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Aviators Answer Afghan Teacher’s Call for Help
American Forces Press Service ^
| Spc. Monica K. Smith, USA
Posted on 01/20/2010 3:39:51 PM PST by SandRat
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Jan. 20, 2010 Army Sgt. Matthew West said he didnt know what to think when a rock came flying at him while guarding his Black Hawk helicopter at a landing zone on Camp Kiwi in central Afghanistans Bamyan province.
Army Sgt. Matthew West removes boxes of supplies from the back of a Black Hawk helicopter to be delivered to schools in and around Bamyan province in Afghanistan, Jan. 13, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Monica K. Smith (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. |
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Children throwing rocks isnt unexpected out here, said West, a crew chief with the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigades Company A, Task Force Knighthawk. You never know what people really think of you out here so I just assumed it was another kid taunting us.
But this kind of rock throwing was different; the rock had a note attached to it. The note indicated that the boy taught an English class in Bamyan province. The child, who spoke excellent English, was requesting school supplies to help him teach his class.
His English was really good and I thought, Why not help a kid who wants to educate others? West said. Its part of the whole winning the hearts and minds of the people of Afghanistan, and what better way to win the minds than by educating them? So, when [our flight] got back to Bagram, I talked it over with some of the guys in my company and we decided we wanted to help them.
One of the soldiers West talked to was Army Spc. Sean Noonan, also a crew chief in Company A, Task Force Knighthawk. Noonan took the lead on the project, gathering school supplies, clothing and candy, to donate to the Afghan people in Bamyan. Three weeks later, they had enough boxes to fill the back of a Black Hawk. They began planning a mission to return to Bamyan.
When I heard West talking about what happened ... I just felt like we should do something to help them, Noonan said. I think a lot of the time, as soldiers, we get carried away with performing the combat portion of our mission. I think its good to remember were also here to help the Afghan people and in this case, we can help their children receive a good education, or at least give them the supplies to continue their education.
When the two Black Hawks landed at Camp Kiwi on Jan. 13, the temperature read minus 10 degrees. The air crews moved the supplies from the back of their aircraft to a large storage container belonging to Padre Leon OFlynn, chaplain with the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team.
Theres a girls school here that has 2,000 students and a boys school that has more than 3,000 students, OFlynn said. These supplies will go far to help them. Theres nothing they dont need or wont use. The school supplies and clothing will be gone quickly. We try to get to the more remote villages too. Every little bit we receive helps.
Though the soldiers didnt have the opportunity to hand out the supplies personally, before leaving Camp Kiwi, they took time to talk with the children who live in Bamyan. One teenager, 18-year-old Qugamali, who also teaches English classes in Bamyan, said they are learning in school about Japan and how the United States helped Japan recover after World War II.
Right now, Afghanistan is backwards, but maybe we can be like Japan, Qugamali said. The Americans come in and help us become secure. The Taliban cant make Afghanistan secure.
Noonan said he was surprised at the quality of Qugamalis English as they continued to talk. But what was more surprising, he said, was the students comprehension of what is going on in their country.
I know education here isnt what it is back in the states, so I was surprised to hear him make the comparison between what were doing here to what we did in Japan, Noonan said. Its good to know that the people here, even if theyre children, understand that in the end, were here to help their country.
As Noonan and Qugamali continued to talk, Qugamali said he wants to become a journalist.
To be a journalist in the future you must know three languages, Qugamali said. If we have the [school supplies], we can learn. Otherwise, it is very hard for us to learn. It is good that we have help.
(Army Spc. Monica K. Smith serves with 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade public affairs.)
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; children; frwn; help; school; supplies; teacher
1
posted on
01/20/2010 3:39:51 PM PST
by
SandRat
To: Clive; girlangler; fanfan; DirtyHarryY2K; Tribune7; manic4organic; U S Army EOD; Chode; tillacum; ..
FR WAR NEWS!
If you would like to be added to / removed from FRWN,
please FReepmail Sandrat.
WARNING: FRWN can be an EXTREMELY HIGH-VOLUME PING LIST!!
2
posted on
01/20/2010 3:40:51 PM PST
by
SandRat
(Duty, Honor, Country! What else needs said?)
To: SandRat
Polluting the minds of the very innocent young people of a different country and trying to make them more like us without the parents permission. ///SARC
3
posted on
01/20/2010 3:43:43 PM PST
by
handy old one
(If you play in nature be prepared to be played with by nature!)
To: SandRat
Get them Bibles and McGuffey Readers.
4
posted on
01/20/2010 3:45:06 PM PST
by
MuttTheHoople
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/TeddyVWad.jpg)
To: SandRat
Ok, where can I send our soldiers a check to buy more school supplies?
5
posted on
01/20/2010 3:47:50 PM PST
by
Aracelis
To: handy old one
The butchers are just setting the children up for when they can come back and slaughter them /sarc
Our American boys are simply amazing. I guess that's why I get so angry when I hear idiots on the left denigrate them.
America's the greatest nation in history and the most generous and caring and I get really tired of hearing people like Obama run us down.
6
posted on
01/20/2010 3:49:23 PM PST
by
Sudetenland
(Slow to anger but terrible in vengence...such is the character of the American people.)
To: Aracelis
a better course is to ask them what they want, go to Office Depot and negotiate a by the case deal and mail them.
7
posted on
01/20/2010 3:49:36 PM PST
by
bert
(K.E. N.P. +12 . Tax the poor. Taxes will give them a stake in society)
To: Sudetenland
When will the DEMS stop listening to the droning in their ears and find out it is the American people telling them to vote and act the right way or else!!!
8
posted on
01/20/2010 3:52:29 PM PST
by
handy old one
(If you play in nature be prepared to be played with by nature!)
To: Aracelis
9
posted on
01/20/2010 3:55:04 PM PST
by
SandRat
(Duty, Honor, Country! What else needs said?)
To: bert
I don’t have much Bert, but I can certainly send them $10.
10
posted on
01/20/2010 3:56:08 PM PST
by
Aracelis
To: SandRat
11
posted on
01/20/2010 3:56:52 PM PST
by
Aracelis
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