Outside the Wire
Mike Frastacky
Mike Frastacky was an independent aid provider who worked as a volunteer in Afghanistan from 2002 to July 23, 2006, when he was shot to death. Born and raised in Toronto, he spent his adult life in Vancouver working as a highly skilled finishing carpenter. Through his attraction to exploring remote areas of the world, Mike found himself trekking in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the Pamirs in the late 1990s, and eventually travelled to Afghanistan in 2001. His goals evolved to a philanthropic purpose, initially sponsoring projects in an orphanage in Faizabad, then focusing on establishing and building an elementary school in the Nahrin Valley, a remote area northeast of Kabul. He worked unaffiliated with any aid organization, donating his money, his organizational skills, and his design and building expertise for several months of each year from 2002 to 2006. Included in the anthology are some of the many emails that he sent home; they have been reprinted with the permission and assistance of his friends, represented by Grant Tomlinson and Jan Rooks, and his sister, Luba Frastacky.
