2nd Lt. Brooke Brzozowske of the U.S. Army reported last week that an agricultural training event took place in the Paktika province of Afghanistan. The class, hosted by the civil affairs unit of the Army, did more than just educate Afghan farmers on various agricultural techniques. It also helped train class members to teach other farmers the new techniques.
Using this approach valuable agricultural knowledge can be spread around the area to help Afghans improve food production. Army Sgt. Lara Gale, a civil affairs team member, said “trainees practiced teaching various topics, and are expected to teach other farmers upon returning to their village.”
In Iraq, the United Nations World Food Programme is set to start a school feeding program for impoverished Iraqi children on November 16th. The program was to get underway at the end of September but delays in food procuremement and customs delayed the start of the school meals which will benefit 170,000 Iraqi children. There is hope to expand the school feeding in Iraq next year.
School feeding programs help families who struggle to obtain enough food for their children. Knowing that their children can get food at school encourages class attendance. Once at school children who receive food during the day are able to learn more effectively. School feeding is a silent, but very critical aspect of reconstruction for any country.
The U.S. Army fighting hunger in Iraq:
On July 15th, 2009 forces from the U.S. 25th Infantry Division, together with Iraqi soldiers, carried out a humanitarian aid drop to help hundreds of families in a neighborhood in Baqubah.
Another mission in July delivered food to families in the Hiteen neighborhood located in Hawijah. Army 1st Lt. Sean Spencer explained, "Hiteen has been identified by the Hawijah city council as the poorest area of Hawijah."
Sgt. Dan Click reported on more aid missions during May in the Diyala province, including one which demonstrated the meaning of using food for peace.
U.S. soldiers delivered food to Iraqi villages inhabited by both Arabs and Kurds, two groups with a tense and sometimes hostile relationship. Within Diyala and other provinces, Arabs and Kurds are embroiled in territorial disputes. But on this day, the two sides came together over food.
"The two worked well together, said Sgt. Dennis Musselman, "they were standing arm and arm together and we had no issues at all."
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U.S. Army soldiers from Green Platoon, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division provide security while soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 19th Brigade, 5th Iraqi Division provide humanitarian aid to villagers in Shuzayf, Iraq, on March 27, 2009. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Walter J. Pels, U.S. Navy. (Released)
Defense Department file photo of a previous humanitarian mission in 2005. In this photo Army Pfc. Janelle Zalkovsky hands out humanitarian aid items to local citizens in Thyad, Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2005. Zalkovsky is attached to the Civil Affairs Unit of the 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division deployed from Fort Campbell, Ky.DoD photo by Spc. Charles W. Gill, U.S. Army.
first photo courtesy of the UN World Food Programme
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