F e a t u r e s
fruits: pomegranates, grapes and melons, all produced locally and world-class in their prime. While not hostile to our presence, there was likewise no real warmth in their greeting, “Salaam Alaykum”, expressionless – the dark, cold stares said it all. I have little doubt that I have met the gaze of more than one Taleb, or at least strong advocate of the Taleban movement, during my time here.
On our way back to the field clinic on the outskirts of the village, we were overtaken by a boy of about 10 years old, running ahead, eager to show off his new toy to us: an old bicycle tyre that he was beating along the dirt track with a stick – somehow redolent of Victorian England, if not for the medieval backdrop. Meanwhile, the Senior Medical Officer (SMO) had seen 44 patients, and the dentist some 14, from whom he had extracted no fewer than 5 teeth.
In explaining some of the ailments he had treated, the SMO told me that most conditions were relatively uncomplicated by western standards, but that 2 or 3 of his patients that day would probably have died within the coming 12 months had he not treated them, in most cases with little more than antibiotics. Waiting patiently in the queues to see the medics, the sick children sheltered in the shadows cast by their fathers or elder siblings from the still- penetrating autumn sun; the lines were long, but noticeably absent of women – a recurring theme. I am told that if the women are allowed out, this only ever happens as the session closes, and any medication that is prescribed is usually taken from them and redistributed or sold.
The healthy children were almost as persistent as the flies earlier – swarming around, poking the pouches attached to my body armour to see if there was something inside attractive
to them: pencils, paper, fluorescent light sticks, sweets. Wholly unsupervised, they ran around in groups, much like children from any part of the world, with the exception, perhaps, that even the youngest were found among them: toddlers of 9 months old and upwards were carried around on the hips of young girls of only 5 or 6 years old themselves. One wonders what activities were left for the teenage girls and women, shut away behind the sanctuary of their mud compounds - servitude, I fear.
Overall, the effect achieved through initiatives such as the Village Medical Outreach programme help towards our short term objectives of significantly reducing incidents of Indirect Fire attacks against Kandahar Airfield. The humanitarian impact of such an initiative is in another league altogether: immeasurable, undoubtedly, to those whose lives it saves.
Winter 2007 11
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