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AFGHANISTAN - “I have a dream,” is the start one of the most famous speeches ever given, given by a man who had no legal right to that kind of power.
Martin Luther King was not put in that position by any man, but he was given the power to lead and influence people naturally.
In a similar fashion there is a man in Afghanistan who said, “I have an idea,” to connect Soldiers of A Company, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, working with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mazar-e-Sharif, the Afghan National Police and the Afghan National Border Police in Kaldar District to present vaccinations for the local villager’s cattle, Oct. 25 to 28, in front of the district governor’s grounds in Qrantoqai Village, Afghanistan.
“All the veterinary clinics are converted from the government to the private companies from now on,” said Dr. Rahmatulleh, a private veterinarian who also is the officer in charge of the North Region Afghan Veterinary Association. “So that’s why we link up with the paravets as a private company and we have vaccinations for a thousand cows and extra medication for internal and external parasites.”
The veterinary clinics, 120 of them, have already been transferred from the government to private companies in accordance with a contract signed between the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Live Stock of Afghanistan and the AVA. The central provincial clinics will also be transferred during the second phase of the project in November. The hopes of the AVA is that this free clinic will jump start the private sector so it will become self sufficient with little government financial assistance.
“A paravet is a special person that learned for six months of the official course,” said Rahmatulleh. “They learn how to do this treatment and after that they get experience in the area. They have a small shop with equipment and medication and they go to the farmer and farmers come to them.”
Rahmatulleh went on to explain the schooling and experience required for an assistant veterinarian and veterinarian was considerably longer. An individual would take veterinary classes along with general schooling from childhood for eight to 14 years. Between that eight and 14 years they have the option of becoming a veterinary assistant. They needed an additional five years in specialized veterinary classes at university level in order to receive a Diploma of Veterinary Medicine from the AVA.
The MAIL provided the medication for this project and will continue to play an active role in quality control of the private companies and clinics, but they will no longer be the ones responsible for providing finances for services, said Dr. Mohammad Rafiq, head of the Veterinary Department in the Balkh Province of MAIL, who is also the logistics officer for the AVA.
“Welcome to the district,” said Abdul Mateen Khoja Zada, the governor of Kaldar District. “It is a pleasure that you guys are here. The people here are poor so they need this, very glad you are here. Everybody here is welcome. I’ve explained the value of this event today so hopefully they will come.”
Rahmatulleh wants to continue this project in other areas as well such as Samangan, Balkh, Jowzjan and Faryab.
“The medication from today came from the best medication available,” Rahmatulleh said. “We brought it for the Kaldar District first to see how the people like it. The most important thing is we just introduced the vaccination to the people and we brought the PRT and the US Army together for this project. We will see if the people continue to work with us in the future.”
| Date Taken: | 10.30.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 10.30.2010 04:22 |
| Story ID: | 59112 |
| Location: | QRANTOQAI VILLAGE, AF |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
This work, Free Vaccinations for Cattle, by PFC Cynthia Teears Van Cleve, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
