Volunteer Community Relations...Winning Hearts and Minds

Beyond the mission of building the Afghan National Security Forces, is the greater mission of winning hearts and minds. One way we try to give back to Afghanistan is by helping out those less fortunate. Each Monday night, a group of folks get together to sort donated clothing, school supplies, bedding, etc. as part of the Volunteer Community Relations or VCR which is organized by the local chaplains office. Then, individuals volunteer to lead missions to local schools, refugee camps, or other facilities where we hand out the donated goods and get to interact with the people. Yesterday, I got to go on one of these missions to a School for the Blind.

The day started with a mission brief at 0900 in the rain, then a convoy briefing at 0945 with a planned departure of 1000. Since this mission took us off base, we traveled in Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, commonly called MRAPs, and had a Force Protection team with us to secure our perimeter. The trip to the school took us about 30 minutes or so. Once there, the FP team deployed and we all got to dismount and hand out the goods. The students at the school ranged in ages from elementary school aged children to adults.



We handed out over 150 bags of school supplies and then left more than 150 family bags with clothes and other items in them for the parents and guardians of the students. It was fairly interesting to see the school workers get in line too. Anytime you are giving away anything here, the word spreads and everyone lines up.



It was interesting to see some folks get in line twice. It really sends the message of how needy the Afghan people are. After more than 25 years of continuous war, the Afghan people live in a country that looks like it is still stuck in the early 1900’s. I certainly appreciate what we have more than ever now. Well, we spent about an hour and half on the ground before we returned to Camp Eggers. The trip back was quick and we made it with no incidents.
Here are some more photos from our trip.