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Soldiers travel risky gauntlet to bring orphanage some Canadian cheer - October 28, 2006 - Canadaeast.com

Soldiers travel risky gauntlet to bring orphanage some Canadian cheer - October 28, 2006 - Canadaeast.com
Sammy King  |  by www.canadaeast.com. All rights reserved. 3.01 | 16:13

Nine-year-old Sultan Mohamad peers out from behind the gate of an orphanage in Kandahar City as Canadian soldiers arrive with candy, toys and school supplies. Capt. Dave Muralt of the local provincial reconstruction team, also shown, says the gifts were bought with cash donated to the Canadian Forces, much of it from individuals back home.

(CP PHOTO/ Sue Bailey)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Unloading stacks of candy, stuffed animals and notebooks for smiling kids was the simple part for Canadian soldiers here Thursday.
Making it to the orphanage near Kandahar city was no easy ride.
Gunners with their heads and shoulders out the turrets of armoured G-wagons repeatedly fired their C-6 machine-guns in warning and swatted the air to order drivers and pedestrians off the road.


Just navigating the paved highways and winding back streets in this town is a hair-raising gamble.
Troops must also dodge an increasingly deadly array of roadside explosives - sometimes two or three anti-tank mines stacked for maximum devastation.
Soldiers with the provincial reconstruction team accept the risks and have averted them well.

Some Afghans, most of them children, wave at the Canadians as they rumble through a city that's notoriously dangerous. Most local men just stare.
On this day, the soldiers arrive safely at Shahid Abdul Ahad Karzai Orphanage.

And they've brought presents.
Brothers Taj, Sultan and Fida Mohamad aged seven, nine and 11, help as the burly men from half a world away unload. For them, the surprise delivery is like a second Eid ul-Fitr, the most holy Muslim celebration of feasting and gift-giving that ends the Ramadan month of fasting.


Eid was celebrated Monday but parties continue all week, much like the stretch between Christmas and New Year's Day in the West.
Most of the orphanage kids are away visiting relatives who can't care for them full time. The Mohamad brothers had just returned from a visit with their father, Raz.


He lost his wife six years ago to a sudden illness. He walks with a cane, one of his legs slightly dragging behind him, and has not been able to work for years, he says. His clothes are worn and dirty, but he speaks through a translator with pride about what an education might do for his children.


The walled orphanage with heavy metal gates gives his boys a place to sleep, eat and go to school.
"They're all right," Raz says with a grin when asked about the presence of foreign troops in his homeland. "They're here to build the country and security.

"
About 60 boys and girls aged six to 16 live at the orphanage, and another 420 attend class in small rooms with simple wooden desks. There are no electric lights in the dining hall. There's just one washing machine for the whole place.

The squatter toilets are filthy with human waste.
Canadian engineers toured parts of the building Thursday to see about hooking up another washer.
They also took down a wish-list from the headmaster, Hekmatullah, who like many Afghans goes by one name only.


New mattresses and uniforms are top requests.
Canadian support "is everything," he said. "This helps the children to feel they're not alone.

"
For the troops, the visit is a treasured chance to help in a tangible way.
"For me, it's the children who make it all worth it," said Capt. Howard Chafe as two little girls waved to the convoy heading back to the heavily guarded Canadian camp.

Read more on by www.canadaeast.com. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Kandahar City
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