Colder weather in Farah Province means greater need for its people

FARAH, AFGHANISTAN

12.09.2009

Story by Master Sgt. Tracy DeMarco 

Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah

FARAH, Afghanistan — Wearing head-to-toe burkas and no coats, a group of Afghan refugee women waited, crouching near a stone wall, inside the Farah province governor's compound for humanitarian assistance.

During an unplanned visit to see Gov. Rahool Amin, members of the Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team encountered the group of refugees.

While the women were waiting, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jeromy Shoell, a member of the civil affairs team with the PRT, spoke with the women, gathering atmospherics or information about their livelihood and living conditions.

The majority of the women are from a refugee camp in the south of Farah District Five.

"Most of them live in tents and mud huts," said Shoell. "They don't have any land to build on."

After the PRT members witnessed an Afghan national police officer and one of the governor's aides hand out blankets, prayer rugs and soccer balls to the women, they moved inside to speak with the governor.

"It is a weekly program run by the governor's office," said PRT Commander, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Lawrence Vasquez, "which is good because there is an immense need for it in the city."

• Date Taken: 12.09.2009
• Date Posted: 12.16.2009 02:04
• Story ID: 42816
• Location: FARAH, AF