AFGHANISTAN VCR PROGRAM

MISSION: While I was deployed from May to November 2008 to Kabul, Afghanistan, in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, the Camp I lived on had a Salvation Army-type program called “Volunteer Community Relations” (VCR). With Afghanistan being the 4th poorest country in the world*, the VCR program was composed of volunteer coalition members who regularly go out to various Kabul schools, orphanages, medical centers and “internally displaced persons” camps to give bags of clothes, food and oil to families while entertaining children, in order to improve coalition-Afghan relations and improve their quality of life. We attempted to visit a different neighborhood, shelter and school each week, giving these bags to between 70-80 families while entertaining the children, for a few hours. This program also forwards items to U.S. service members at smaller Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) and other locations that may not have PX (i.e., “mini-mall”) facilities. These items predominantly come from U.S. family and church donations In my six months, I was able to attend a third of all the weekly missions, seeing for myself where these families live: bullet-riddled concrete buildings with no doors or windows and nomad tent camps with mountains of garbage for playgrounds. The elderly, looking weak and tired, walk to us infirmed, missing legs, helped by others or using their improvised crutches while attempting to carry their bag away. The children look well and are always happy to see us. They laugh and cheer at the simplest silly things we coalition soldiers with weapons do. They always know we’re coming because of our convoy of up-armored vehicles, giving us the thumbs-up as we drive by and we wave, in return. PURPOSE OF THIS SITE: To show that coalition efforts in this "reconstruction and stabilization" Operation extend beyond the mission to helping the local population, directly. This is more than "winning hearts'n'minds"--it's about helping others who don't yet have a government that can provide its people sufficient essential services or living assistance. If you or your organization care to support the cause, mail your box of clothes, school supplies and toys to: VCR Program Pool House CSTC-A APO AE 09356 * Camp commander's call, Sept 08

A child painted this for me, from the weekly bazaar. I believe it symbolizes the welcome and thanks of the Afghan people.

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THE MONDAY SORT

As boxes were received, they were stored until it was time to bring them out all, open them, shred the mailing labels, separate the items into piles, then bring trash bags around where a piece from each pile filled the bag until half-full. Bags were then loaded into a box truck and awaited the day for escort by many other vehicles (we called "victors") into a "pre-approved" location. All worked together: Services, civilians, contractors and locals.

		Sorting process from start to finish (45 MB)

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6 JUNE 2008: MY FIRST VCR

We went to a random neighborhood that had decent 6-7 foot walls, to make Force Protection's (FORCEPRO) job easier of guarding the four corners and maintaining crowd control at the bag handout. In the meantime, we played with the kids for a few hours. You don't get tired of entertaining them--you get tired of the 30-40 pounds of additional body armor and weapons that "get in the way." Interpreters always go with us to connect us to the locals and help with crowd control.

		Watch as troops do the chicken! (76 MB)

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11 JULY 2008: NEIGHBORHOOD BEHIND OLD RUSSIAN EMBASSY

Families live in bullet-riddled open-faced buildings where the open playground is dirt, trash and feces. Similar to the last visit but bigger areas with more kids. In this video, we did a little hand-shaking, arm-wrestling, trying to give out candy to the mob and, in the ends, the kids wanted to "come home" with us.

			Arm-wresting and giving candy to kids (112 MB)

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18 JULY 2008: ANOTHER NEIGHBORHOOD

Didn't get too many pictures in, this time. It's simply more of the same of what we did. In this one, we were teaching the kids to blow bubbles.

Blowing bubbles (37 MB)

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1 AUGUST 2008: ANOTHER NEIGHBORHOOD

Didn't get too many pictures in, this time. It's simply more of the same of what we did. In this one, did a lot of bubble blowin' and played soccer, which was a little more difficult with the armor on.

			Playing soccer (30 MB)

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8 AUGUST 2008: HOMELESS (OPEN-AIR) SHELTER

This time we went to a homeless shelter that was just a bunch of family-pitched tents that lined both sides of this small camp, without a roof. I played sentry (Force Protection or FORCEPRO) this time. I got to be the first FORCEPRO in, doing the inital security check. People would peek out their tents as I did my slow walk-through. Epic...

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4 SEPTEMBER 2008: ZAKOOR-E-AAQA-ALI-SHAMS SCHOOL, KABUL

Went to a boys'n'girls school, where this mission was about delivering school supplies to school children, while still entertaining them for the morning -- a VCR we rarely do, compared to giving clothes/food to families. The morning classes are normally all-girl, with boys in the afternoon. I volunteered for FORCEPRO again. While looking over the wall into the gulch below, I discovered kids gathering just to cheer and laugh at whatever my FORCEPRO partner and I did. So I told him to play Funky Chicken with them while I jumped up and down -- and they did the same.

		Me and Army Major Cecil making the kids do the funky chicken then jump up and down (41 MB)	I was so moved by this VCR, I made a music video out of it (53 MB)

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12 SEPTEMBER 2008: ANOTHER NEIGHBORHOOD

Another neighborhood with a big, open field. There were A LOT of kids at this one. This was our first-ever mission where we coordinated both Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) participation and assistance on our mission. The kids love to have their pictures taken then instantly see their faces on the backs of those digital cameras. In the Afghan culture, men holding each other and holding hands is HETEROSEXUAL friendship (notice the last picture in the first row).

			360-degree view of the playground (9 MB)
Afghan Army soldier hits the balloon (6 MB)	Blowing bubbles (9 MB)	Distributing bags to families (3.5 MB)	Making the kids feel like "King for a Day" (12 MB)
Horray for the Coalition -- the good guys! (9 MB)	The children like to hold hands and walk with the coalition (18.5 MB)	Playing a game with the kids (17 MB)	Teaching the kids "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" (8.5 MB)
The kids don't want us to go (37 MB)

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17 OCTOBER 2008: NEIGHBORHOOD ON A HILL

Went to a particularly dangerous neighborhood just down the street from Massoud Circle...which is because this was the only place we went 'weapons red' (meaning a round was chambered vs. just the magazine in). I played FORCEPRO on this one, having a lot of ground to cover from being assigned the top of the hill. I decided to grow a dumb moustache before leaving just to see how much it could grow in two months.

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24 OCTOBER 2008: INDIRA GANDHI INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH, KABUL

Another unique VCR mission like the school, this was my last VCR before redeploying: visiting a children's hospital -- how appropriate. All the hospital had power unless there was a surgery in progress, in which all power was channeled to the emergency room. The operating room and equipment is antiquated, with little-to-no sterilization and specimen jars were simply Pepsi cups.

I was so moved by this VCR mission, I made a music video out of it (62 MB)	Woman prays for the children of the ward (27 MB)	The hospital gets only a few hours of power, daily, due to the unstable city power (39 MB)