, on television speaking about their work and Tom's work in Afghanistan for more than 30-years.


The Little's had lived in Delmar, NY but had have raised three daughters in Kabul and witnessed all sorts of wars- the Soviet invasion in the '80s and the civil war of the '90s.

"The kids had never seen toothbrushes, and Tom brought thousands of them," Nedam said Sunday. "He trained them how to brush their teeth, and you should've seen the way they smiled after they learned to brush their teeth."