The school’s principal, Hasina Ziy, was encouraged to see the female members of the ADT eager to help her schoolchildren. “The passion she feels for these girls was evident with the delight in her eyes,” said Moody as she described how the principal “nearly teared up, as some of the female Soldiers worked with the schoolgirls.”
The Khowst girls' school provides education to nearly 4,000 young women ages 7 to 18 in the Khowst Prov. "Due to classroom size limitations, and the small number of instructors, the school day is split in half, with 2 separate waves of students coming in the morning and afternoon for basic instruction," said Ziy. The 3-19th ADT WOT is already at work with plans to return to the school to assist in the areas of knitting, agricultural education, and leadership development for these young women. The 3-19th ADT is made up of Soldiers and Airmen from the Indiana NG. These servicemembers are stationed at FOB Salerno. This is the 3rd rotation of Indiana Guardsmen to work toward strengthening the Afghan economy through agribusiness development.Vowell was the only American to address the shura. He explained that recent ops by the ANA and CF had largely cleared insurgents from Narang District, creating conditions that local Afghans could capitalize on.
“There’s a lot of security issues in the district, but there’s lots of opportunities to get better very rapidly, and that’s what the shura is designed to do,” Vowell said. “The district gov. Nabi, wants to bring all the village elders to the table, and have a discussion about responsibility, accountability and security, and the way ahead.”
“The shura is to build security, to bring security to our district, and stop our enemies coming in,” Nabi said. “This will help us plan projects for the future, construction projects, and create jobs for the people. It will also bring the people of all the tribes together, so they can work for the common good.”
ANA Lt. Col. Mohammed also addressed the village elders. He pointed out that the Afghan people have a critical role to play in their own security, and he praised the Narang District shura. “This shura is outstanding; every district should have one just like this,” said Mohammed. “Afghanistan has many problems, and some problems that can’t be solved by the govt., can be solved through shuras like these.”
In addition to TF No Slack personnel, members of the Iowa NG’s 734th ADT also attended the shura. ADT cmdr Army Col. Craig Bargfrede, described the ADT as an incentive for the village elders to make further progress on security.
“The officials and village elders of Narang District want the kinds of things we can do for them, like watershed projects and veterinary outreach programs, among others,” Bargfrede said. “We can do a lot more work, and a lot more effective work, in areas we don’t have to fight our way in and out of.”
Sherwali said at the time it was too dangerous to bring his son to the station, due to the threat of the Taliban. In fact, for 8 years, while the country fell under Taliban rule, Sherwali and his family fled to the mountains of Pakistan. Sherwali worked as a migrant farmer during that time. The same day the Taliban govt was replaced, Sherwali said he returned with his family from the mountains.
Javeed’s pride in his profession was evident when he spoke. “I came down here with my father to work for my country, and to be in service of my compatriots,” he said. Javeed said that he plans to continue his training at the year-long academy in Kabul, to become a more specialized officer. His father, meanwhile, will travel back to Alingar and will switch from investigative work, to a role more in the intel field.
Sherwali said that his time as a police officer is coming to an end, so he's pleased to see Javeed carry on his legacy. Sherwali also has 7 other sons, but said none have expressed interest in police work yet. “They have to choose their own paths,” he said.
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