On Firebase Prosser in Kunduz province, the kitchen is smaller than a restaurant, but larger than your average family’s home. It is filled with professional stainless steel appliances, rugged, hand-built wooden shelves and mixed-matched bowls. Large, shiny freezers cover a majority of the far wall.
Three boys stand in the middle of the kitchen, each leaning over the steel center island, their shoulders and elbows battling for room as they tackle their own pile of chicken, cutting it up for the evening’s meal. The tallest of the three is the kitchen supervisor and today will be his last day at work.
The supervisor is actually a 22-year-old man with clear, light brown, almost gold-colored eyes. He smiles as he speaks passable english, telling how the Taliban is hunting him.
“It is very dangerous for me now,” he says.
The man (whose name will not be used for his safety) began working for coalition forces in 2003. He began as the bread delivery boy, bringing homemade bread from a local bakery to Coalition firebases in the northern Kunduz province.
At first, he would just go to the gate, he said. Then, after getting to know the Soldiers, they offered him a job on the firebase. Over the last six years, he has worked for the U.S. Army, the Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Special Forces.
“I’ve worked in the laundry room, fixed things for the Soldiers and worked in the kitchen.”
On August 28, things changed for the man who can’t yet fill out a beard. Members of the Taliban came to his home in the middle of the night looking for him.
“I was not at my home, I was staying with my cousins family,” he said. “But, they came looking for me because I work for Americans.”
The day earlier, insurgents kidnapped his cousin because he was also suspected to work on an American base. Even though his cousin swore he was the wrong man, the Taliban held him for ransom for three days before realizing he was telling the truth.
“My cousin doesn’t work here,” he said. “But, they are looking for me because they know I do.” He fears that the insurgents will kill him to set an example to others, so they will not be friendly to coalition forces.
Despite the danger, he said he began working for coalition forces to help his family and pay for school, one of few means of work that would allow him to afford both.
“If you are not working, studies are impossible.”
He now has two months left before he finishes high school, but leaving Kundoz will push that goal further away.
“My sister also goes to school with me. I pay for her too.”
He is one of seven children and still lives at home with his parents, as do almost all his siblings.
There are about 20 people in his parent’s house right now, he said. Two of his brothers are unemployed, so their families are also in the home. The $350 a month income from working on the base helps to feed everyone.
“I have to go to Kabul now for safety,” he says, though he has no fear of his family being hurt. “The insurgents only look for the people who work with the Soldiers. No one else works on the base, so they will be safe.”
He expects to be gone for a couple months. He would like to come back one day, but says the security will have to improve before he can, admitting he may never be able to come home.
“I hope to become an interpreter one day” he said. “And go to college in Kabul or the United States.”
Until then he will continue to work on his english and try to find another job to support his family. He is uncertain of his future, but hopes to continue to work for Americans so he can build a better life.
“I can go to Pakistan or Iran, but they are a lot like here. There is war and they are not safe. I would like to go someplace without war.”
He has now left for Kabul and the kitchen supervisor job has already been filled. Each of the local workers has relatives that are trying to get jobs on the bases despite the danger and Taliban warnings. Work in this part of the country is hard to find and a steady, well-paying job, even one that comes with death threats, is impossible to pass up.
| Date Taken: |
09.08.2010 |
| Date Posted: |
09.08.2010 14:17 |
| Story ID: |
55913 |
| Location: |
AF |
| Web Views: |
84 |
| Downloads: |
5 |
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