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KABUL, Afghanistan – For the service members in Afghanistan who coordinate the partnership with Afghan government and national security force leaders, lasting results can take days, weeks and sometimes even months to fully realize.
Sometimes, however, a mission gives the International Security Assistance Force troops an opportunity to have a more direct and immediate effect on the Afghan people.
A group of American and British service members from ISAF Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, were given just such an opportunity when they traveled to a nearby internally displaced people’s camp, Oct. 7, to donate two truckloads of much needed clothes, shoes, blankets, hygiene kits and toys.
The mission was the second of a series of volunteer community relations missions coordinated through the ISAF Chaplain’s Office. The donations, themselves, came from a variety of contributors across the U.S. and Great Britain.
“The Daughters of the American Revolution in Arvada, Colo., and Broomfield, Colo., contacted me and let me know they wanted to help out in Afghanistan. That spurred me to find a way for them to contribute,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Marc Adair, who serves with the United States Forces – Afghanistan Joint Visitors Bureau at ISAF Headquarters.
Adair, an Arvada native himself, spoke to the ISAF Headquarters chaplain, U.S. Army Maj. Ephraim Garcia, chaplain, who was enthusiastic about the plan.
“The folks here at ISAF are very generous and this gives them an opportunity to actually go out there, experience the Afghan people, the Afghan nation, and have a hands on experience where they hand off these donations to people they actually see have a real need,” said Garcia, a New York City native deployed from the 77th Sustainment Brigade, Fort Dix Army Reserve.
Expanding upon the initial generosity of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Adair reached out to family and friends in Denver, Houston, Arizona, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
“The donations are coming from more places than I ever thought they would. Two different dental clinics that really wanted to contribute heard through the grape-vine we were doing this and sent dental hygiene supplies,” Adair said.
For their part, British service members have reached out to their friends and families back home who have donated a variety of items including hygiene kits that were given to children at a hospital during the previous mission and to families at the IDP camp.
With the donations coming from good Samaritans overseas, the British and American troops found a good Samaritan inside Afghanistan to help them coordinate the mission and work with the needy families.
Afghan citizen Abdul Wakil works with the charity organization Sozo International, and helps Garcia and the other volunteers find the locations in Kabul where Afghans most need their donations. He and five other Afghans he works with also help organize the donation process so that the items go to those who most need them. Wakil’s generosity is, in no small part, driven by the connection he feels to the Afghan families at the camp.
“There are about 80 families that we will be able to help today,” Wakil said. “It makes me really happy that we were able to help these poor, internally displaced people since I was raised in a refugee camp in Pakistan. I remember how we lived, and, now, with help from friends from the U.S., Great Britain and all over the world, I can help these people.”
These efforts did not go unnoticed and were greatly appreciated by Rogul, the camp elder who is displaced from Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan.
“We are very glad to have the coalition forces here and we appreciate the clothes and all of the supplies,” Rogul said. “The children love the notebooks, crayons and toys, and the women need the clothes. The donations will help us a lot for the winter.”
This appreciation was expressed in the faces of many camp residents, despite the language barrier between themselves and the ISAF service members.
“I enjoy being able to see the children’s faces light up just because they are getting pink pencils,” Adair said. “Hearing them laugh and play with new school supplies is just awesome.”
For some of the troops, the mission offered both a change from their normal day-to-day jobs and a more well-rounded view of Afghan life.
British Royal navy Capt. Jim Higham, of Plymouth, England, who serves with the strategic planning cell of ISAF Headquarters, normally helps to plan for ISAF engagements with key Afghan leaders, but, during this mission, he enjoyed passing out toys to the Afghan children. Higham and his wife regularly donate their children’s old toys to local charities in England, but rarely does he have the opportunity, like this one, to see the excited children who receive the toys.
“With the toys, invariably, someone smiles at you, and, if you exchange smiles, then all the cultural and language barriers seem to melt away. It’s a universal connection,” Higham said.
Perhaps fellow ISAF service members will be greeted with similar smiles during the next volunteer community relations mission when Garcia plans to go to an Afghan school.
Even though Adair is in the process of returning home to serve at the Pentagon, he has been able to put the Daughters of the American Revolution and other American donators in contact with Garcia, who plans to hand the program off to the chaplain who replaces him in March 2012.
“I think the missions give people at ISAF Headquarters a better perspective on everyday challenges that Afghans have and an understanding of how important it is to help them and to see them be able to build their country and build a nation,” said Adair, “because you can’t do it without the Afghans.”
| Date Taken: | 10.07.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 10.09.2011 13:03 |
| Story ID: | 78252 |
| Location: | KABUL, AF |
| Web Views: | 67 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, American, British troops team up, bring donations to Afghans in need, by SSG April Campbell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
