In Memoriam: Profiles of the 8 Aid Workers & 2 Afghan Assistants Murdered in Cold Blood by Taliban

Glen D. Lapp, 40, of Lancaster, Pa., was a nurse who ran an eye-care program. He was an avid cyclist. A nurse with a big smile. A man whose passion for hiking, adventure, and people was plain to see.

"A beautiful person," said an adoring friend.

Tom Little, 61, from Delmar, N.Y., was the coordinator of the National Organization of Ophthalmic Rehabilitation Eye Care Program in Afghanistan, overseeing hospitals and clinics, teaching optometry and administering care in the most rural of areas. He was the leader of the group of 10 medical workers returning from treating people in Nuristan Province who were ambushed and killed.

Mr. Little, with 35 years' experience in Afghanistan, had encountered Taliban fighters on many occasions at his eye camps and other rural outreach missions, and told friends that he always carried a bottle of soothing saline solution in case fighters demanded treatment for eye problems.

Dan Terry, 64, had been doing relief work in Afghanistan since 1971, and spoke Dari fluently.

Mr. Terry had just recovered from knee surgery, and had looked forward to joining the arduous hike over a 16,000-foot pass to reach a remote valley, providing eye care and other medical services.

Mr. Terry is survived by his wife, three daughters, and one granddaughter, according to the International Assistance Mission.

Dr. Tom Grams, 51, of Durango, Colo., left a thriving dental practice to go to Afghanistan. He had trekked to villages halfway up Mount Everest, carrying dental equipment by yak, and in Afghanistan had learned to negotiate the etiquette of the burka so he could work on the diseased teeth of women who may never have seen a dentist.

Cheryl Beckett, 32, of Knoxville, Tenn., had traveled the world, often on church-sponsored mission trips, before moving to Afghanistan six years ago. There she worked at women's clinics, planted vegetable gardens and tried to establish a park on the eastern side of Kabul.

She was invited on the expedition to Nuristan primarily as an interpreter, because she spoke fluent Dari, said her father, Charles Beckett.

Brian Carderelli, 25, of Harrisonburg, Va., was an Eagle Scout and videographer who had been working in Afghanistan since September. He posted his http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/08/09/us/%E2%80%9Chttp:/illeredrac.shutterfly.com/%E2%80%9C">photographs and http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/08/09/us/%E2%80%9Chttp:/vimeo.com/user2949286%E2%80%9D">videos online.

Dr. Karen Woo was a 36-year-old surgeon from Hertfordshire, England, who specialized in women's health.

At 16, she trained as a contemporary dancer and then worked as a wing-walker for a flying circus. At 22, she entered medical school and eventually volunteered for missions in South Africa, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago. Two years ago, she quit her $150,000-a-year job to move to Kabul.

More details on Karen Woo here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4495235&mesg_id=4495672

Daniela Beyer, 35, of Chemnitz, Germany, Beyer was a linguist and translator in German, English and Russian who also spoke Dari and was learning Pashto, the IAM said.

She worked for the organization between 2007 and 2009 doing linguistic research and joined the eye camp so she could translate for women patients
https://civiliancontractors.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/daniela-beyer-executed-in-afghanistan/

One of two Afghans killed, Mahram Ali, 51, supported two disabled sons on his salary of $150 a month. He came along on the expedition as a driver and to guard the team’s three vehicles.

Rahim Majid, the operations manager at International Assistance Mission, said Mr. Ali, too, was a husband and father to three young children. One of his sons had been paralyzed by polio and another’s arm had been amputated.

“He was the only person to care for his family,” Mr. Majid said.

Second Afghan victim, Ahmed Jawed, 24, a cook, had been excitedly considering what to do with the $20 a day in overtime he would earn on the trip. Mr. Jawed was the main breadwinner for his wife, three children and extended family, and was known in his neighborhood for the collection of 500 audiotapes he would break out for weddings or parties.

Slain relief workers were very dangerous, indeed

POSTED BY CHERYL TUCKER ON AUGUST 9, 2010 AT 7:40 PM

This editorial will appear in Tuesday's print edition.

The Taliban is trying to justify the slaughter last week of the Nuristan Eye Camp Expedition by saying the 10 victims were Christian missionaries trying to lead Afghans away from Islam.

No, they weren’t proselytizers. They were so much more dangerous than that.

They were humanitarians, selflessly working to help some of the world’s most destitute people in one of the world’s most dangerous places, living their religious beliefs through their good works.

They were dangerous because what they were doing was much likelier to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people than anything that could be done by any nation’s army. But they weren’t in Afghanistan to win converts to either Christianity or to democracy. They were there just to help.

Full article: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/opinion/2010/08/09/slain-relief-workers-were-very-dangerous-indeed/#ixzz0wAzD3q9P