RIP Dr. Karen Woo

Doctor, humanitarian, tomboy, blogger...

Karen Woo aka Explorer Kitten didn't have to die. Unfortunately, she was among a group reportedly carrying Dari (Persian) language bibles. To the Taliban that's as uncomfortable as say, a group of Christians from another branch of the faith trying to pass tracts or publications to you. You don't like it (even if you won't admit it!) Of course, we wouldn't kill the opposition. But then again, we don't chop the noses off our women's faces, either!

Paddy Smith, the fiance of the British doctor shot dead in Afghanistan pays video tribute to the woman he was soon to have married. Karen & Paddy's last snapshot together - "Goodbye to my dear baby bear" :::

Talk about living a full life! At 16, Woo trained as a contemporary dancer and then worked as a wing-walker for a flying circus, performing stunts while strapped to the upper wing of a biplane, dressed in a scarlet jumpsuit.

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, after visiting a friend in Kabul, she quit her $150,000-a-year job to move there. There, she kept pet tortoises and found time for a fashion show to raise money for charity. She was just weeks from her wedding.

Dr. Karen Woo, stories and photographs...

An old monk once told me "keep your faith in your head" - he had survived in a hostile land by fading into the general population. "How did you worship," I asked. He answered "I went and prayed same place where everybody else went. What was important to me was that I could connect with my God. No one could read my prayer-thoughts!" Good thing he did what he did! He went on to help hundreds of homeless people out of the darkest depths of their lives, as well as make a record of his poetry.

No brainer! These deaths in Afghanistan did not have to happen. This isn't the 4th century. No need for martyrs! Nobody likes "pushy" Christians. If I were going to Afghanistan to help people, I wouldn't wear my religion on my sleeve. It just isn't worth making an issue out of what method or avenue I choose to worship. It'd be like me, a blogspot user, killing you because you're blogging on Wordpress.

Even the headlines taunt Afghanis: "Stained By The Blood Of Saviours" - read the story and I think you'll agree that headline sends the wrong message!

Also noteworthy that the local media continually makes reference to "Dr. Tom Little, 62, an optometrist from upstate Delmar" (who was also among those executed by the Taliban) - wait a minute! He hasn't resided in Delmar for 30 odd years! This is just like that soldier who died in Afghanistan a few weeks back and local TV screamed he was "from the Capital Region" - no he wasn't! - actually his family moved here a year or two ago from elsewhere. More properly, his home town and state should have been recognized.

OR, if you're insiting the dead soldier was from here, then don't bother saying Dr. Little was from Delmar. He was from Afghanistan! GRRR!

Dr. Little's wife appeared Saturday on local TV, saying that the group her husband was with was NOT pushing Christianity, but look at Michelle Malkin's blog post: "A Western team of Christian medical volunteers that provided eye care to poor villagers in remote northeast Afghanistan was lined up, stripped, and shot to death by the Taliban." Why couldn't they simply have been "medical volunteers"?

Tags: Karen Woo Facebook, Karen Woo blog, Karen Woo