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Refurbishing Afghan schools would cost military little but support lagging
STEPHEN THORNE
Canadian Press
Tuesday, April 09, 2002
(CP /Stephen Thorne)
Sgt. Martin Brink, a licensed carpenter from Goderich, Ont., serving with 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, measures a classroom in an unused schoolhouse at Madi Sar near Kandahar, Afghanistan. (CP /Stephen Thorne)
MANDI SAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Some benches, a few windows, a lick of paint. About a week‘s work is all it would take to make a lifetime of difference to the children of Mandi Sar, a small village in the heart of Taliban country between Kandahar and the coalition forces base at the city‘s former international airport.
But for Canadian troops fighting the war on terrorism, the money and the materials are thousands of kilometres and layers of bureaucracy away.
"It‘s got some really good possibilities, that place," said Sgt. Martin Brink, a licensed carpenter from Goderich, Ont., serving with 1 Combat Engineer Regiment.
Brink spent half an hour measuring 12 rooms in the walled, U-shaped building at the village edge. The courtyard has already been cleared of unexploded bombs.
But when they‘ll be able to refurbish the school and others like it in other villages - if at all - is anybody‘s guess.
"There‘s a whole generation of young people there who have never received a formal education," says Capt. Alex Watson, a liason officer with the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia‘s Canadian Light Infantry.
"It‘s dangerous for everybody involved."
Watson, whose job is partly to win the hearts and minds of neighbouring villagers and partly to leave a Canadian legacy to the people of southern Afghanistan, has made education his No. 1 priority.
The problem is that, while approving $50,000-Cdn funding for such small projects, the Canadian International Development Agency, or CIDA, has failed to deliver. Also, a drive to collect three sea containers of school supplies is hung up in Ottawa‘s approval process.
A CIDA spokeswoman said Monday that there‘s been no change in the organization‘s position from remarks made Friday by spokesman Steven Morris.
"We‘re looking at their request," Morris told the Canadian Press Friday from the federal agency‘s offices in Ottawa. "All of this has to go through various procedures.
"We don‘t consider that as being held up and neither does national defence."
However, Watson and others fear that by the time money and materials arrive, the Canadians will be leaving.
The captain has already revised his ideals, and is still coming to terms with what he can and cannot accomplish during his six-month stay in Afghanistan.
"We‘re going to be here for a limited amount of time and have a limited effect on these people," he said. "Some of the institutions here in Afghanistan have been continuing for thousands of years. So I‘m realistic about the impact we can have.
"On the other hand, if we‘re going to have an impact, it might as well be a positive one. And it doesn‘t take a whole lot in terms of materials to do that."
Brink estimates it would cost less than $5,000 to refurbish the Mandi Sar school. The Kandahar provincial government has already committed money for teachers, who were already at work in another village further north on Tuesday.
"The problem we have now is that there is such a limited amount of stock coming in in terms of our own needs," said Brink‘s boss, Maj. Rod Keller of Guelph, Ont.
"Until we can really sort ourselves out in our own camp, it‘s difficult to justify that."
Mission creep - growing responsibilities - is always a concern, said Keller. At the same time, Canadians have always contributed to the betterment of the places they‘ve been, even if it involves only nails and wood.
Impressions are everything in Afghanistan, Watson says. The bearded men who dominate Afghan society in their turbans take pride in their appearance.
"By extension, the appearance of a building goes a long way, too. It adds to the pride of that community; it adds to the esteem of the children - they belong to something that matters which isn‘t the Taliban or al-Qaida."
Watson says he isn‘t above painting big red maple leaves on the doors, just to remind those children that the school was something the Canadians did for them, "versus the Russians, who didn‘t do much of anything for them, except kill them."
++++++++
Soldiers bring relief after Afghan earthquake
by Cpl. Holly Plata
KABUL, Afghanistan (Army News Service, April 9, 2002) -- Three Chinook helicopters swooped into Nahrin, a small town of adobe buildings in northern Afghanistan, after an earthquake there March 25 killed at least 700 local residents.
As people ran from the dust clouds that billowed up when the helicopters were landing, infantry soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division immediately jumped out of the Chinooks and formed a perimeter around the aircraft to secure the landing zone. They were ready for action.
So were the civil affairs soldiers standing by with a team of 30 Afghan workers ready to unload much-needed supplies to the earthquake-stricken village.
When Brig. Gen. David Kratzer, commander of the Coalition Joint Civil-Military Operations Task Force, heard of the disaster in Nahrin, he quickly sent his soldiers to help.
"The CJCMOTF is well-suited for this sort of mission because we bridge the gap between war and peace. In this case, we are bridging the gap between disaster and normal life," said Kratzer, who is also the deputy commanding general of the 377th Theater Support Command, an Army Reserve unit out of New Orleans, La.
The CJCMOTF, based in Kabul, sent out its immediate reaction force and four of its medical staff to conduct an initial assessment to see what was needed.
"We set up ground coordination with the United Nations to let them know we were coming in to hand over goods to be distributed," said Sgt. 1st Class Michael France, with the 489th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit based in Knoxville, Tenn.
The 489th soldiers proved that flexibility and creativity are the keys to humanitarian missions.
"As the needs of the people on the ground changed, we called back and changed the shipments mid-route," said France, who is from Strawberry Plains, Tenn.
Part of the task force‘s mission was to layout the landing zone for several helicopters in a nearby field. After the Chinooks landed, the task force was in charge of off-loading and sorting the supplies.
"I was in charge of a team of Afghans hired to help off-load the CH-47s," said Spc. Larry Sellers, a 489th soldier from Somerset, Ky.
The 489th soldiers and Afghan workers had some difficulties with language barriers at first, but they quickly developed basic hand signals. Soon they were all working together without any trouble, Sellers said.
The operation lasted for three days in which thousands of supplies were unloaded. The group unloaded a total of 380 duffle bags full of cold-weather clothing, 125 cases of dates, 154 five-gallon containers of water, 1,238 cases of bottled water, 261 bags of wheat, 420 cases of MREs (Meals-Ready-to-Eat), and 95 boxes of blankets. Tents for temporary shelter were also delivered.
They delivered 1,980 pounds of basic medical supplies, as well as 792 pounds of infusions, 528 pounds of drugs, 242 pounds of reusable medical supplies and 202 pounds of health equipment.
The CJCMOTF Public Health Team saw 400 patients their first day on the ground and 120 on the second day. The health team also met with the minister of public health, Dr. Sohila Sedqui, and her team, to assist them with whatever they needed.
Some of the urgent needs were food, water, clothing and blankets for the patients, especially because some of them were on the bare ground in the harsh cold of the mountains.
"It was a lot of hard work, but we did a good thing. I believe it will help the people of Afghanistan. It was a good effort to get supplies to an area that might not have gotten them if there hadn‘t been an earthquake," said Maj. David Floyd, a medical service officer with 3rd Medical Command, from Bluff Park, Ala.
When the soldiers left they turned all of the supplies over to international organizations and non-governmental organizations to complete the disaster relief.
STEPHEN THORNE
Canadian Press
Tuesday, April 09, 2002
(CP /Stephen Thorne)
Sgt. Martin Brink, a licensed carpenter from Goderich, Ont., serving with 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, measures a classroom in an unused schoolhouse at Madi Sar near Kandahar, Afghanistan. (CP /Stephen Thorne)
MANDI SAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Some benches, a few windows, a lick of paint. About a week‘s work is all it would take to make a lifetime of difference to the children of Mandi Sar, a small village in the heart of Taliban country between Kandahar and the coalition forces base at the city‘s former international airport.
But for Canadian troops fighting the war on terrorism, the money and the materials are thousands of kilometres and layers of bureaucracy away.
"It‘s got some really good possibilities, that place," said Sgt. Martin Brink, a licensed carpenter from Goderich, Ont., serving with 1 Combat Engineer Regiment.
Brink spent half an hour measuring 12 rooms in the walled, U-shaped building at the village edge. The courtyard has already been cleared of unexploded bombs.
But when they‘ll be able to refurbish the school and others like it in other villages - if at all - is anybody‘s guess.
"There‘s a whole generation of young people there who have never received a formal education," says Capt. Alex Watson, a liason officer with the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia‘s Canadian Light Infantry.
"It‘s dangerous for everybody involved."
Watson, whose job is partly to win the hearts and minds of neighbouring villagers and partly to leave a Canadian legacy to the people of southern Afghanistan, has made education his No. 1 priority.
The problem is that, while approving $50,000-Cdn funding for such small projects, the Canadian International Development Agency, or CIDA, has failed to deliver. Also, a drive to collect three sea containers of school supplies is hung up in Ottawa‘s approval process.
A CIDA spokeswoman said Monday that there‘s been no change in the organization‘s position from remarks made Friday by spokesman Steven Morris.
"We‘re looking at their request," Morris told the Canadian Press Friday from the federal agency‘s offices in Ottawa. "All of this has to go through various procedures.
"We don‘t consider that as being held up and neither does national defence."
However, Watson and others fear that by the time money and materials arrive, the Canadians will be leaving.
The captain has already revised his ideals, and is still coming to terms with what he can and cannot accomplish during his six-month stay in Afghanistan.
"We‘re going to be here for a limited amount of time and have a limited effect on these people," he said. "Some of the institutions here in Afghanistan have been continuing for thousands of years. So I‘m realistic about the impact we can have.
"On the other hand, if we‘re going to have an impact, it might as well be a positive one. And it doesn‘t take a whole lot in terms of materials to do that."
Brink estimates it would cost less than $5,000 to refurbish the Mandi Sar school. The Kandahar provincial government has already committed money for teachers, who were already at work in another village further north on Tuesday.
"The problem we have now is that there is such a limited amount of stock coming in in terms of our own needs," said Brink‘s boss, Maj. Rod Keller of Guelph, Ont.
"Until we can really sort ourselves out in our own camp, it‘s difficult to justify that."
Mission creep - growing responsibilities - is always a concern, said Keller. At the same time, Canadians have always contributed to the betterment of the places they‘ve been, even if it involves only nails and wood.
Impressions are everything in Afghanistan, Watson says. The bearded men who dominate Afghan society in their turbans take pride in their appearance.
"By extension, the appearance of a building goes a long way, too. It adds to the pride of that community; it adds to the esteem of the children - they belong to something that matters which isn‘t the Taliban or al-Qaida."
Watson says he isn‘t above painting big red maple leaves on the doors, just to remind those children that the school was something the Canadians did for them, "versus the Russians, who didn‘t do much of anything for them, except kill them."
++++++++
Soldiers bring relief after Afghan earthquake
by Cpl. Holly Plata
KABUL, Afghanistan (Army News Service, April 9, 2002) -- Three Chinook helicopters swooped into Nahrin, a small town of adobe buildings in northern Afghanistan, after an earthquake there March 25 killed at least 700 local residents.
As people ran from the dust clouds that billowed up when the helicopters were landing, infantry soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division immediately jumped out of the Chinooks and formed a perimeter around the aircraft to secure the landing zone. They were ready for action.
So were the civil affairs soldiers standing by with a team of 30 Afghan workers ready to unload much-needed supplies to the earthquake-stricken village.
When Brig. Gen. David Kratzer, commander of the Coalition Joint Civil-Military Operations Task Force, heard of the disaster in Nahrin, he quickly sent his soldiers to help.
"The CJCMOTF is well-suited for this sort of mission because we bridge the gap between war and peace. In this case, we are bridging the gap between disaster and normal life," said Kratzer, who is also the deputy commanding general of the 377th Theater Support Command, an Army Reserve unit out of New Orleans, La.
The CJCMOTF, based in Kabul, sent out its immediate reaction force and four of its medical staff to conduct an initial assessment to see what was needed.
"We set up ground coordination with the United Nations to let them know we were coming in to hand over goods to be distributed," said Sgt. 1st Class Michael France, with the 489th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit based in Knoxville, Tenn.
The 489th soldiers proved that flexibility and creativity are the keys to humanitarian missions.
"As the needs of the people on the ground changed, we called back and changed the shipments mid-route," said France, who is from Strawberry Plains, Tenn.
Part of the task force‘s mission was to layout the landing zone for several helicopters in a nearby field. After the Chinooks landed, the task force was in charge of off-loading and sorting the supplies.
"I was in charge of a team of Afghans hired to help off-load the CH-47s," said Spc. Larry Sellers, a 489th soldier from Somerset, Ky.
The 489th soldiers and Afghan workers had some difficulties with language barriers at first, but they quickly developed basic hand signals. Soon they were all working together without any trouble, Sellers said.
The operation lasted for three days in which thousands of supplies were unloaded. The group unloaded a total of 380 duffle bags full of cold-weather clothing, 125 cases of dates, 154 five-gallon containers of water, 1,238 cases of bottled water, 261 bags of wheat, 420 cases of MREs (Meals-Ready-to-Eat), and 95 boxes of blankets. Tents for temporary shelter were also delivered.
They delivered 1,980 pounds of basic medical supplies, as well as 792 pounds of infusions, 528 pounds of drugs, 242 pounds of reusable medical supplies and 202 pounds of health equipment.
The CJCMOTF Public Health Team saw 400 patients their first day on the ground and 120 on the second day. The health team also met with the minister of public health, Dr. Sohila Sedqui, and her team, to assist them with whatever they needed.
Some of the urgent needs were food, water, clothing and blankets for the patients, especially because some of them were on the bare ground in the harsh cold of the mountains.
"It was a lot of hard work, but we did a good thing. I believe it will help the people of Afghanistan. It was a good effort to get supplies to an area that might not have gotten them if there hadn‘t been an earthquake," said Maj. David Floyd, a medical service officer with 3rd Medical Command, from Bluff Park, Ala.
When the soldiers left they turned all of the supplies over to international organizations and non-governmental organizations to complete the disaster relief.
